Changes in Career, for now

I got a new job.

 

I'll be pouring coffee and handing out donuts. It's pretty glamorous. It's at a place that I frequent almost daily, so it should be like nothing has changed :p

 

It's crazy to me, that this is the turn my life has taken.

 

I was comfortable in the job I've had for the past 4 years. I felt like it was a place I could stay and potentially grow. I thought when I spent the past year at my temporary job, that I was just doing more 'growing'. Learning a new aspect of the company, branching out, opening myself to more opportunities. Instead, here I am at the low end of the totem pole. I'm working two days a week. Back when I was the 'new girl' I was working 3-4 days a week, and that was tough. Now I've been around longer than some, and I'm working half the shifts I was working when I first started. My career sure did take a 'hit'. It might be months before I could get full-time at this company again, even though I'm working between two different locations. I never thought, four years later, this is where I'd be.

 

So I'm going to be pouring coffee and handing out donuts.

 

I'm a little sad, but I'm also a little excited. I like change, I like fast-paced, and I like the schedule this new job should be able to give me. It's the right move for my family.

 

Who am I kidding? It's the only move.

 

Now that my job situation is coming together, we're stuck with another problem.

 

Do we keep our 3 bedroom townhouse with the finished basement that we've grown to love, or do we trade it in for something smaller, cheaper, with heat included? I keep going back and forth on this. Neither of us want to move. Do we suffer it out for a bit, and hope our financial situation improves? Or do we bite the bullet and move to a cheaper spot, to make sure we don't have to be so financially scared?

 

It is so hard to know what the right move is to make. I wish someone could make these decisions for me.

 

Ps.. does anyone know a free fortune teller?

Blurbs, etc.

Once upon a time I got a job. And part of the job was selling tickets for dinner theatre. And this week there is a sale on the dinner theatre tickets. So I've been much busier at work lately. 

I thought I had something to say today, but it turns out I don't. 

- I am very tired. Madi had a screamfest as soon as we went to bed last night for about an hour, for what seemed like no reason. How fun. 

- For the first time in a long time, I am so sick of sugar and chocolate right now. And it's only because I drank less than half a can of Pepsi. I'm not a huge fan of pop. 

- I miss Chloe and want to go home from work. I have a little over an hour left. 

- I died my (dirty blonde) hair over the weekend. Before and after pictures below. Dirty blonde. It even sounds like an ugly color. I like my hair better when it's darker. 

Someday soon I might actually blog, but today I'm just not feeling it. 

"Cheese"

Before

After

A Typical Weekday in My World

A Day In My Life

7:03 am - Both iPhone alarms go off. At the same time, even though both alarms are always in the same spot. One should be set for later, but somewhere along the lines they got messed up. Boyfriend shuts them off the gets comfy again. I'm half asleep, but still annoyed because I know we need to get up, and the person who shuts the alarms off is responsible for getting lazy asses out of beds. 

7:10 am - We finally get up, get dressed, and most days wake up the girls. Rarely are they up before us. Lucky, I know. I grab Chloe from her crib, and lately let her pick out which long-sleeve shirt she wants to wear. I want her to wear long sleeve ones because soon it'll be too hot for them. 

7:20 am - We make it downstairs and throw a breakfast together for the girls. Usually cereal or toast. When we have a bit more time it might be pancakes or omelets. 

7:25 am - I sneak back upstairs to grab my phone (take 3/4 of the above photos), and lay in bed for a few minutes because I'm cranky and don't want to deal with anyone but Chloe at the moment. 

7:40 am - Get the girls dressed for the day. Madi fights it the whole time, just narrowly escaping a time-out, which she ends up getting soon after when she still fights to get her coat and boots on. 

7:55 am - Out the door, hopefully, with Eric with me on Wednesday and Fridays (which are days that we do our day on a schedule a half hour later). Alone with Chloe on Mondays and Tuesdays. Just me and the girls on Thursdays. Off to daycare we go. 

8:05 - 8:15 am - Arrive at daycare. Take off coat and put on indoor shoes on Madi. Hugs and kisses for Madi, then she runs off. Talk to the daycare chef about her diet for a few minutes, then repeat the same routine for Chloe. Hugs and kisses, then (today only) without being prompted she tells me 'I la', which means 'I love you'. It kills me a little. I'll probably never forget it.

8:19 am - Drive-thru for coffee on somedays. I've skipped it a lot lately, but today I also skipped breakfast, so I got a cinnamon roll. 

8:25 am - 4:30 pm - Arrive at work. Check my email, my voicemail, my Facebook. Do some work. This is where it gets boring. I sporadically eat throughout the day. Snacks, maybe leftovers from the night before, or a nasty cup of microwave KD. Yum yum. Time flies from 4:00 until 4:30 and I'm free to go. To daycare, of course. 

4:45 pm - Arrive at daycare. The girls are usually outside if it's nice out. Grab whichever one sees me first. Usually it's Chloe because her play area is smaller, and Madi is too busy playing to even look up. I grab Madi second, and try to get Chloe to stay in one spot while I dump Madi's boots that are full of sand. Drag two kids to the car and away we go. 

5:00 pm - Drag the girls in, wash their hands, and change their clothes if needed. Turn on some cartoons and give sippy cups and hopes that distracts them so I can whip up some kind of a supper. It works for Madi, almost never for Chloe. She's an attention freak. 

5:15 or 5:30 pm - The kids eat. Rarely, but sometimes I eat with them. Rarely, but sometimes I'll do a few dishes. Usually I just supervise the eating, since Chloe likes to throw it more than eat it some days. 

6:15 pm - Some days we have to leave at this time to pick Eric up at work, now that his car is broken down and we're sharing a car. We did this yesterday. 

6:33 pm - Daddy was late! But arrived a minute later, looking like a creep with a tuxedo t-shirt on. I'd like to burn that shirt. (Ps, how do you like our sunglass collection? We still have two more toddler pairs that are missing from the pile.)

7:00 pm - Snack time! Applesauce or yogurt or raisins or crackers, etc. 

7:20 pm - A new routine: read a book in our bed while they drink their milk. It was semi-successful. They listened to some of the book, but didn't drink much milk. 

7:30 pm - Bedtime! Insert sighs of relief. 

7:35 pm - 9:30 pm - All the relaxing in the world. 

9:30 pm - Bedtime is on my mind usually. 

10:15 pm - Bedtime! Or close to it. And luckily we usually get to sleep through the night until the alarm goes off again at 7:03 am. 

And that, my friends, is what our days are like lately. 

Drunk Birthday Photos of the Past and Back to Work

I don't do birthdays with class. 

My birthdays? Are either a drunken good time, or a night of junk food. 

24th birthday. Liquor and ice cream cake

19th birthday

23rd birthday

20th birthday - No, they're not all mine

Chloe's birthday? Reduced me to tears. 

When Chloe's birthday party was over and the guests left and Chloe was having a nap, all I could do was look around and try not to cry. The leftover decorations and new presents were just a huge reminder that the party was over. My daughter's first birthday party had come and gone. It was the last big event of my super long vacation. Not only was her party over, it also served as a bit of an 'end'. The end of my 13 months of maternity leave. 

I was only set to go back to work a week later, on October first, but knew things were a bit up in the air after going in for a job interview. As of Sunday, I had no idea if I'd be starting work that week or the next, but either way my time home with Chloe was coming to a quick end. I always knew I'd be sad when it was time to go back to work, but I thought I'd take it easily enough. I was a little sadder than anticipated. 

I got a call Monday around lunch that had me packing up Chloe with enough clothes and food to last her a week, and bringing her to my mothers. She only starts daycare on October 1st, but the phone call was asking me to start work on Wednesday (today), to start the new job that I had been interviewed for. 

This is a huge deal for me and Chloe because my old job (which I love) could only give me a couple of daytime shifts a week. Squeezing in enough shifts to make a decent pay check would've been incredibly hard, and most likely would've ended with me either working two jobs, or looking for a new job altogether. 

This new job is Monday to Friday, and the hours are within daycare hours. I don't have to worry about working anymore. This should be a huge relief, and it is, but I'm still sad to leave my daughter, and especially early. It makes me especially sad, because for her to stay with my mother (an hour away), I won't see her all week, including her birthday.

Chloe and my mother

I woke up the morning of her birthday and just lay there feeling sad about how I wasn't waking up to her pretty face. It was especially hard because she's been a bit feverish since the afternoon of her party. I hate being away from her. 

But ultimately, this is great for us so that's what I'm doing. And today, by the time you're reading this post, I should be starting my first day of training at my new job. 

I am now a conference coordinator. Doesn't that sound important? I love having a nice title. 

But I sure do miss my baby.