January 2008 Lower Family Newsletter

[Chad T. Lower]

Happy 2008 to you all.

2007 was filled with much joy, excitement, challenges, changes, ...
You know, the usual.

The last time there was a lapse in the newsletter, I was going to
attempt to tell an event each time until we were caught up. Well,
that plan didn't work out so well, so this will be a (quick) update
since the last newsletter went out, well, last December.

To recap last December's newsletter:

December [2006] was a time of great transition for our family. At the
start of December, I was working three jobs. At the end of December,
I was only working one job. As I am no longer a student, I cannot
teach at the college as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. My job through
Pittsburgh was part of the Student Career Experience Program. Again,
not a student, so not eligible. So I am still working at Wal-Mart. I
did get a promotion, though. I was a cashier since I started in
August of 2005. I am now a sales associate in the Home Entertainment
(think Electronics) department. A familiar place for me as I was an
electronics sales associate at my first store, and the electronics
department manager at my second store. We also found out in December
that Susan is pregnant with our third child. We estimate the child
will be born in August, but will see the doctor in mid-January to
confirm our thoughts. Of course, tax time is almost upon us. Suzy
has given up her accounting business as of 2006 to spend more time
with family, but will still do taxes this year (and knowing her,
probably more to come).

I also sent out a short announcement in August about the birth of our
daughter, Alessandra (Ali), but other than that, the newsletter has
been silent this past year. So, what happened to the Lower family in
2007...

In January, I applied for a job teaching math at the Pennsylvania
College of Technology in Williamsport, PA. Still working at Wal-Mart.
I finally finished my certification to teach secondary Mathematics
and Chemistry in Pennsylvania. Since I was already certified in
Michigan, it required 3 more tests and a bunch of fees and hoops to
jump through. Looking for teaching jobs, but not wanting to move
anytime soon.

In February, much of the same. Still at Wal-Mart. Still in
Electronics. Starting to think of going into the Wal-Mart Management
Program. At this point, I have been with the company 11½ years in
various positions, including Support Manager. I have been asked
several times to go into the program, but always turn them down
because I want to finish my schooling. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart is
restructuring their management training program, so I have to wait
until the restructure is complete to apply for a position.

In March, we celebrated Malachi's second birthday. Still at Wal-Mart.
Still in Electronics. As I will be teaching motorcycle safety
classes again this year, I attend the annual update for that this
month as well. This month, I also get approached by my manager at
Wal-Mart about getting promoted again. Take note that Wal-Mart's usual
policy is that a person has to be in their current position for 6
months before being eligible for a promotion or transfer. Since I
went into electronics in December, I cannot enter the Assistant
Manager Training Program until June anyway. At the store level, there
is a bit more flexibility, so I would be able to be promoted sooner if
a position became available. After talking it over with Suzy, we
decided to go ahead and take the promotion now. Our thoughts were
that by accepting the transfer now, I would be making more money for
the next six months until I was eligible again to go into the training
program. Six months puts us into September. We would continue to
look for teaching jobs, and, if one became available, I would take
that and not go into the management program after all. With the new
child, we would have to move eventually. Our current house is only a
two bedroom. Bella and Chi are sharing, but then where would Ali
sleep? And would Bella still want her little brother sharing her room
when she got older? With that in mind, it made it easier to look for
jobs as we weren't tied down to that area.

In April, I finally got my interview for the new position at Wal-Mart.
A brief primer: I was asked to apply for a new position called APA
or Asset Protection Associate. About a year before, Wal-Mart decided
to do away with a position called Loss Prevention, or LP for short,
whose primary responsibility was to catch shoplifters. As such, these
positions were nicknamed "floor walkers." This move was supposed to
be hush hush as Wal-Mart did not want thieves to know they were taking
this action. But someone leaked the information and the newspapers
had a field day reporting this "news." As such, Wal-Mart lost huge
amounts of money from shoplifting over that next year. They decided
to bring the floor walker position back, but with a new name and added
responsibilities. The store manager was involved in the hiring
decision, but all candidates had to be interviewed for the position by
the Market Asset Protection Manager (MAPM) as well. As our MAPM
travels from store to store, it took about 2 weeks until he was able
to come to our store to interview me. The interview went well, and I
would be promoted to that position pending a thorough background
check. Considering I was just subject to background checks when I
first started working for the CDC and when applying for teaching
certification in Pennsylvania, I was not worried at all. It was also
in April that I received a phone call from Joanna Pruden from the
Pennsylvania College of Technology (Penn College from here on) about
my application that I submitted way back in January. I was selected
in the initial pull and they wanted to set up a phone interview with
me for early May.

In May, my background check from Wal-Mart finally came back. The
police department didn't notice my signature, so they were waiting for
me to come down to the station to sign my form. Once we pointed out
that I did already sign it, they processed it and I started in my new
position on May 12. This caused a small setback in Suzy and my plans
as now, 6 months puts us into the middle of November before I am
eligible for a promotion or transfer. My phone interview with Penn
College was May 9. Apparently it went well, since I made that cut and
was asked to come onto campus for an on campus interview May 21. That
ended up being a crazy weekend as I worked an Experienced Motorcycle
Course Saturday, then a Basic Motorcycle Course Sunday finishing at
6:30. I then drove straight to Williamsport that night arriving
shortly before midnight. I spent the night in Williamsport to be
ready for my 9-5 interview, then drove back to Morgantown the next
morning to be there on time for work at 11am. Suzy and I also
celebrated 7 years together this month! Our daughter Isabella got her
first pair of eyeglasses. And my sister Laurie and her husband Matt
gave birth to a baby boy, Teagan George.

June started with Suzy's birthday. It also started with a job offer
from Penn College. I made the final cut and was one of three new
mathematics faculty hirees
(http://www.pct.edu/pctoday/facstaff/College_Welcomes_New_Faculty_Staff_to_Academic_Schools.shtml).
Suzy and I decided to accept that position, which would put us in an
awkward situation. It almost felt like when we were moving to Detroit
(when the newsletter started). Here is Suzy, many months pregnant,
and we need to move to a new location for a new teaching job, find a
house, get her and the kids to the house, sell our old house.... At
least this time, she will have given birth about a month before the
move instead of the month after the move. The other snafu is that I
start at Penn College in August, but cannot transfer Wal-Mart's until
November (if I decide to stay at Wal-Mart after the move). We put our
house on the market June 29 and started looking for houses in
Williamsport almost immediately. In mid-June, I finished my training
for my new job at Wal-Mart and was signed off to be on my own. Within
the first 2 hours of my shift, I had caught 2 shoplifters, so it was a
pleasant day. I think I caught two more that week, then didn't catch
anyone for another month. We also signed Bella up for Kindergarten.
She had a ½ day summer school starting in June to help get her ready
for whole day Kindergarten in September.

July really wasn't all that exciting. I worked at Wal-Mart. We
looked for houses. That about sums up July.

August started with the birth of our third child Alessandra Chadee.
In years past, when Bella and Chi were born, I would immediately take
a week off from all my jobs and just spend time at home helping Suzy
with whatever she needed. This time, we decided to use the birth of
our child to help with our Wal-Mart dilemma. Per federal law, either
parent can take a 12-week leave of absence due to the birth of a child
within the first year of its birth. If my last day working at
Wal-Mart was August 19, my 6 months would be up on November 12, which
is exactly 12-weeks later. So rather than take time off right away
for Ali's birth, I delayed it, but then never really got to help Suzy
with her needs. Fortunately, Suzy had a great support system in Point
Marion between family and her friends from MOPS. Due to my schedule
at Wal-Mart, I was able to be with Suzy for the two days she was in
the hospital. I also called off the third day to drive her and Ali to
Dr's appointments since she wasn't supposed to drive. The fourth day
I had scheduled off, so those 4 days, I did get to spend at home. The
following week, I worked Wal-Mart Saturday through Tuesday, then drove
to Williamsport for Penn College orientation on Wednesday, Thursday,
and Friday. I drove back to Point Marion to work Wal-Mart Saturday
and Sunday, then back to Williamsport to start teaching that Monday
morning. Although we have been looking for houses since June, we
haven't found anything that screamed, "This is the one!" I did see a
house I liked on the first day of my orientation and told Suzy about
it when I came home that weekend. While we were still looking for
housing, I was going to do what I did when we moved to West Virginia.
I was going to camp and ride my motorcycle everywhere I needed to
until we found a place. Before I was able to finalize my plans with
the campground, the Chair of the Mathematics Department offered for me
to stay at his house with him and his wife until we found a place.
"Rent" was $40 a week and they provided most dinners. God really
blessed me with their generosity. At Penn College, I was scheduled to
teach 3 developmental classes and 2 topics classes. On my third day
teaching, I get a phone call from my wife telling me she is in the
Emergency room due to pain she had in her abdomen the night before. I
teach that day, but we keep in contact, and I drove back to Morgantown
that night to be with her in the hospital. She ended up having a gall
bladder attack, so they removed her gall bladder Friday. I was able
to stay and help her until Sunday, but then had to leave for
Williamsport again to teach on Monday. Less than a month after
delivering a baby and she has surgery. Plus trying to take care of
two older kids. Fortunately Bella's first day of school was that
Monday, so she had a bit of a breather for the first part of the day.

For September and October, I work at Penn College during the week. We
celebrated Bella's fifth birthday in September and my 31st birthday in
October. On weekends, I drive to Point Marion and spend time there
with Suzy and the children or Suzy comes up to Williamsport to look
for houses. After looking at 57 houses, we decided to bid on the best
of the worst—the house I had seen during orientation in August. After
a week of negotiations, we got the house. Most of October was then
spent finalizing the mortgage, getting inspections done, looking for
insurance, etc. Our closing date was tentatively listed as the Friday
after Thanksgiving.

In November, lots of fun and exciting things were happening. My last
day of my leave at Wal-Mart was the 12th. At this point, I could have
put in my notice and told them I wasn't coming back, but we still
haven't sold our house in Point Marion. Paying two mortgages would be
difficult on one income, so I am still working at Wal-Mart. I decided
to come back early and work the weekend, so I worked Saturday, Sunday,
and Monday that week at my old Wal-Mart. On Monday, I put in for a
transfer to the Montoursville Wal-Mart and called them the same day.
They had talked about making me a CSM or possibly putting me in
Sporting Goods, but I ended up being asked to transfer to the 1-Hour
Digital Photo Center (aka Photo Lab). Tuesday through Friday I worked
at Penn College, then started at the Montoursville Wal-Mart that
Saturday. Closing for the house also got moved up about 10 days to
this same Wednesday, two days before I started at the new Wal-Mart. I
closed on the house, spent the next two nights at the Math Chair's
house before spending my first night in our new house. (BTW, our new
address is 1142 High St; Williamsport, PA 17701) Suzy had packed me
an air mattress and some essentials, which I would live on until she
arrived with everything else the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Fortunately for us, several people in my family were going to be in
Chambersburg, PA for Thanksgiving, so they offered to drive to Point
Marion on Friday to help pack up the house, then drive to Williamsport
on Saturday to help unpack. A huge thank you goes out to my Uncle
Bob, Uncle Roy, Aunt Carol, and Aunt Kathie. They certainly weren't
the only ones who helped us. My father-in-law Bill drove the moving
van, my mother-in-law Helen helped watch the kids while we were
packing and unpacking, my sister-in-law Jeanie also helped on both
ends of the move.

December wrapped up Penn College. I gave final exams and final
grades. Currently we are on break at the college, but I am still at
Wal-Mart in the Photo Lab, mostly selling cameras. Bella is also on
break from school, which is hard for her to understand since she wants
to go back really bad. Our new house is a three bedroom, so Bella and
Chi both have their own rooms for now. We are starting to think about
moving Ali in Bella's room within the next few months and are starting
to prepare for that. Bella is really excited to share her room.
Malachi is being a great big brother and a helper to Suzy while Bella
is in school. Ali has started solid foods and rolled over for the
first time last week. She is a pudgy baby, but not nearly as heavy
and Bella nor Chi were at her age. As she will be turning 5 months in
a week, we are looking for a doctor for her 5-month check-up. We
found a doctor based on a recommendation, but have not met with her
yet. I am excited to do so as she received really high accolades from
a person who is very critical of those in the health professions. Of
course,we are still doing all the things you need to when moving:
looking for the best grocery store, gas station, mechanic, church,
trying to find our way from place to place without getting lost...

I pray God blesses you throughout 2008.