Mother's day 2019

We had a nice quiet Mother's Day here. Lincoln was sick, sick, sick, so after church (Austin stayed home with Lincoln) we just lazed around and spent time together. I took some pictures with the kids, Levi gave me a card, Austin made the meals and also cleaned the kitchen, Cecil gave me a hug and said, "Happy Mother's Day!" and Lincoln gave me the best snuggles all day long (too bad it was because he's sick!).

We had some really nice family time on the couch. Levi has recently finished reading the first Harry Potter book (!!) and watched the movie, so he made a wand for himself and was casting spells on all of us. We took turns being petrified and levitated. Austin joined in and was pretty successful at sabotaging Levi's spells by either blocking them with his hands or saying words almost the same as the ones for the spell, but not quite. When Levi and Cecil working together were finally able to keep him from using his hands to block the spells at the same time Levi was able to say the petrification spell without being messed up, Austin fell down and the boys laughed with joy, and Lincoln even cracked a smile and let out a tiny laugh despite feeling so bad.

Cecil got out our baby doll and Austin had him hold it like a new baby. Cecil was very gentle and careful; it was so cute! Then he wrapped the baby in a blanket and carried it around for a while, placing it on the couch and re-wrapping it at intervals. At one point, he asked for a diaper, which I coached him on putting on the doll but he mostly did it himself. I told him that he was getting good practice in for one day when he's a daddy, and that seemed to make him feel extra special. 

I also mentioned that when the new baby is born, Cecil won't be big enough to change his diaper, but Levi probably could! Levi seemed pretty taken with that idea and wanted to get some practice in immediately, and changed Lincoln's diaper! He even thought to give Lincoln a toy to hold without me saying anything. I was pretty impressed! I don't think Lincoln will cooperate so well in the future, but this time he seemed so taken with the novelty of Levi changing his diaper that he just watched and listened in fascination.

Cecil was pretending the hat was Cappy from Mario Odyssey. That means you can control
whoever's wearing it, even if it's a bad guy!

Poor sick Lincoln showing the camera his nose (I'm not sure why...)

Levi wanted a silly picture! He did smile normally for later pictures, but for some reason my camera had stopped working, so you don't get to see those!

How to choose a career

I've been thinking lately about how to choose the optimal career (yes, I'd like to go back into the workforce someday). I'd like to live in a specific area of the country and find fulfillment and success in whatever career I choose.

When I was choosing my college major, I only thought about my aptitude and desired income. However, I have come to realize that there is so much more to this. Here are some factors I've considered as I've pondered my options:

1. Location. Some jobs are only found in the city,  others in the country; some are more plentiful in specific parts of the country or world, and others have demand almost universally.

2. Social interaction. Do you enjoy talking to others, or would you be happier being left alone for the majority of the day with periodic interaction with co-workers that you see every day? How comfortable are you with interacting with strangers, and on how personal a level?

3. Future demand. How much demand will there be for your profession in 10 years or more?

4. Current demand. Is the job market saturated with people in the job you're considering, or is there a high demand for it with few suitable candidates?

5. What standard of living are you willing to accept?

6. Is the subject matter you have to learn to work in the profession appealing to you? Is this something you'd like to think about for a large portion of your life?

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Since I'm interested in a smaller city than the one I'm currently in and have considered the town I grew up in, I had to think about which jobs are available there. The town I grew up in is very small (less than 10,000 people). I realized that in order to work there in a profession that would be mentally stimulating and provide the income I wanted, my choices were limited. The professions I came up with were: Something related to the school system, the government, health care, the law, or business ownership. There are almost no mechanical engineering positions there, and almost certainly very few tech positions, which is a profession I think I would be well suited for. So I'll probably have to choose a location that is close to but not in the town I grew up in.

I have to learn more about the opportunities in tech to know which specific position would most appeal to me, but I would love to have something with a reliable amount of social interaction and something with a lot of demand so that I can have a lot of choices as to which company I would work for.