23 January 2011 - A Week in Maryland

This week I traveled to Maryland to attend benefits orientation and to begin learning some of the aspects of my new job. Even before the benefits orientation started, I began to have some serious concerns about the job. Several of the benefits were very different from what had been explained to me when I was interviewing and negotiating. As the day went on, I felt more and more uncomfortable. On Wednesday, I had hoped that things would get better, but they got worse. I began to learn additional unsettling things regarding the position, including information about conflicts within my department and even a related lawsuit. By Thursday evening, I was beginning to feel that I'd made a very bad mistake. That evening, I returned home to Washington, PA.

I felt that I had not been honest with myself regarding the job, and I began to investigate my options regarding whether or not I could withdraw my resignation from W&J, and learned that I could. I met with my Stake President before a scout training on Saturday morning and received counsel from him. By Sunday, I felt that I had been led to feel that I should take the Maryland job because I needed to learn some valuable lessons, that I had learned those lessons, and that we needed to stay in Pennsylvania.

While I was wrestling with my career decisions, the girls were getting crafty as they often do. The subject these days is cake decorating. Jessica's becoming quite adept at it.Every year in February we have a cake auction at church to raise money for girls camp and scout camp. This year the girls want to donate a Mickey Mouse cake for the auction, so they've been practicing.
Here are the three girls, proud of their completed (and tasty) Mickey cake.