changes

So many changes coming at me so fast. This is the last week of my maternity leave. I'm trying hard to stay positive and upbeat, but I'm also trying to be realistic. Next Monday (and the days following) are going to be very difficult, and I just need to be prepared for that.

Big changes at work. As of our new fiscal year (which started yesterday), I'm now on the brand development team. That means new boss, new office and some different responsibilities. It's a move that makes sense given what I do, and I like and know the person I'll be reporting to (our VP of brand development). I've seen my new office - so much more space! And I'll no longer be doing pagination of the catalog. I won't miss that at all - the process was very political and often stressful. It makes much more sense for one of our graphic designers to do it, and that's who is now handling it. Yeah!!

But bigger than those changes is the fact that several of my good friends are no longer employed at FCS. Eight positions were eliminated on Friday in a cost-savings effort (we had a not-so-good 2007 and a bad Christmas). Two of those positions belonged to people I was closest to at work. It's going to be weird not having them there. We haven't had a round of lay-offs like that in several years. That's a good thing, because they used to be a more regular occurence, but it came as quite a surprise. So I'm not the only one dealing with a new reality and lots of changes - and while some of my changes are difficult, their changes are much more so.

Oh - as a continuation of my last post...last night was the broadcast of Mansfield Park on Masterpiece Theatre. It was pretty awful. The basic storyline of the book was there, but that's about it.

a few of my favorite things

I discovered Jane Austen in college. As an English major, I never had to read any of her novels, but I was introduced to her through the lovely BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, which aired on A&E and was taped by my parents. I continue to love this movie, but it was also a gateway to the books, which I love even more. They are some of my favorite things - funny, engrossing stories that are a pleasure to read.

PBS has revamped Masterpiece Theatre and relaunched the program with The Complete Jane Austen (you can learn more about it www.pbs.org/masterpiece).

So far, the dramatizations of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey have been shown. I've read Persuasion (excellent!) and seen a wonderful movie version starring Ciaran Hinds. The PBS version was pretty disappointing. For one thing, it was far too short so the entire story felt hurried. And some fairly important scenes and dialogue was cut, shortened or changed. While I understand the need to do some of that when trying to fit a story lik this into 80 or 90 minutes, there's no need to mess with key scenes - especially the ending, which is beautiful in the book and terrible in this movie version.

I've not read or seen another version of Northanger Abbey, so I enjoyed last night's movie a bit more, though I had the suspicion that it, too, was rushed. I'm going to be reading the book so I'll know for sure.

One of my favorite blogs to visit - especially now that these movies have started - is www.austenblog.com. Fun posts and intelligent discussion of all things Austen.

And since I'm trying to get myself back into work mode, here are a few more of my favorite things. This fall, I had the opportunity to interview two of my favorite artists - Amy Grant and Sara Groves. We had Amy Grant's records when I was little (I still can remember where our Age to Age record would skip when I now listen to the CD) and certain songs bring back memories from various times of my life. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it now, but spring break of my freshman year of high school, my family traveled to Nashville for a few days and we visited as many Amy landmarks as possible (let's just say I have very loving and patient parents. That was pretty much the first time we'd gone anywhere for spring break - and that's how we spent some of it!Not sure how Kevin felt about all of that). While I'm no longer that geeky 15-year-old (well, at least I'm not 15 any more), I was still excited and pretty nervous about talking to her. Plus, I always feel weird interviewing people over the phone - it feels kind of stilted and not like a real conversation. Anyway, you can find the interview here: www.familychristian.com/amygrant

Sara Groves has been a favorite of mine for several years now. I love her music, her songwriting, her heart and her normal-ness. She's just started working with The James Fund, Family's non-profit organization that benefits orphans and widows (www.jamesfund.org) so I'm hoping she'll be in Grand Rapids a little more often. Her new album is fantastic - but all of her albums are! Here's the Sara Groves interview: www.familychristian.com/saragroves

love at first sight

Peyton smiles are the best!

Much to my dismay, my maternity leave is winding down. Only three weeks left. It's gone so incredibly fast. Peyton and I visited work yesterday and it hit me - again - that I have to go back. I really like the people I work with and what I do, but going back is the last thing I want to do. I'm continuing to search for and pray about a part-time job so that I don't have to work full time. It's difficult to describe the ache I feel when I think about not being with him all day. The day he was born, I remember thinking "How is it possible to love someone I've just met this much?"

That thought hit me again last weekend when Pete and I went to see the movie Juno (we actually got out of the house to go on a date!) It's a funny, quirky movie about a 16-year-old girl who gets pregnant and decides to give her baby up for adoption. While it's a very funny movie, there are several very poignant scenes at the end (I won't describe them - don't want to spoil anything if you see the movie) that brought me to tears and all I could think was "I want to hug my baby right now." Wow -those women who give their babies up for adoption are doing such a selfless, beautiful thing. (I'm glad you work for Bethany, Dad!)

This is not meant to be a downer of a post, but I would appreciate prayers as we make this transition and as I search for a job that's more "family-friendly."