The Power of the Shirt

This has been a very exciting week and I am attributing it mostly to this:

You see, for Christmas, Mike got a Superman shirt from our nephew. He loves it and wears/flaunts it around the house whenever he can. I got jealous. Mike was the cool uncle. The one our nephew wanted to impress. So I ordered the shirt. Of course, when I sent Houston a picture of me wearing the shirt he sent me this back, with the message, "Aunt Jenny, where are your boots? You need them to fly!"

Thwarted again by a three year old. While I didn't order the boots, I have been wearing my shirt to cook dinner, apply for jobs and clean the house. It makes me feel more powerful. So when I received an invitation to interview for the position of Housing Services Coordinator at a Counseling Center, I thanked the shirt.

Two interviews and one presentation later, I was offered the job! We are so excited. Once I started thinking about it, this is the first time that I have been employed full time, with a salary and benefits in EIGHT years.(Thank you law school.) It has been a long road and I teared up a little when I called Mike to tell him about it. I was shocked back into reality when I realized how much I have to learn.

I will be working with patients who are HIV/AIDS positive and have recently been discharged from the hospital. They come to our living facility, The Cottage, where there are only seven beds. Because there are so many sick people who need a home, my job is to get these people out of The Cottage as quickly as possible and find them a transitional or permanent place to live. It's a lot. Mike asked me, "So, if you don't do your job, these people end up homeless?" Yes...but - challenge accepted! I am so excited about this position and feel like I am finally going to be making a difference in people's lives. I know that no day is ever going to be boring and I can't wait to dig in! Thankfully, my various bosses have been so accepting of this change in events and are allowing me to start tomorrow! (Really last Thursday.) Sooo, wish me luck! I think Mike and I both let out a sigh of relief when I got the call - this is going to be a huge weight off our shoulders.

In other news, there is cause to believe that my parents should have ordered the Superman shirts before they left on their journey. Two days into the trip, the engine sputtered out because of some mechanical issue I can't explain. They turned around and ended up in sailing home at night, in the rain with 50 mph winds. You can't make this stuff up. Thankfully, they were able to contact a towing company to help them safely back home. Don't worry - they are fixing the problem and will be leaving again as soon as possible. It appears that my parents are bound and determined to go on this trip. I wonder where my stubbornness comes from?

Well, that's it in a nutshell. I am headed for a run and then going to try and educate myself on the job I begin tomorrow. Yay!! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the Oscars!