Random Tid Bits

Let's count all the ways the Apel family is busy!

1. Travis landed himself a gig at an elementary school. They wanted an artist to teach sculpture to the kids there. He had to test run some projects. He tested them out on Mica. Isaak got super jealous. We had to explain that Isaak's not the age group Travis needed to test these projects out on. They are wire on wooden blocks. You put knee highs over the wire. Then you can paint the knee highs with Gesso. It looks like a legit sculpture. Something you'd find in a gallery.


2. Travis also is wrapped up in an organization called Omaha Permaculture. They like his art. He likes them. The director of the group wants to hire him to do things from time to time. 


3. Travis has been modeling for a college class. You'd think with all these gigs we'd be rich! Nope we need health insurance that doesn't suck!


4. I had a doctor's appointment for that "thing" in my head. YAY! I'm cancer free. I didn't think it was cancer, but when the doctor pulled it out he said, "I'm glad we're sending this in to be tested. It was behind the muscle. It's a tumor too!" I actually had what's called a lipoma, which is in fact a tumor. I probably have had more of them on my scalp. They are super common. It's just fatty tissue build up. Some people get them after a major surgery, but I've had this one before my nose surgery. In my case it's more hereditary. In the next 4 weeks it will dramatically get lighter. I have to keep wearing sunscreen, otherwise it will turn pink. 





5. I've had a few interviews. I think it's safe to say that no one from my work reads this blog. Even if they do, they wouldn't blame me for looking around. Enrollment is way down. I'm highly respected, so they aren't going to fire me. I forgot how long it takes to fill out job applications, update my resume, fill out cover letters, work on design pieces for my website and so on. It sucks because I like my job that I have now overall. I really love my first year students. 


6. When I was trying to find an old employer, it brought on sadness. He was my first nice boss when I got hired on as a designer in Atlanta. Why was I sad? He's not from here. He's from Iran. Apparently he moved back to the Middle East to United Arab Emirates. I'm sad because it's hard to use him as a reference. Beside the personal part of it, I just hope the US didn't make him feel unsafe and unwelcomed. He was a super nice person and business man! I found him on facebook, and messaged him a thank you, for being you kind of message. If he would have begged me to stay before we were mostly packed up, I would have stayed. Our lives would be much different. I had 1 boss before him that was from Pakistan; he was not so nice. I was happy to have this nice boss. He was an inspiring leader. 


7. Next week is midterms. The week before midterms is always super busy too!


8. Isaak of course has been busy with basketball, Isaak will begin his Science Fair project, Mica's been busy with his project moving up in the Science Fair. We've had conferences, after school events, and birthday parties. 


9. Mica's school had a walk out. I'm ok with protesting if you know what you're protesting about. Somehow I think with middle schoolers they really don't have a clue. Travis talked with the boys for an hour about school safety, school shootings, what people are protesting for, and so on. The next day Mica's school had a verbal treat. The student that made the threat was searched by a police officer. I'm not surprised. Scary indeed. 


10. I can't forget the ice. A few ice storms last week made it difficult to get around. The car was in the shop for most of a week. What a mess that was! 

What have you been up to? Is your life super busy right now?

More Good Things Have to Happen

I believe in the Yin and Yang. When bad things happen, good things happen to. It just seems like the bad is out weighing the good right now. We need balance.

Travis lost his job...it seemed like good things were coming up. Then the good things sort of went no where. I know that happens when one looks for a job. 

Up until this point Travis was feeling upbeat. Then last night he was like, "February just sucks!" I couldn't agree more.

He wrote 2 proposals for art displays in our area. 

One was specifically for artists that are for parents. They offered a stipend, childcare and space to do your work. It takes awhile to think, and write up a proposal! He submitted it, and sent in his fee.

He got an email yesterday that they were cancelling the the proposal. They didn't do their research, and weren't equip to watch children. He gets his $40 back, but doesn't get his time back for writing the proposal. He doesn't even know if anyone looked at his proposal. He was really excited about it. Now he's pissed.

The other proposal he wrote...that one is on hold because the business decided to move. Yet another disappointment. 

Job leads seem to be on a stand still. 

Our YMCA membership is on a 3 month hold after this month. 
 
Isaak was supposed to test this month for his next stripe in Ju-Jitsu. We showed up last week with our $25. Sensei said they'd test this week. 

We went in to have him get tested last night, and Sensei wasn't there. He was at school conferences. You can't tell me he didn't know about that last week. His helper said, "It will have to happen next week." Well...we're on a 3 month hold after this week is over. They knew that. Travis and I were both upset.


I swear I'm thinking of sneaking into the Y to get him tested next week.

We already were told by one Y instructor to just come to sneak into her class anyway.

We were supposed to get our $600 back from our Health Insurance for the kid's Tamiflu.

We got a letter saying that we didn't mark down how many days they took it, so they cancelled the claim. We took it to the Pharmacist. They submitted it, but told us it can take up to 10 weeks to get that money. What a mess!

Two doctors told my sister that they think my nephew Emerson has a tethered spinal cord.

That means he will need spinal surgery ASAP. It doesn't show up until kids start growing. The success of the surgery is usually pretty good. But it's major.

Now on with the good. We need more good. It needs to be as heavy as the bad for balance.

My Dad is healing with his heart surgery.

Mica won 1st place in his story, and will get awarded next month. 

Travis' old boss said, "If we have someone buy into us, which someone is interested - We want you back." He doesn't know that he wants to go back. Sometimes a job is a job. He doesn't know if this will even happen. He's frustrated. He said, "If that happens the boss man and I will have a long talk before I accept."
  Travis does have job leads - they may be going no where right now, but they are leads none the less. That is both good and bad.

The boys are doing well in school. 

Random Tid Bits

1. My husband is still looking for a job. Every place he's applied at is interested, but not hiring. That seems to be the way it goes. He's seeing a temp agency that specifically deals with his type of trade. One thing that's nice is that he's not closed to trying other things. He worked at a dental lab, and has applied to more progressive labs. He's also applied to Scheels, Costco, and is going to apply to Oriental Trading Company just because we've heard they are good places to work. Other things he'd love to do he's applied to: Jewelery Stores (to make jewelery), and steel manufacturers. Then I told him to apply to places that make grave stones. That sounds morbid, but he can sandblast, so it would be something he could do, and would probably like doing. The job he really wants is to work for Artifact Bag Company. The guy is super nice. He did a Ted talk. He's grown really fast. He's interested in Travis' skills, but is so busy. He said he could put his name down on unemployment, and he wants to meet up with him after he gets back from a trade show in DC. But then he didn't tell him when he'd get back. I hope that works out for him.


2. Neither of us have ever applied for unemployment. If you ever have to fill it out, get advice on filling it out. He apparently put that he was fired on one form, and on another that he was dismissed. Apparently they mean 2 different things. We have to wait an extra 4 to 6 weeks to get benefits. 1 means you screwed up at your job, while the other means you ran out of work. His is that his boss ran the business into the ground, and he couldn't afford to pay him. I can't even tell you the difference between getting fired and dismissed. I'd have to ask all over again. He was inconsistent on the forms, which held him back on the benefits. I do like that he's filling all that out though. It keeps him recording what he's doing.


3. Dad's back is getting better. We were thinking he would need to see a doctor because it's hurt for a week now. Yesterday it started feeling better. His family has loads of back problems. Truth be told I have way worse posture than he does. I should be the one with back problems.


4. I did love getting an email this week from Google saying, "We owe you $100 for hits on your blog." Hey any little bit of money counts. I never really blogged for the money. It started out as just a modern day baby book; that led into much more.


5. The weather has been mixed up here. 1/2 a week is frigid, then the rest of the week is in the 30's, or 40's. 

The picture looks warm, but Monday through Wednesday was in the negatives for wind chill, and 5 or 10 degrees all those days. I'm not complaining. I just thinks it's odd that the weather is fluctuating so much.
What is is like where you live right now?