The Life

So, it's been a little while since I've posted. And I've got a fair bit of catching up to do with you all. As I mentioned before, I had an interview at King's for a part time administrative assistant position. Well, I was excited about it and while I was worried for a little bit because I phoned twice and I thought she didn't get back to me but really she was phoning my cell phone and leaving messages there and I let it run out of power so I wasn't hearing the phone ring or getting messages, it turned out I had no need to worry because it turned out she wanted me for the job as much as I wanted the job and yes, I meant that to be a run on sentence. I had put in my notice at Save On, because even though part of me fantasized just walking out one day when it got to be too much or staging some kind of dramatic scene, at the end of which, I would yell, "I quit!" and walk out and as much as I enjoy the stage, I'm just not that dramatic a person in real life. Also, I wanted to keep shopping at my grocery store, so I thought it would be pretty awkward to grocery shop there after behaving like a fifteen year-old. I had put in my notice before my new job offer had come through, which is not typical of me. But I was confident that I didn't want to stay at Save On even if the job at King's didn't work out.

(Gratuitous picture collage of Simon at the end of our August holidays)

But it did! And I worked my last shift at Save On Foods on Saturday and my first day at King's in the Development Department on Monday. The department has had a serious overhaul, with an almost completely new staff, so we have a lot of work to do to get ourselves caught up and organized, but with the staff we have, I think we'll be going along fine in no time.

Let me first tell you about how good a situation this new job is for my family and me. This job is 1/2 time, which is 18.75 hours per week. And I totally got to choose when I wanted to work. I am thrilled with this. When I initially imagined myself working an office job part time, I thought it might work best for my family for me to work in the afternoons, while my children napped. That way I would miss very little of their waking day. And while I worked, my husband would be home with the children, and he would be able to work while the children napped, too, so it would work out well for him too. But the more I thought of that, the more I realized that I was having a really hard time getting going in the morning as it was and the kids and I weren't really doing much of anything in the mornings. And I imagined myself trying to get myself dressed and ready for work over the lunch hour and I imagined myself really frustrated with the whole schedule. I decided to be a little selfish and asked Dan how he felt about me working mornings, which I thought would help bring some structure and routine to our days. I thought I would feel better about myself getting up early and getting out and then tending to the children in the afternoon (even though they still nap for most of it). I also thought since I prepare dinner every night, that it would be a little stressful to spend the afternoon at work, drive home in traffic (ok, it's really not that bad) and come home to prepare dinner right away. So, we have opted for me working mornings. Monday to Friday 8:30-12:30, every fourth Friday off. How great is that? Then I go home, get greeted like a queen... a very informal queen... have lunch with my kids, put them down for naps and clean or work outside, prepare supper and have a pretty regular evening with my family. That's the life! After two days, I'm loving it.

Gratuitous picture collage of my kids at the World Largest Truck at the beginning of our August vacation

It seems to be working out well for Dan, too. He's really more of an afternoon person, as far as getting his brain functioning properly, so that's a good time for him to work. He awesome at getting the kidlets dressed in the morning and managing to keep them that way until I come home at lunch. He also manages to feed them before I get home, which is not that difficult if you consider the alternative (Simon getting madder and madder as he gets hungrier and hungrier and Zoe asking for a snack every 30 seconds). I think it's still going to take some balancing to make sure Dan gets enough of his own time, but so far, so good. Also, happy wife... happy life.