Jodi Speaks Her Mind

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.

On a break 3/17/2003

I’m at work and there is but one computer here where we can get on the internet during our breaks. It used to have a resolution setting that was so bad I never bothered, but somebody with I.T. finally came in and set it higher. Now it’s at least tolerable. Oh well, I have nothing of consequence to say at the moment but felt like writing something would pass the time…

I have decided… 3/13/2003

to stick with the job I’m at for now. Unfortunately, the job I interviewed for was not quite what was conveyed in the job listing, so despite the pay increase, there were too many other issues I had with it. In any case, there was another factor at play and that is medical insurance, which we have been paying on our own for about 14 of the last 18 months and I’m not willing to give up now when I’m only 6.5 weeks away from finally getting some!! And it gets even better, I didn’t research it ahead of time but this insurance company covers infertility treatments, which most of this site’s readers know we are very much in need of as we have been trying to conceive our first child for more than three years now. This insurance is probably worth more than the pay differential anyhow!

So, unless a miracle occurs in the next 2 months, we will very likely be climbing onto the infertility treatment roller coaster and I can tell you from experience that it is a WILD ride!

More on that as it develops.

Oh, and we both feel peace about this decision. I guess God knows what He’s doing afterall…

Interview tomorrow 3/11/2003

I stumbled across a job last week that looked appealing so I shot off a resume (as you may recall I am rather unhappy at my current position). Anyhow, I got a call this morning and they want me to interview with them first thing tomorrow morning! My prayer is that God’s will be done so I am open to the new job but am willing to remain where I am if that’s His plan. Guess I’ll know soon enough.