A Statement, a Qualifier, a Thank You, and an Apology.

Statement:
I am not a parent. If you regularly read my blog and you're a parent, this has nothing to do with you. It is a reaction to a lot of things I've been thinking about in the last few years as I've come to terms with the idea that parenthood is (of course) closer than ever before.

Qualifier:
And I feel like I have to qualify that statement with: I'm NOT prego. I'm just a planner and a thinker. I think a lot. And talk to myself a lot. But that's for another time... eh.

Thank you:
Mom and Dad. Thank you for sometimes making me do things I really didn't want to do. Thank you for never (ok, rarely) stepping into a situation, intervening on my behalf, and making things easier on me. Thank you for making me do things that just plain sucked from my point of view but you knew were good for me. Thank you for making me do things that were good for me even when they weren't good for you (come on, we all know daily chores help the parent as much as the kid, you can stop pretending now...). Thank you for not always giving me a choice and for occasionally telling me: "because I said so" when I demanded a reason. Thank you for realizing that I would one day be an adult, and you'd have done your job a lot better if you actually prepared me to handle it.
In short, thank you for not protecting me all the time. For giving me a safe, stable, and supportive environment in which to make mistakes and learn the hard way. Because now, there is no going back. I wouldn't give up a single tough moment for the sake of less understanding, less knowledge, or less experience. Thank you.

Apology:
Mom and Dad, I'm sorry for not figuring it out like 10 years ago. :)

Time for an Update

Working two jobs is busy busy busy. I alternate between feeling like this is a wonderful opportunity and wondering what I have gotten myself into. I was definately ready for a change, there is no question about it, but the balance is proving difficult.
Today was a great day for the youth ministry portion- we planned a tentative schedule that I think will work well. The last step before finalizing it is to run some of our ideas past the students, their parents, and some of the leaders. However, it also means that nearly every Sunday between September 7th and Christmas is booked solid. If we aren't "recovering" from a Fri-Sat retreat, both the high school and the middle school groups are meeting each Sunday. I'm also in charge of Sunday school for the High Schoolers and finding volunteers to run all of these programs.
I'm worried. So far, it's just Josh and I - no other intern has come out of the woodwork. This means that though my original job description stated that I could opt out of being at every event, it may not be reasonable to plan on my missing many of the get-togethers.
As far as working at Standard goes, I have to get plans and other aspects of working with customers done much more quickly than ever before. In the past, when I've told a customer I'll need a week to get their quote finished it meant I'd have at least five working days to finish it. Now I'm lucky if I have three. And with John (my fellow designer) out of the office one of the three days a week that I work, I am much busier with phone calls, walk-in customers and reps.
I know that eventually I'll find the balance, but needless to say, I can use all the prayers right now that anyone might feel obliged to offer up!