Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sigh...I love my Job!!

I realize I have something very rare! The ability to say with a happy sigh, "I love my job!" I also realize that it is rare for someone to be living out their dream job twice in a lifetime. My first one being the position in my library back at home, the second and current dream job in the quilt shop!

In the past year I have been blessed more numerous times than I can count, but among those blessings I have been given one that was very unexpected for me.

It started out as simply a small email from a friend of mine saying she found out through her daughter's piano teacher that a position became available at A Stitch in Time. In that email there was a copy of a Facebook status (from the owner's daughter) which held the description of what exactly the shop was looking for. It said in brief, "Can you sew, like computers, and need a job?" The email had a brief description of times, days, and an email address to send the resume as well as the shop's physical address.

From midnight until 3:00 AM, I spent my time researching and composing a resume that I felt was professional enough for applying the next morning. I tried to sleep, but only woke up every so often to check the time.

By morning time, Nathan got up and I was awake in mere minutes with, "I wrote a resume, there is a position available at A Stitch in Time, the quilt shop by the antique mall, I am going to drop it off soon after they open at ten, I want to make sure to get it there as soon as I can, I don't want to be the last person to hand one in, do you think I might have a chance?" I did not need coffee that morning. I also did not want to get my hopes up, but I was just a wee bit excited. Ok A LOT excited.

Not only did I get there at exactly 10:00 AM, but I also emailed a copy to the owner's daughter. By Saturday afternoon, I received a phone call from the owner asking when would be best to interview me. I had an interview that very next week.

I do not remember much of the interview but felt like I had not said enough or made much of an impression. I left the store not knowing when I would hear back and if I had any chance of either a second interview or being hired.
About two weeks passed and I was asked to come in for a second interview, this time with two of her employees. The interview went well, was comfortable, but the more I replayed the interview, later, the more I felt I had not really said or done much to make any impressions at all.
Later that night, or maybe it was a day and night later, I received a call saying I got the job! I still remember the shock. I was feeding ducks, emptying a duck pool full of brown water, gathering eggs, and walking around in grub clothes and rubber boots at my sister-in-law's house while talking on the phone with my future boss. Could she hear the ducks in the background? was all I could think of while listening to her voice. They were rather loud!

I never would have dreamed of this! I did not feel professional, had only answered the job listing because I thought "it couldn't hurt to try," and had never before in my life written a resume and really had no idea if it came close to professional enough to get me hired!
I had planned on just enjoying a summer free from school and then one day go around job hunting. My summer was still school free, that part of my plan went through well, the next part was a God send! I didn't job hunt for one minute. It came to me and forced me to go out of my comfort zone and make that resume I was "one day" going to write.

I have been working for Maxine at A Stitch in Time for nearly four months now, have been enjoying my job immensely, and get to experience the joys that come from working under a beautiful Christian lady and Christian co-workers. And to think there was a time when I used to say, "I could never sew, it looks so boring!" I only added a sewing machine to my wedding registry because I thought I might need it for hemming and mending Nathan's pants! That it would be a house-wifely thing to do and I hated hand sewing!

I have come a long way, but none of it would be possible without those who pitched in to get that machine, however lower end of a model and brand it is, and my mother-in-law for showing me the basics of sewing and inspiring me to go further in my sewing as I began to dream bigger. She still supplies me with her grocery-store-trip, quilting magazine finds, for which I am eternally grateful! I also owe a lot to my husband for standing by my side and encouraging me in all my sewing projects and especially the encouragement he gave when I felt I was not cut out for this job.
I had a lot of people rooting for me and telling me they knew I could do it. Thanks for all who believed I could do it when I thought I was not good enough for any job, much less a dream job!
One last thanks goes to a friend of mine who loaned me her copy of a rag quilt, tote bag pattern while I was in my first semester of college at SCC. My love for bags and the sheer need for distraction and therapy from the looming and sometimes overwhelming amounts of homework drove me to my fabric, rotary cutter, and machine for a few minutes at a time each day for one week. After that bag, I was working on a new project once every other week. It was viral for me.

I now fear putting away my machine like I used to when I had finished a project. It now takes up permanent residence on a desk height shelf of our dining room closet. While it is a lovely sight to greet each day, I await the day I upgrade to a Babylock machine and say good-bye to my worn-out Singer. It has served its purpose well, but is drawing close to its end. We are saving as much as we can toward my new "baby." (For those who were thinking about buying me anything for Christmas, rethink the gift and see Nathan!)

God has truly blessed me in this job. I get to help people all day long, whether by keeping things straight in inventory, shipping items to the lady who orders something over the phone or the internet, cutting fabric, ringing them up, or simply walking around the shop helping a customer find that perfect fabric that will complete the current project in hand.