Rain, Sore feet, Gratitude and Zingy Lemon Slice

Wow, I can't believe it has been two weeks since my last blog post. It sure has been very busy with Easter and then my birthday and a village banquet happening on the same day. Then, applying for a job and going for the interview one day and then getting the job the very next day. And then starting work of course, so time has been a little limited but it has been great and it has been good to be physically tired, not just mentally tired. It has all been "good exhaustion."

This week has been a week of rain, rain and more rain and it has also been the week I officially started my new part time job and that is where the sore feet come into it hahahaha. Yep, standing for many hours will do that to you but it has been great to get back into the work force and also back to working closely with the public. Communicating all day with them is what I love to do. The last ten months have been difficult health-wise but it is such a blessing for me to see my health improve over the past few months especially.

After searching for work for the last six months and now finding a job I can tell you the gratitude has been flowing non-stop. When you are over a certain age it seems to be increasingly difficult to get a job and there is supposed to be a "no judgement" rule. But let me tell you, it does exist and it is horrible. You see, after the age of forty you are not only dealing with your body changing in all sorts of places and growing in all other directions but you are also dealing with hormonal changes and eyesight changes and you also have to compete with all the twenty somethings out there. I can tell you, your self-esteem takes a bit of a battering and self doubt starts to settle in. That's when you have to pull out the big guns, that's when you need to surround yourself with people who will build you up and help knock that self doubt on the head. It isn't easy at any age but when you are getting older and are middle-aged (there, I said it), applying for jobs is pretty hard and you really have to dig deep for quite a bit of courage.

No matter how old you are, the excitement you get when you get that call from your new employer is so wonderful. That is why I say gratitude has been on my mind and heart as I really was and am so grateful to have my new part-time job. I love that I now have work/life balance, something I have been chasing it seems for a very long time. It is so funny but I said to my husband the other day that all the things I have prayed for have come to fruition, which is pretty amazing. So I guess my faith has grown deeper over the past year, which is generally what happens when you go through pretty tough times. I was listening to the radio the other day and the person said "when you pray, pray as though what you're praying for has already happened." It isn't easy sometimes but I am getting better at it but still have a long way to go.

One of the things I love to do when it rains is cook and bake, and this week on a very cold and rainy day I baked a delicious zingy lemon slice. It is scrumptious and I look forward to sharing the recipe in the future and I can tell you it will be worth the wait.