There are a lot of things going on right now, but one of the biggest changes has to do with me.
About a year ago, I picked up a part-time office job at a little furniture store. It was a little extra cash and a lot of sanity for me to go back into the world a little bit. When I applied for that job, I also applied at a couple of other places. One of those other places called a few weeks ago, nearly a year later. They had an opening and wanted to know if I was interested.
After going in to meet with them, I decided to accept. I'm going to be doing patient access (or what everyone else simply calls registration) at one of the larger local hospitals. It's still part-time, though it is more hours. But it has the added bonus of offering benefits. We haven't had good benefits since I stopped working four and a half years ago, just before the twins were born. In fact, that was pretty much all I gave up to stop working (if you count what would have been left of my salary with three kids in full-time child care). But this new job has benefits - really good ones - and it also happens to pay better. Win, win.
The bad news is that it came during a time when several other things were already going on. First, I had to give notice at my existing job, which took a little longer than I would have liked. My leaving would have left the other two girls I worked with without a weekend off this month if I hadn't agreed to stay a bit longer than I really wanted to. I couldn't do that to them after working with them for nearly a year, even if I was ready to leave right that moment.
Second, I got a phone call two days into my training for my new job (while also finishing up the old one) to do another freelance project for the commercial builder who often hires me to help with their proposal process on big contracts. It was a small project, and even though the timing was bad, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to continue a relationship I have enjoyed. It's nice to keep my hand in my original line of work, even if only periodically.
For the last two or three weeks, I have been working three different jobs and averaging at least 60 and sometimes 70 hours of work a week. And, of course, I'm still taking care of three kids in my "down time" from work.
I am exhausted.
More so than I can ever remember being. But those two jobs have wrapped up, the furniture store this past Saturday and the freelance project last night. That was a good feeling, even if I do go in to work at my new job again tonight. At least I'm back to one part-time job.
The new job is going to be about three nights a week (two weekdays and then every other weekend), each night for a 10-hour shift. And it really is a night job. It's 9p to 7:30a. As a night person (and very much NOT a morning person), I think it's going to work. Josh is going to get the kids up and ready for school on the days after I work, so I can sleep in a quiet house until it's time to pick them up in the afternoons.
I'm still in training right now, because there's a lot to learn, but I've already spent a few weeks training on that shift. But so far, I really like it. I don't mind the hours, have been able to get enough sleep the mornings after, and feel like it's going to be a good change in the long term.
So that's where I am right now. Changes, lots of them, in the coming months ...
