New Changes ...and Luongo!

So, I recently put on my facebook status:

Nicole VanWoudenberg is looking forward to new changes in our lives. More to come in a blog post soon. Stay tuned!

So, now I need to make good on that and actually blog about a new change.

I am going to officially enter the workforce again, come June 1. Yes, you read that correctly. I am going to be a working-mom.

I had applied for and received the position of receptionist/moa for a new midwifery group in Walnut Grove. Many of you already know them. Triton midwifery is changing its face, and becoming 2 different practices. One midwife, CJ is staying as Triton, and the other two, RW and JN (and the hopefuly new midwife TB) are becoming "Grove Midwifery". I will be working for R and J. How cool is that!

I start June 1st, and will be working 2.5 days one week, and then 3.5 days the next week, alternating. It's actually great, because it also means I can still teach in the evenings.

A few thoughts about this new change:

~ it means we've got to be super organized as a family! My days are from 8:30 am - 5 pm (except on Wednesdays where I work a half day). It looks like Martin and Alanna will need to learn to cook, and I'll need to use my slow cooker more often, as well as start to cook double/triple batches of certain things when I can. (hence a recent fb status!)

~ it means I will no longer be able to attend Wednesday morning Bible study (coffee break). This is huge. I've attended this coffee break program since we joined Aldergrove church in thewinter of 1996. That's a LONG time to be a part of things! I did story hour for years, and then joined the bible study. I will miss these ladies very much in the fall when they start up again, and I can't join them. It also means I will miss League Day for the first time in years.

~ it means staying within my field of interest, sort of. But I get to see pregnant mamas and their babies and share in their joy. It will be a challenge to not dish out advice! :-)

~ it means working for/with two of the best midwives I've ever met. I have done a few births with R and J, and they've all been fabulous experiences. Anyone who can receive care from them is getting quality care and is very fortunate.

~ I am VERY excited and look forward to starting this new phase of life. But I am nervous too - it's a whole new experience! I believe I'm up to the challenge, and by God's grace I'll be able to learn what I need to learn in order to become successful in this new endeavour.

~ I will miss certain things like being a classroom mom ....

~ I will have to stop giving piano lessons, and we have pulled Braden out of karate (for a number of different reasons), to give us a bit of breathing room. I won't give up choir. It's still fun, and a creative outlet, and I need that energy. Besides, for me, it's Kingdom work. I enjoy contributing this way to congregational life.

~ I am still going to teach prenatal classes - I can't give that up - I love it too much! Those will be long days - working until 5 pm, and then teaching that evening. I won't be going home on those days as it doesn't make sense, so I'll have dinner, head to the teaching site by 6 pm and teach from 7-9 pm. Yes, that means I'll leave the house at 8:10 a.m., and not get home until after 9:30 pm. Only one night a week though!

~ I can assure all my readers and all those who hear about this new job that confidentiality is of great importance to me. (all my past students can surely attest to this). If you are pregnant and want to be in the Grove Midwifery practice, you can rest assured that that knowledge will not leave the office. I am true for my word.

~ I'd like to ask for your prayers as I start this job, and as our family begins this new phase of life. Pray that we would rely on God's strength, and that I would learn quickly (does the phrase "can't teach an old dog new tricks" apply??), and that Martin and the kids would also adjust to me working during the day instead of just in the evenings. We can't do this without prayer!


And finally ..... to end off this blog post: Martin's family gave him this wonderful gift for his birthday tonight: LOVE YOU BABE~