Curiosity has me googling

In actuality, we were discussing at work why they are called pink slips. Here is what wikipedia says:
"Pink slip refers to the American practice, by a personnel department, of including a discharge notice in an employee's pay envelope to notify the worker of his or her termination of employment or layoff.[1] Receiving a "pink slip" has become a metaphor for the termination of employment in general. According to an article in The New York Times, the editors of the Random House Dictionary have dated the term to at least as early as 1910.[1] The origin of the phrase is undetermined, and there is no evidence that termination notices were ever traditionally printed on pink-colored paper.[2] In the UK and Ireland the equivalent of a pink slip is a P45, in Belgium the equivalent is known as a C4."

So, now we sort of have an answer. It may never have been pink at all!

Pink can still be a good color

Apparently pink slips aren't pink at all. That has been my focus as I received my pink slip this morning a day early. It was actually a little disappointing (the fact that it wasn't pink). It was white. Written just like any other memo I would receive in my box about a variety of things. You may think I'm in denial, focusing on the wrong things, etc. Just know that I have learned in the last two weeks that you have to laugh at things when you think they're funny. Even when you shouldn't and they aren't.

I actually had a dream about receiving my pink slip last night. Oddly enough, in my dream, it was like the pink part of a carbon copy (you know, where you receive the pink or yellow part and the white is what they keep). And in my dream they put it in my mailbox. At least the real thing was hand delivered to me.

I am still fairly optimistic that I could get my job back. We were actually told this afternoon that because of some lawsuits that have come up, counseling contracts will be reinstated. I won't believe that until I am told more than just by word of mouth. All of this to say, it's not over yet, and I have no more answers. Continue to pray. Continue to help me remain optimistic. I'll keep you posted on what comes next.

T Minus 6 Days and Counting...

Today is my last Monday in my 20s.

Someone told me that once I'm in my 30s, it will be a good excuse to go to bed early because I'll be "old."

Today was terrific weather! I was able to go rollerblading since it was so cool. After a certain temperature, I don't do any physical activity outside! And I've heard tomorrow is supposed to be even cooler. Emily and I turned the air off and I am hoping to get the temperature down in my room so that I can sleep really well tonight.

No official news on the job front yet. However, one of my coworkers was talking to a DCFS caseworker and she is under the impression that DCFS is no longer going to cut counseling contracts which would mean I would still have a job. However, I am not expecting the state budget to pass by tomorrow, which will mean a pink slip on Wednesday with the possibility of rehire when the state finally gets their act together. While on a rampage this morning we were discussing why we allow this to happen. How can we elect and pay state officials to not do their jobs? Basically they took their summer vacation before getting the main part of their job done! Could you imagine going into work tomorrow and saying to your boss, "I know I have about 3 weeks worth of paperwork that I need to catch up on, and that proposal you asked for is due but I haven't finished it, and I never did get around to making those phone calls you asked me to make, but it's time for me to take my vacation, so I'll see you in a couple weeks!" NO, none of our bosses would allow that, but we have allowed the elected officials to do that for at least the past two years, and I think it has been more years than that! Sorry, off my soap box now. Sometimes it hits me at unexpected times :).

Still praying for a good solution to the budget crisis and that God will allow me to keep my job.

Last Sunday

Today is officially my last Sunday in my 20s. Sigh.

Heehee. From previous comments, I do feel like I should clarify that I could really care less that my next birthday is my 30th birthday. It's just a more extreme number to count down to. Which, in actuality, makes it more fun for me! :) So, have no fear, I am not sinking into a deep depression or anything like that. Here are reasons to look forward to 30:

*It won't be quite as pathetic that I have gray hair. Lots of people in their 30s have gray hair.

*It will really be funny when I get asked if I'm a student when I go to see movies (maybe I'll stop being angry that I'm asked!). And yes, as a 29 year old, I did get asked that question several times!

*If I start my 30s off as unemployed, it can only get better from there!

*I can tell people in their 20s that they are young and immature with authority and wisdom in my voice, of course!

*As Emily has already learned, I will change categories on my car insurance from 25-29 to 30-64. Which basically makes me the same as a 64 year old. And don't I look good for 64!

Well, that's all I can think of right now, but as I think of them, I will post throughout the week!

T Minus 9

There's only single digits remaining of my 20s. Starting Sunday I can say, "this is my last Sunday as a person in my 20s." Followed by "This is my last Monday as a person in my 20s."... you get the drift! What a fun week it will be for everyone! Then I'll have to edit my profile, too! :)

I survived the week!

It was my first full week of work in a REALLY long time :). But I survived. Even with the turmoil of losing my job and coming back from vacation. Today I saw my seven year old client. She likes to talk. A lot. Basically nonstop. You never know what she's going to talk about. Here is the conversation we had today. Well, really what she said to me because I didn't have to respond at all. "I wasn't feeling good yesterday. I had a stomach ache. And my mouth was really watery but I didn't throw up. I had diarrhea. But I'm not going to tell you what color it was!" As if I asked!!!

Prayer Support Needed

I received a phone call from my boss Sunday night "welcoming" me back to Illinois. It soon led to some very bad news. With the current proposed state budget, the social services field will received cuts ranging from 50-75%. As it stands right now, I am expected to get a pink slip on July 1. Children's Home is being gracious and allowing us to work the whole month of July to try to do closings with our clients and get our paperwork completed. These cuts would equal 100,000-200,000 lost jobs in the social services field in the state of Illinois, which means jobs in my field will be slim pickings. God is in control and I am dealing with the news a lot better today than I was on Sunday night, but please continue to pray that the state officials will make wise decisions. Obviously, I want to keep my job, but more than that, if the budget goes into effect, the clients I serve will pretty much be without any support because there will be no one left to refer them to. In the long run, this could lead to more broken homes due to kids being removed because of abuse/neglect issues, more kids growing up in homes where one or both parents are sent to prison, and ultimately kids growing up to repeat the same patterns they grew up in. Doesn't that look lovely?! I have alternated between shock/denial/acceptance/optimism/ pessimism, etc. I barely slept Sunday night and have woken up with a knot in my stomach each morning. Telling the families we serve has been difficult because we don't have any firm answers and it seems ridiculous to tell them "I could be closing your case as of July 1 or it could be open for another 6 months. I don't really know." Much harder than having my facts straight and knowing an answer for sure. Anyway, now I'm rambling. Just pray for me and for the families I serve and for friends/coworkers. The estimate is that 50% of employees at work would lose their jobs.

Oops :(

I forgot to finish my vacation posts. I was so glad to get all the pictures loaded that I forgot to outline the last half of my week at Danell's. The obvious: I got to play with the babies. The one thing I didn't have to do a lot of, which I wasn't expecting: change diapers. I managed to only change 1 while I was there. Sorry Danell and Ken! The girls go to bed around 6ish, so I was able to hang out with Danell and Ken in the evenings (and Ken was gracious and/or escaping and would give us some girl time, too). We stayed up a little too late each night, but I think Danell would say it was worth it. Every morning Danell, Clare, Lucy, and I would go for a walk around Aquilla. During the evenings we did what came natural to us: we played games. I learned a new game: Cleopatra. But other than that, we just played some tried and true games: Speed Scrabble, Nerts (practically the same as Dutch Blitz, with regular cards, and few extra rules), and Settlers. It was so much fun to play Speed Scrabble and Nerts. Danell and I are pretty evenly matched, so we have fun. It was also fun to reminisce about all the people who hated playing with us because we were "too good." Tuesday night we went to Hillsboro, which is about 20 minutes away and shopped at the outlet mall for an outfit for the girls to wear for their pictures. We also went out to eat. Then Wednesday afternoon, we went to get the girls' pictures taken. What an event that was! But we survived and so did Clare and Lucy. And the pictures turned out really cute! On a sadder/slightly gross note: it is pathetic that two women going to get pictures taken would have to announce that they are best friends so they wouldn't be asked if they want a picture with the two adults and the babies! Then Thursday we played with babies in the morning and left for the airport. The best part: arriving home to no power after the storms and hot weather that I thought I was leaving behind in Texas!

All About the Twins

Here is Lucy in all her glory! Blue eyes, beautiful grin, and those edible arms and thighs!

Profile of Clare. She is much more serious and much harder to get to smile. But she is super cuddly and loves to be held.

Clare and I were playing with my camera. This is the picture she took of her mom! She is definitely a photographer in the making! :)

Playing with the camera cord. This game lasted a good half hour before she got bored! Which was fine until my arm started getting tired :)

Oooh...a button!

Daddy and Clare. So adorable.

A mommy of twins sometimes gets creative!

So close to crawling. She can get up on her hands and knees but can't quite move in the right direction (she likes to go backward).

Clare's favorite pose. Upside-down. This is actually how she crawls--she arches her back and crawls on her head and feet!

"Daddy, can I listen to the radio?"

Clare loves to examine her hands when she is drinking her bottle. Each time it is like she has never seen her hand before. So cute.

There is that contemplative face again!

I love how she reads books with her feet too! :)

I love my Mommy! Here is a smile and laugh!

And of course...feet pictures. These are Lucy's.

And Clare's toes!

On the Road Again

I already posted about the actual day I travelled to Aquilla, but here are some random pictures. I'm really bummed because I didn't get a picture of the Texas longhorns. I realized after the fact that I am pretty sure I never saw one when I lived in Texas. It would have been a documentable event had I known. But we were also 5 minutes from seeing Danell, Ken, Clare, and Lucy and I decided that the longhorns could wait! Here's the temperature at 3:30 in the afternoon!

Clare looking pretty on the way to church. Yummy keys!

Danell informed me that the population of 136 does not include Clare and Lucy!

Lucy on her way to church. I got to sit between them. I don't think they are used to having strangers sit in the backseat of the car, so they stared at me the whole time. :)