Touching Base

Life has been very busy since returning from vacation between work, family and ministry. David's graduation was great. I was able to record the ceremony on video and let out a big yell for him, "David, YOU ROCK!" He later told me he didn't hear it as he was going across the stage. Oh well, my heart was into it, can't deny that!

I've been doing a lot of recruiting and interviewing at work (and have had several candidates stand me up to boot). Today we finally got two candidates to accept job offers I extended. (May I just say, this was the first time we posted a position to Craig's List and the pool of candidates was huge and impressive. Not bad for $25 per ad! A typical ad in the newspaper runs anywhere from $300+ to $1300 and doesn't pull even half as many candidates!) Now it's time for all the pre-screening to ensure they are who they say they are and then sending out the sad news for the candidates that were not selected. Granted, the best candidates that I liked are the ones that actually got hired this time, so that's a big plus.

I also did some reporting of EEO-1 data for a federal contractor bid this week, some employment verification requests, a little workman's comp injury reporting, and letters on behalf of employee requests. For the EE0-1 reporting, I simply collect the personnel data and put together the report, the rest of the bid is someone else's job to do. On top of that, we will soon be gearing up to do Vet-100 reporting. Also, the week before, we changed our Dental plan and expanded our Medical Plans, so there have been countless inquiries from employees this past week and a half.

While Human Resources Administrator work is what I presently do, it's not my passion. Writing, research, and organizing are my true callings. Lately, I have been corresponding with a distant cousin on the Adams' line and am finding that I really enjoy genealogy. Also, since returning from Cape Cod, I've been reading Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford. It's really awesome, though a concentrated and slow read that requires focus. So, I've been immersed in historical research on both sides of the family. In fact, I just submitted preliminary membership for consideration to join the New York Society of Mayflower Descendants. We have already been documented for the first six generations up to Gideon Young's birth and this is all held at the main HQ. Now, to document these last few, it should be very exciting. As I look at the family history and read the historical accounts that Bradford recorded, it's exciting to see that we may actually be related to several Mayflower descendants.

I think becoming a certified genealogist might be a great way to incorporate the research, organzing and writing skills into one. I have only started considering this, and would need to research this more. I like the idea of doing historical novels that are true accounts, or even historical fiction. But for now, that seems overwhelming to be a first undertaking. I may instead try my hand at a few articles and see if I can get something written and published on a smaller scale. I have a couple of fun, albeit practical ideas. We'll see. The hard part is finding time to sit down, research, brainstorm, ponder and actually write. All too often, after work, I just want to sit down and veg, giving my brain a rest. Or when I do research, it's my personal reading projects, or when I'm putting a teaching together for the fellowship. Granted, some of these have been really good, and I have a mind to put them down here, it's just a matter of reaching beyond good intentions, and actually typing them out.

For the next four weeks my my home will be converted to a classroom setting where we will present our foundational class. I am very excited about how much this class does to help people actually learn how to read and understand the scriptures. It's life changing for these folks who make this commitment. So while I will not have a living room for nearly a month, it's a small price to pay for what tranformations God works in the hearts of people who seek Him with this kind of focused commitment. This may put some hindrances on how much I keep up on my blog, but bear with me...you never know when I might get on this thing and type a word or two.