Thursday, October 14

Time May Change Me But I Can't Trace Time

Change seems to be my personal theme this month. In the past four weeks my life has been turned on it's ear and at first it looked all doom and gloom but lately, not so much. In fact lately my life has looked pretty damn awesome.

Oh god, did I just say that?

*turns to wooden coffee table covered in crayon marks and knocks vigorously*

About a month ago my plan to stay-at-home for one more year became, well for lack of a better word: complicated. When working from home without a steady pay cheque, trying to make any kind of life plan that involves money just becomes plain ol' difficult. It is pretty much akin to taking a high-risk gamble with a backer named Eddy the Shark. To put it mildly Eddy might break your kneecaps if things don't work out. We were occasionally treading water and it was getting uncomfortable. One more financial hiccup was going to make phone-sex operator my newest job skill.

Operation Get A Regular Pay Cheque was underway. First step in the mission, take care of child.

I called the daycare that had been my first choice waaaaay back when I had a regular job and asked if they had any spots open for my daughter. After they laughed at my request, they took my information and said they would call if anything came up. At least when they laughed at me they did it nicely and quickly followed it up with a virtual pat on the head that said 'oh hai naive lady, daycare spots don't grow on trees yanno but we'll let you know'.

Let me explain: Like most urban spots, daycare spots in our area are as rare as moon dust. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that the only way to score a decent daycare spot in this part of the city is to roll over and dial immediately after being impregnated. Oh sure, we could find someone to take care of our offspring if we weren't choosey. The guy who lives in the bushes at the local park is affordable but standards, I've actually got them. But daycare was needed because I figured that in order for me to return to work I needed somewhere safe to store the child during working hours. Now before you jump on me, when I say 'store', I mean 'a loving environment where my kid will thrive and do all sorts of kid-centric feats of amazement without a lick of help from me.'

*sob*

*picks self up from sobbing heap in her own personal pity parade and sucks it up*

ANYWAY.

A few days later the phone rang at 7:30 am (!) (!!!) and it was the daycare. After explaining that they had found my original request for a daycare spot from over three years ago, I was informed that we had jumped the entire queue and they had a full-time spot for my girl.

Looks who's laughing now.

Actually there was no laughing and I almost fainted. 'Can she start Monday?' she asked. I gulped and quietly said yes.

Honestly I thought that part of the mission was going to take longer. Crap. Now I needed a job -- and fast. Something told me they weren't going to take witty tweets in exchange for child care. *double gulp*

So I made a new plan. Aim high, try to secure a job in my chosen career and if that didn't pan out in the next 8 weeks, start wooing the manager at the local Starbucks.

But I never got to the Starbuck's ass-kissing stage of the plan because serendipity arrived and without going into too much of the boring detail, the very evening after that 7:30am phone call I ran into someone who had said many moons before 'look me up when you are planning on returning to work'. It was cosmic. A few interviews later and all of the sudden I found myself employed.

And not just employed, employed in a wicked job in my chosen field and frankly IT IS AWESOME.

Life changes each and every day but some days it's like an earthquake. Seismic shifts in life are scary but I'm learning to roll with it.

I figure this is going to heavily influence my writing from here on out. An entire avenue of parenting concerns I never had to deal with are now mine to, uh... 'enjoy' and I sense flailing is in my near future. Work begins in a few weeks and we are currently working on our new daily routine with mediocre success.

Change is in the air and it's not just the falling leaves. Frankly I'm as scared as I'm excited. Hold my hand?

Please?

16 comments:

Ernesta Rossi said...

Congratulations on your new job / new life! Change is always scary and sometimes challenging, but always worth it!

EileenWithAnE said...

Wow, that worked out quite well for you. Daycare and a job fell from the sky.

I need some of your karma.

Gav said...

Good luck! Karma finds its way...

Tracey said...

So SO happy for you. Well deserved and earned. You will rock that shit and I'll be here, as always, cheering you on! xoxo

Angella said...

YOU GOT THE JOB!!!

So excited for you that you found an AWESOME job, and as someone who's still adjusting to the full-time gig in an office nine months later, I'll be here to support you.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the new job.

Melissa said...

Awesome! I hope these keep being awesome for you! :D

Jess said...

THERE you are! Been missing you....

Wow, a lot of changes! It all sounds good, baby. Rock on.

Tanya Dempsey said...

I am new to your blog (and the mommy world!) and find it so reassuring. Well, first - you're funny as hell, and second - you're ahead of me in the mommy game, so certainly I can learn from you. Right? RIGHT?

(sigh) I work from home at present with the occasional writing & styling gig (I'd love it if you checked out my blog - here) and I'm contemplating pounding the pavement again for the workplace. My little one is old enough for daycare right about now. It makes me want to cry too. What's a mommy to do?

Make sure to keep us up-to-date with all of the happenings!

With love,

A new follower

xx

November Grey

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

Congratulations!

I am hoping to put off pounding the pavement for another year (or so). This post rang true with me. :-)

Sabrina said...

Congratulations on your new job! Sometimes, good things really happens to those who wait=)

Unknown said...

Wow! Congrats!!

I'd love for you to sprinkle a little of that awesomesauce our way. But reading this post is encouraging. Thank you!

Karen Sugarpants said...

Wow Katie! What a life change! Good for you - I hope it's all smooth sailing for you and the kid.

Kyla said...

How exciting!! Good luck.

Heather said...

so excited for you guys. I am hoping the transition is going well.

Her Bad Mother said...

Pfft. Like you could scare us away.

(xo)