I Have a Job!

Not only do I have a job, I have the job I wanted. I am so excited! I did call the therapist yesterday, but she�d already left for the day. I didn�t leave a message thinking I would call her back this morning. Just goes to show (for the millionth time) why putting things off is not a good idea. Luckily, I got a call in the evening from her, offering me the position.

I�m sure I sounded much too giddy when I said yes. She then went on with much hesitance when she told me the wage I�d be making. It was 65 cents more an hour than the other place offered, and even that had sounded pretty darn good to me. It�s been eight years since I worked, and it�s been even longer since I made more than a whopping $3.50/hour waitress wage. It all sounded good to me. I have zero experience in this particular field too, and even though I do think much of my experience can easily be applied, I think I�m making a lot of money for being entry level. Parking fees or bus fares will easily eat up the extra money, but it�s better than I was expecting.

I might be starting as early as Monday. I have a schedule conflict with Parent/Teacher conferences at school, but John said he would do it. I�m still not sure I want him to do that. He never asks questions and usually just sits there nodding his head. He�s gone with me before but never on his own. We only have one set of conferences for the whole school year, so it�s pretty important. It would be nice to start work next week, so I can watch the person who�s position I will be filling, but it would also be nice to go to conferences and have one last week of freedom. I have to make up my mind soon. I�ll have to call her in a few minutes if I want to let John fill the conference parent shoes.

The only person I called so far is Kay. I didn�t want to be on the phone all evening, especially after spending 45 minutes on it with her. Only about five minutes of that was spent talking about my new job. The rest of the time we chatted about various things that we must not have covered in the 45-minute conversation we had on Sunday after she called to let me know she was called as a reference. I still have to let my parents and the in-laws know. I�m thinking a nice email will do the trick. My phone bill is already going to be huge from the two hour conversation I had with my mom a couple weeks ago and the past couple calls I made to Kay.

I have to figure out whom I�m going to ask to keep Booie for the 40 minutes in the morning between when I have to leave for work and when she has to leave for school. John offered to go in to work later himself, since his job is more flexible that way, but that would mean he stays later too. He will soon be a permanent employee there rather than a contractor, so he is only required to work 7.5 hour days, but I�d like to have him home earlier rather than at the same time because he stays late in the morning. I have a couple people in mind. I have to get up the nerve to ask them. I always dread these kinds of things.

This is all going to be a huge change. The kids are pretty excited for me. I hope they stay that way when I�m not home for them all hours of the day. The counselor asked us last night how John and I are going to make this adjustment. She�s concerned that our time together will be even less and that there will be more conflict with who does what around the house. John seems to think it�s all going to go swimmingly, but he always thinks that way. He says I�m being pessimistic when I try to plan for what I know will be points of contention. He calls himself an optimist, but he really just has his head in the clouds sometimes. I don�t expect miserable weeks of adjustment time, but I do expect some discomfort. He just hates being tied down by a plan of any sort. Women joke about having an extra child in their husbands, but in my case, it�s often true.

I have other preparations I have to do as well�where I�m going to park, getting work clothes, vehicle arrangements since we only have one. I have my usual concerns about getting the house clean, laundry done, and errands ran. I have a tangible deadline now. I can�t put this stuff off for days and weeks anymore because I won�t have all this time available to me anymore. It�s good that this will help me get a little more organized and force me to stick to a schedule, but it still makes me nervous. I�ve been on my own clock for a very long time. I�m happy enough about the whole thing that I�ll manage, but it�s still cause for some anxiety. I wouldn�t be me if I didn�t worry.