Sunday, January 12, 2014

Back to working mom

This is just a random update post.  I don't know if anyone else likes these play by plays of my life but sometimes it is nice to write it out just for my own ability to review and reflect on experiences.

So last spring I got my real estate license and have been busy not making money ever since.  Everyone assures me that it takes at least a year to get up and start making money.  Since I am still several months from that year it stands to reason that my lack of income over the past 8 months is not that surprising.  Not that have done nothing but what I have done won't be keeping us housed and fed.

So this fall I started looking for a part time job to supplement my income.  I considered full time as well and had one job that I actually would have taken if they had made the decision in the last couple months (I appear to be their number one candidate but they haven't decided yet to fill the position).  Other than that one job I was basically ignored by the world of human resources.  I was starting to wonder if I was doing something wrong when responding to Craig's List postings.  Maybe they weren't actually getting my resumes.

To be honest the stress of the fall made me slightly grateful I didn't have a "real" job.  However, the stress of not having any income did not help the other personal stress at all.  But in the back of my mind on really bad days I did wonder if maybe God just knew I could not be working at that time.  Finally as the year ended and the big burden moved off to the side I sat down in front of Craig's List ads once again.  The Monday before New Years I sent out resume's to 4 or 5 jobs.  All of which were very different positions but sounded interesting in their own ways.  I had gotten in the habit of doing this every week or two so I didn't really think much of it but on Jan 2 I got an email asking to set up an interview!  And then I got another, and then another!  By Jan 3 I had 3 job interviews lined up for this past week and ended up having a follow up interview for the full time job as well.  4 interviews in one week after months of crickets.  God knows.  We do the work, but always he brings in the harvest at just the right moment.

After many discussions with John I narrowed it to a first and second choice, prayed and waited to see what would happen next.

Great news!  My first choice offered me a job!  At the same time I have been helping out a realtor at my office that asked if I would be interested in joining his team.  Initially I wasn't sure I wanted to give up my total independence but realized the benefits outweighed the negatives and decided to go for it.  And here I am back to work!  Part time assistant manager of a mini storage facility and part of a successful real estate team.

This has been a weird few months for me.  After years at home I had just started getting into a comfortable routine as a working mom when I quit my job to do real estate.  I had gotten comfortable with a schedule that did not allow me to spend a day organizing cabinets or being free to meet friends at a moments notice.  And then this year happened and I found myself feeling confused.  Am I at home?  No, I definitely am supposed to be working.  But I have very little to do and I am not making any money.  The least I could do is clean the house and organize a closet.  And I like my friends.  But if I do that am I wasting time I could be doing something that might produce money in the future?  How do I spend my time?!  It felt like a year in which I wasn't a homemaker or a working mom.  I was limbo woman.

Now with that limbo time drawing to a close I will say I am not looking back fondly feeling I didn't appreciate the time I had.  I think confused was the only place to be.  However, knowing this time will soon be coming to a close I am madly spending this weekend cleaning, organizing and preparing our home and schedule for the return of working mom and the need for a plan and system to keep myself sane.

My first return to work didn't go so well but I think this second return is going to be just right.

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