The Power Suit

Say hello to my power suit. On Thursday, I got the good news that I was a finalist for BYU-Idaho's online teaching program. And when was the best time for me to interview? The next afternoon! If I ever prided myself on being relaxed and at ease, Thursday was no indicator of those personality traits. I tried on all my potential professional outfits and concluded that BYU-Idaho was a "skirt" place, even though every other place on the planet would prefer it if I showed up in nice slacks.

Here were some of my concerns that day:

1) I shrunk my only nice black skirt in the wash and it didn't fit right.

2) I only had one short-sleeve button-down shirt and it was orange... which meant I looked like an advertisement for Halloween with my short-sleeve black suit coat, black skirt, and that orange shirt.

3) I had two zits on my face.

4) My children had the gall to assume I was able to give them my full attention, when i desperately wanted to read about the BYU-Idaho learning model, look up "wiki"s, review the job posting, read over my 15 page final paper about online learning, and get that outfit figured out.

When Doug got home, I headed for the very few stores in Pocatello that I thought could meet my needs. I went to Tj Maxx. No dice. I went to JC Penny...and walked away with a long-sleeve blue and white striped shirt for $9.99... with that big fat tan plastic thing attached to it, unbeknownst to me. Then I got a fake pearl necklace and fake pearl earrings to go with the outfit. I tried it all on for Doug at home, noticed the dumb plastic thing, and headed back to the mall with Lucy to get the thing removed. I came home, chopped the sleeves on the shirt so I could wear the short-sleeve suit coat over it and voila--I looked moderately professional.

The interview went really well. I'll hear back in a couple weeks, so send your prayers upward and your fingers cross-ward for me. Here are some things my interviewer shared with me that I really loved:

1) We've been invited to give our time and talents to the Lord. Ordinarily, we really just give our time. We're given callings and we spend a lot of time learning how to do them and just do our best. But with online teaching at BYU-Idaho, teachers get a chance to share their talents, even while staying at home with their kids.

2) He also said that LDS women are ranked #2 as most educated religious female group. Jews are first. But LDS women are ranked #1 for staying home with their children. The spirit I felt as I talked with him was so special. I saw that I was potentially being given a special chance to teach---something I love--and progress academically--also something I cherish--and still be able to devote most of my time to my children. Wouldn't it be so awesome if I could do this for several years? To be able to be home with my kids and also stretch myself in other areas that are special to me? I was pumped and I welcome your insights.

3) This post is already long, but I need to record something else that happened in the interview. Halfway through, my interviewer's cell phone rang, and the ring tone was "Rise and Shout, the Cougars Are Out!" (the BYU fight song). Intrigued, I queried, "So you're a BYU fan?" Oh, yes, he stammered, embarrassed by his unprofessional ring. "Do you know Gary Sheide?" I asked. No, he didn't know him. Realizing he'd misunderstood, I asked if he knew who Gary Sheide was. Yes, of COURSE he knew who Gary Sheide was! So I got to tell him Gary Sheide's my dad:). I love doing that when people know about him. My interviewer interviewed me about my dad for the next several minutes and, at my bidding, drew stars and a big "Y" on my application. So if I get the job, it's because of my dad. He got Doug his clerking job in the same way, so he's really been a useful member of our family:).