October 21st - New Adventures

Ahhh, remember how I thought that cutting back at work would make me less busy? I guess not so much. I can't say yet what is being added, but, it will be fun and exciting and crazy and stressful and hopefully I will be able to sleep at night. The good thing is that I will still be able to be more flexible with my schedule, which means more snuggles. In the meantime, the following conversation was heard while driving home.

Josh: Our car stinks because of all of the burps.
Clara: I'm going to burp in 10 minutes.
Josh: That's just rude, Clara.

We are coming up on Christmas and guess what? My bedroom is a torn up disaster with half the walls painted...sort of. My entryway is half painted. The shelves in the basement are half painted (shhh...don't tell Kelly), but at least the whole top half is done. My living room carpet desperately needs cleaning - like deep cleaning. However, until I get the other stuff done there is no point because when the other stuff is done I will be moving around furniture.

Today my friend Paige stopped by to pick up a little girl who I picked up from preschool because her mom is in Hawaii (different island from where I am going) and my only consolation about someone stopping by with such a disaster is that Paige is about 100 times busier than me and her house is crazier than mine. She just lets it roll. I need to learn that from her! I remember when I was her visiting teacher several years ago. She was pregnant with her first. Her house was immaculate. Her living room coffee table was pristine with cute decorations. Ahhh, remember the days of the cute decorations that little hands didn't break, smudge and chew on?
I would rather have snuggles from these crazy burping kids than those decorations. Any day.

October 19th

I am one of those strong, independent women that tries to do it all and really doesn't know how to say no. I often get really motivated and excited about things that probably don't matter as much, but take me out of the mundane part of raising children. All I wanted in my 20's was to be married and a stay at home mom, but 12 years of working makes me crave the validation that comes from a job well done.

But for the past several months I have been feeling way too stretched - too many projects plus work plus making sure the kids brush their teeth. I've felt like something has got to give. The only thing that really could go is my job. At the same time, it is definitely a good thing to have in this economy. I have wrestled with it a great deal and still haven't come to a decision.

About a year ago a woman worked for my company who was a bit of a whiner. She wanted to work from home because I did, she complained if someone called a candidate that she put into our applicant tracking system, but never called herself. She made excuse after excuse as to why she wasn't successful. It got pretty old. My bosses decided that she could work from home, but then could only work straight commission (versus a salary plus commission). I thought it was incredibly generous considering they really should have let her go. She wasn't happy with the option and filed with the Department of Labor.

As a result, and after a year of investigation, my company has had to make some changes to the employment status of everyone. No longer can employees be exempt - they all have to be non-exempt and stick to 40 hours a week or they have to get overtime. And the worst end result is that they can no longer employ independent contractors (like myself) with the same parameters that we have now. This has an impact on me and the boss's sister, who is a part-time indy who works from home and lives in Idaho.

Going to work full time is not remotely an option for me, and going to 100% commission isn't realistic, either. So maybe the decision has been made for me? I don't know yet how it will all play out. It would be nice to take some time off and work on the house projects that I have in the works. I have a ton of painting to get done. I never thought 2 1/2 years ago when I started working that I would go this long. But at the same time, it has been a huge blessing for us.

Brand Spankin' New Office

For the past year and a half I have worked from home on a roll top computer desk with about 15 cubbyholes and not a lot of workspace. Thanks to a decent year, I could afford to buy new office furniture (and use it as a tax write off - bonus!) and it arrived this week. Try not to be green with envy. I'm just sayin'. :P
The problem is that now I just want to be in here non-stop. I have a much better view of the Sudweeks' house. I can even see the Taylors' front door in case they want me to spy on them, too.
But really - I will now be so much more productive and make twice as much money and I'll take all of my blog readers on a cruise. :)

Maybe.