East Idaho Trip Update

Since Mike lost his job and decided to go back to school, we've been looking for jobs and apartments in East Idaho. However, we found it very difficult to do this while still living in West Idaho. So Sunday the 23rd, after choir practice, I left Nampa for my mom's house in Shelley. The original plan was that my move was permanent. Mike and the kids would join me later after finishing up the packing and getting Hyrum's school records transferred. I missed my family, but it felt so great to be back in that area again. Since we've moved out here, I feel almost paralyzed by the city. We don't have any friends, I don't know the roads, I hate our neighborhood and am afraid to let the kids go outside. Because of all this, I never leave the house and have become antisocial. Not healthy, I know. There were plenty of things I didn't like about East Idaho, like how people there are cliquish and how every store and restaurant plays country music. Still, East Idaho is home to me, and not just because that's where I grew up. I enjoyed just driving down the familiar roads and visiting with my old friends who have been anxiously awaiting our move back to the area. The feeling of freedom seemed to confirm to me that we were making the right choice. I feel like I can finally get back to being healthy again.

Monday, I found an apartment. I looked at a few places, but for the money and space, the best option was a complex just down the road from the credit union where my mom works. I never would have thought I'd live in Shelley. The problem was, there was a ton of paperwork to be approved to live there. They gave me an estimate of at least a 3 week wait. That meant 3 weeks before the rest of the family could come join me. We decided not to worry about that until we had to.

Tuesday, I found a job... kind of. I applied at a company called Center Partners which is a call outsourcing company I've worked for before. I used to be on the Qwest Loyalty and Retention account, but Qwest has since moved all their call centers in-house. You have to be a top agent in the Qwest general queue before being considered for a loyalty agent position. This all worked out great for me since they said that any accounts they currently have would be a cake walk after my retention experience. They gave me a basic computer skills test and set me up for an interview on December 3rd. I was told that it was mostly a formality, and that I'd be offered a job unless they found something wrong in my past HR records or if I messed up badly in my interview. I was one of their top loyalty agents in both quality and save rate and received more kudos calls of anyone in the center, so I wasn't worried. Then came the bad news. The training class wouldn't start until mid January. I decided to begin looking for temp work the next morning.

My temp job search didn't go as well as everything else had up to that point. I applied for seasonal work at Walmart only to find out that I couldn't work at the Idaho Falls store because my aunt works in personnel there. I couldn't work at the Ammon store either, because they had entered a hiring freeze. I did, however submit my application to the Blackfoot store. I planned to apply at Shopko, Target, and other such stores after Thanksgiving.

I enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at my Aunt Judy's house the next day. We had a nice time visiting and playing games. Mike and the kids had dinner at my brother James's house in Boise. After dinner, they drove out to Shelley for the weekend.

Friday, we opted to stay out of the after Thanksgiving shopping traffic and submitted applications online instead. On Saturday, Mike got a call from the Ammon Walmart for a job and went to a late night interview. They offered him a position as a cart pusher on a temp/seasonal basis and told him to go for a drug test on Monday. I was surprised since I had been told they had a hiring freeze. However, when he went for his drug test on Monday morning, the store manager told him that the assistant manager had hired him by accident and that they weren't accepting new employees. Still, he did say that he might need someone in the electronics department, so Mike is hoping to get a call about that soon.

Hyrum had Friday and Monday off for Thanksgiving break, but had to be back on Tuesday. So the plan was for Mike to head home after his drug test on Monday. Instead, he decided to stick around until after my interview on Wednesday and take me back with him since the temp job idea wasn't working out. He decided to use his free time to meet with advisers at BYU-I and ISU since he still hasn't decided which school to go to or what to major in. ISU couldn't fit him in for an appointment, so we drove to Rexburg. He got a lot of good information, but now he's even more unsure of which school he'll attend. He found out that he can take his entire first year at ISU remotely at the Idaho Falls campus. That would be really convenient, but ISU doesn't have the exact major he wants most and BYU-I does. I don't really care which school he chooses. I just wish he'd choose!

Wednesday was my interview at Center Partners. I showed up early and was the only candidate dressed appropriately for an interview. I thought I had it locked. The HR director took me back to the call floor and began chatting to me about the people I knew when I worked there 7 years ago and how all the accounts and buildings had changed. We went to the break room where she got me a large cup of hot chocolate, then we returned to her office for the interview. I set my hot chocolate on the edge of her desk while I pulled off my coat. Well, you all know what a klutz I am. Yep, I knocked the hot chocolate over with my coat sleeve. It spilled all over her desk and the 2 inches of paperwork she had piled on it. I quickly ran back to the break room for paper towels and water, and we spent the next several minutes cleaning up the mess and trying to save her memos and reports. The spill narrowly missed an envelope of her kids' school pictures. I felt terrible. She had to sit on her jacket because the hot chocolate had dribbled off her desk and soaked her chair. I must be totally awesome because I still got the job!

We're home now, and it feels good to be back. I'm anxious to move to East Idaho, but my mom's house was just a little too crowded with the 4 of us and Sherwin's son Dale and daughter Donna visiting as well. We're hoping to hear from the apartment complex soon. Until then, we get to do my least favorite chore... packing.

Tomorrow is Emily's 2nd birthday. We'll see if I can find the time to make a video of that.