Jodi Speaks Her Mind

Can I please quit my day job??? 3/30/2003

Each day my job becomes less and less desirable (translation: I pretty much hate it!). Friday I had an “altercation” with my supervisor over a new policy that I perceive to be ethically compromising. Evidently, expressing one’s opinion - regardless of the foundations of your argument - is not permissible in this work environment. Some days they treat me like a child and other days I feel more like a prisoner. Hmmm… juvenile detention - yeah, that just about sums it up!

In any case, I am actively seeking alternative employment. I sent a resume to a company I interviewed with last November. This time it is for a different position that I am really hoping they haven’t already filled (job was posted over two weeks ago). Anyone out there willing to say a prayer that I might get some favor in the matter would be much appreciated. It’s possible I’ll not even hear back from them, such is the state of the economy and the job market. sigh … but here’s to hoping!

What is AFI anyways? 3/27/2003

I have a category called “AFI” and figured I should explain what that means. It stands for “advanced fertility issues” and is a borrowed name from a website community that I frequent. I want to be free to periodically post about this very important aspect of our lives - i.e. our desire and hope that we will someday be able to have children and expand our family.

Brief history: we have been trying to conceive (often abbreviated “ttc”) our first child since the beginning of 2000. We did get pregnant once in March of the same year but miscarried fairly early. It was pretty devastating as you may imagine, but we held to the hope that we would get pregnant again as easily as we did the first time. Unfortunately, 3 years have passed and that hope has not yet been fulfilled.

I’ll not say much more about the matter right now, but will gradually fill you in on this journey we’ve been on and how it has affected us and continues to impact our lives on many fronts.

Hopefully, you can come along for parts of the journey and maybe even be around to see our hopes fulfilled. We fully believe our God is capable of doing this and will do it in His way and His timing.

Sorry this post is longer than most, but I wanted to “introduce” this section of the site and welcome anyone who is interested in following our story.

A bit about categories

I’m doing something new with this weblog that I haven’t before and that is having categories you can read. To the left side are the categories and each post is assigned appropriate labels, so if you are interested in reading all “family”-related posts you can click on the family link to the left and see all posts that fall under that label.

For those of you wondering what AFI means, click the link to find out!

Hello World! 3/25/2003

Andrew Scott Ivy was born early this morning at 3:33 am (EST)! He’s a healthy 7 lbs 8.9 oz and measures in just over 20″. Welcome, Andrew! And congratulations to Sean, Amy, and sister Julia!

Pictures are soon to come we are told.

Well it was a nice idea while it lasted…

Enter reality: the insurance from my work does NOT cover infertility treatments. They have since reworded the benefits summary because it was leading people (like ME) to believe that they were offering infertility coverage (duh, cause that’s what it said!). In reality, they never did cover it. What they cover is testing and diagnosis and procedures that will fix a medical problem (e.g. open a blocked tube, remove a cyst, etc.), but they will not actually provide coverage for any treatments whose specific goal is to achieve pregnancy. Grrr… Translate: We’ll spend all our money (and a good amount of yours) to identify your problem and then refuse to fix it!

sigh

Well, despite this hard news, I am somehow holding steady and feel some kind of peace that I cannot explain but am very grateful for (must be the peace talked about in Phil. 4:6-7). I guess now comes the testing of our faith once again, and we either believe for the miracle or await another as yet unseen plan of our generous Father.

Hope yet remains…

When Caroline turned two… 3/23/2003

My adorable niece Caroline turned two earlier this month. Steve and I went together and carefully picked out a super cute card for her, signed it, and included a picture of us taped inside so she would be reminded about her aunt and uncle in Arizona. We see her very infrequently, so we figured she’d have no idea who we were.

Anyhow, we sent the card and then called later on that week to say hello to my parents and brother who went down to celebrate. My brother said when he got the card, he glanced at who it was from and handed the card to Caroline who bounced into the next room to give her full attention to opening it. The next thing my brother hears is her sweet voice saying, “Steve and Jodi!!!” and he just about fell over in shock because he thought she had somehow READ our names (reminder she is only turning two). She came into the room and showed him the picture and again said, “Steve and Jodi”. Of course I pretty much cried when I heard the story simply knowing that she recognized us in the picture. Wish I could have been there to hold her and play with her… sigh thank God for pictures and videos!!

She was on the receiving end of Hussein’s madness… 3/19/2003

I spent a good part of the night talking with an Iranian woman (who is now a U.S. Citizen) about the newly begun war on Iraq. How fascinating (and sad) to hear of her childhood that was spent fleeing her home for 5 years to escape Hussein’s armies. She expressed great empathy for the impact of the damage that will be experienced by those in that region but also feels strongly that Hussein is completely crazy and hopes he is removed. She also fears for her family as they live not far from the Iraqi border and know of Hussein’s penchant for chemical weapons and other frightening methods of warfare. I truly pray that God will help them and every other innocent civilian to be protected from both the U.S. and allies as well as from whatever crazy stuff Hussein might try to cause harm on his own people in the name of his own pride. Ugh… I wish it hadn’t come to this.