Tick, Tick, Tick...Goooooooooooooooooooooooal!

As each day goes by, I continue to wonder what God has planned for me and the family.  No news on the job front is not a good thing in my mind.  Then again, the news I have already gotten hasn't been good either; a number of thank-you-but-no-thank-yous, and no interviews.  I'm trying to stay optimistic, which can be tougher on some days than others, because I don't want to think of what may happen if I wind up with no work.  I'm determined to make something happen, though.  So I check the internal postings daily at work and am noticing that the number of openings seems to have dropped pretty dramatically within the last week or so.  I still have a number that I'm waiting to hear on or the postings haven't closed yet.  I'm getting in the mindset that we will be moving because I'll get one of those internal jobs I've applied for.  (The only way I can stay with Chevron at this point, is to accept a position in another location.)

There is this one phrase that I have gotten used to, which is a good thing: "It is what it is".  The first time I really remember hearing that phrase was at my last employer, when my manager there would use it, typically in a negative way.  So everytime I hear the phrase, I think of him, which makes me a little tense because of how I left there and the fact that I didn't like him. I hear it so often now that it doesn't bother me as much although I always picture him saying it when I hear it.  Fortunately, I can make myself laugh though because I picture the chef from Ratatouille saying it.  He and that manager look eerily similar.  (Traci even agrees!)

There's not a whole lot to do at work since I turned all my contracts over to a co-worker.  Contracts were about 80% of my job even though my title is Procurement Analyst.  The other 20%, the analysis, I'll be turning over to my "roomie" here at work next week when she's back from vacation.  I will not miss sharing an office with her.  She's very smart and knowledgeable about the work she does, but she comes across as talking down to you when she explains something.  I've gotten used to sharing an office with her so it's not bad.  She just wouldn't have been my first choice.

On the home front, Skyler had her first soccer game last Saturday, which was also my first coaching experience.  I was happy with how it went.  We tied 2-2, but at the age of these kids (4-5 year olds), that doesn't matter much.  The idea is to teach them some basics of the game and to have fun playing the game.  It seemed like most of them had fun.  The only one I think that wasn't enjoying himself was my assistant coach's nephew.  I'm hoping he warms up to playing as the season goes on.  If he starts running with the kids in the game, I'll consider that a victory.  There's another kid on the team who is extremely shy.  I was excited during the game when he kicked the ball and looked back at me (I was on the field also) with a smile that said "I kicked the ball!"  That was great to see.

It was fun to see which of the kids seem to have a talent for the game and how each of them performs.  They all followed the ball really well and for the most part knew which way to kick it.  Both us and the opposing team kicked one into our own goal.  The ref didn't count either one, although it turns out it wouldn't have mattered.  I think I'm really going to enjoy coaching this team, even if soccer isn't my sport.  This Saturday will be a little more fun than usual too.  One of the coaches on the opposing team was a high school baseball teammate of mine.  (It all comes back to baseball!)  Then in the afternoon, we have our team's first party of the year...the always enjoyable pizza party!