DAN GOT A JOB!!!!
Whew, that is so scary to put out there. I'm still feeling like if I talk about it out loud, I am going to jinx it. His official start date is July 15, and the wheels of my mind are whirling with all kinds of worst-case scenarios of everything that could go wrong between now and then. I credit my mother for that tendency, and I am proud to announce that I have passed it on in full force to Olivia, who almost didn't go to Chicago with us over fear of what would happen to us if the car broke down in the middle of nowhere, if we ran out of gas, if the wheels fell off, if we got on the wrong road. Yep, she's my daughter for sure.
The offer came in while I was out of town. I was actually in the visitor's center at Carthage Jail when Dan texted me to let me know that he had officially been offered the job. Not where I pictured I would be when we finally got good news, but I will never think of Carthage, IL in the same way again.
And to prove that when it rains it really does pour, also while I was on vacation, and before Dan got the job, my boss called to offer me regular, full time hours at my job, with full benefits. I've been working close to 40 hours a week for a long time, but they were always pieced together here and there, and I wasn't budgeted for full time, which means I only got part time benefits. It also gave me the flexibility of NOT working so many hours if I didn't want to. Being officially full time means I'm committed to consistently work full time. Of course I jumped on the chance, since my husband was still unemployed. Then suddenly two days later, he isn't unemployed anymore, which means that me working full time is no longer as necessary or attractive as it was when it was offered to me.
It's still attractive enough though. Me working full time for a while will mean getting us back on track financially that much faster and maybe even FINALLY getting some carpet in that darn basement. Our fortunes are looking up a little for the first time in a long time.
The flip side? Both of us working full time puts a HUGE dent in the time we have to do that other big life commitment we made that is called being parents. It's the beginning of July. I have four kids who will spend their summer days staring at tv and computer screens all day long if they are left to their own devices. I will come home at eight at night and the cereal boxes will still be sitting on the counter from breakfast, the blinds will all be closed, and every bowl and spoon I own will be dirty and stacked in piles on the coffee table. July is not a month for sitting indoors watching Power Puff Girl reruns on Netflix and eating frozen burritos. July is for swimming and camping and going to Lagoon. And there is only so much imposition you can place on your neighbors for dragging your kids places in the summer, especially when you can't reciprocate much.
Dilemmas dilemmas. I know the kids will survive. Working too much sure beats the alternative, for all of us. I just hate that is so much of one and so little of the other.
No comments:
Post a Comment