And. . .Still Waiting

Doug and I have been giving ourselves pep talks through this experience, including listening to "Come What May and Love It" by Elder Wirthlin last night on our date to Walmart.

We are still waiting. Doug was told that he'd get the Provo (Utah Valley) building, he was excited and accepted, and then he got a phone call from Brad saying, "Actually, we'd like to have you work at Copper Ridge instead. We think we'll close the Provo building we just acquired."

Doug and I were so excited, Doug agreed on a salary with Brad, they set the date that Doug would begin as the administrator, and all was well.

Days later at the Texas conference for Ensign, Brad pulled Doug aside and said, "Actually, we aren't going to give you Copper Ridge. I heard that it is bad to have a new administrator and a new DON (Director of Nursing) together for a first survey, so let's just hold off on everything. Go back to the Provo building (where Doug has been helping out since December) and we'll get back to you."

The next day, Brad floated the idea that Doug might get the Draper building, which is known as the hole of Utah. Doug was not enthusiastic about the prospect.

Flash forward a few weeks, Jorge has been fired from the Provo building,  and Doug is now prepping a "100 Day" presentation for the Provo, Copper Ridge, and Draper buildings on Tuesday. Another AIT (Administrator in Training) and the administrator at Draper are also presenting their 100 day plans.  They're supposed to present what they would do in each of these buildings during the first 100 days as an administrator. Doug was only invited to present for two buildings, but he asked to present for Provo as well and Brad said that's fine.

Since Brad has been pretty clear about wanting an experienced admin in Provo, and he has already basically told Doug that he can't have Copper, again because of lack of experience, Doug is pouring all of his time into prepping presentations when it only looks like Draper is an option.

No matter what happens in the future, I am very, very, unhappy with how things have gone for Doug during this training period. At this point, I wouldn't recommend that anyone join this company. I think it's appalling that we've been placed on such a frustrating roller coaster, and I'm more frustrated by all of it than Doug is. He just wants a chance to prove himself.

He has been gone so much during the last several months, and I've heard that the first three months in a building are just brutal. So I've read an article about happiness twice (enjoy the bumpy ride and know everything won't be amazing), prayed a whole lot for patience, looked at real estate listings for so, so many hours, and I just get to keep hanging on.

The positives:

1. Doug likes what he has been doing. He looks forward to being an administrator. 
2. I've gotten to be with family.
3. It doesn't snow as much or for as long in Utah.
4. We haven't paid a mortgage since July, and we're only paying for our storage unit. 
5. My baby has gotten older, so I think I'll be better able to handle holding down the fort all the time with the little bit more sleep I'm getting at night. 
6. My parents bring light and sunshine to our lives. They are also our unofficial babysitters when we put our kids down at night and head out. 
7. My kids will finish the school year at Highland because this has dragged out for so long.
8. We still may get to live here.
9. I still may get to move to a warm place because we aren't certain we'll get to stay in Utah County, despite Brad's many assurances that he wants Doug here. 

 That's a good list, right? I'm trying to be supportive and hopeful.

And a few other things going on in our life:

1. Isaac is competing in Battle of the Book and Knowledge Bowl this week. He has complained about both pretty much nonstop, but I'm still glad we went for this.
2. Lucy moved up in gymnastics, and it was so fun to see her try out for that advancement. She is graceful and strong, and I admire her.
3. Brookie got perfect grades again this semester.
4. Cason is still potty training, and it isn't going as quickly as I'd like. He was dry this morning and after his nap, so that's something. He still won't wander over to the potty and use it, though. I am always the one making that happen. I'm not sure what to do to effect the needed change of independent potty-initiation.
5. Corban can crawl, and he likes plank pose. He can pull himself up on ledges now, so we need a gate upstairs. He has started sleeping from 8-5:15 in the morning, and then he goes back to sleep for a completely unpredictable amount of time. Often, he wakes up as the kids go out the door for school and I try to feed him and put him back to sleep so I can go on a run. That doesn't always work out for us. 
6. I still like teaching my Eng 335 American lit class, and I may teach face to face and write more when my kids get older. For now, teaching one class is really good for me. I do want to write, but then I putter on the computer looking at houses for sale, or play Words with Friends, or read.

I'll need to post pictures soon to flesh out the life happenings over here.