End of Week Two: PAYDAY

I have officially finished two weeks of working full time, and we have survived. At home the laundry needs folding, but at least the boys have CLEAN, wrinkled clothes. They work together to get dinner done. Sometimes Dad or Grandma does help with directions of a recipe or supervising any needed cooking. My kids are learning skills that they will need in life. Overall, I am impressed with my dudes! What a great payoff!

Now for me... I looked at my checking account, and POOF, direct deposit yielded a nice sum of money. So cool!

Now for the "not so fun" side: I am juggling the home schooling, piano teaching, grocery shopping and working.

The home schooling is not smooth, but some of my kids are maintaining their schedule quite well. Other kids need prompting. I am not going to name anyone yet... I do remind them that whatever they don't get done now will have to be done over the summer. They don't like that idea. Grumble, grumble, but it gets done.

Piano lessons are going smoothly, just scheduled a little later in the day.

Grocery shopping is still my domain, "realm" if I think like royalty. I have to work out a way so that my 18 year old can start taking this on. He can drive a car. Can he manage a cart? Grocery shopping just cuts into time that I really need to use for home schooling. Feel a change coming? Yep.

Working. I enjoy my coworkers. I've found that business casual in AZ is different than CA 15 yrs ago. Shorts? T-shirts? When I last worked in Corporate America, business casual meant a collared shirt, dress pants, etc. Other changes: People talk about personal issues more freely. And the language? I remember when people got fired for using "those" words.

Anyways, the work itself requires a lot of reading, and I enjoy it. I love getting out of the house and being with adults. Having conversations about many subjects with many people is so new. The best part of all, of course, is getting that first paycheck. Yippee.

The payoff so far as been so much more than cash for my kids and myself!

Photo credityomanimus

Self Preservation: Adapt

It's been two weeks since I have posted "life", but "life" is surely happening. In the last two weeks, our floors were FINALLY replaced. We can now put furniture in a normal arrangement. All of our belongings are finding their homes. It is so nice to have some order again. The boys are adjusting from the temporary norm to what was the norm.

I have been offered a full time job. It is seasonal, so I don't know how long it will last. In light of this wonderful economy, I have accepted this job. I know it'll make life very interesting, not that life isn't already. I hope that my boys will adjust, and they will become more independent. More than likely, they will be fine, and I will be the one worrying about how they are managing.

I will keep home schooling my boys as well a maintaining my self-employment. There is no doubt that this could get stressful, but I do look forward to the challenge. It is good to have some twists and turns in life; it's a chance for growth. That is only going to happen if there is a need to adapt or adjust. Just like my boys had to adapt with our house being torn up, I will have to adjust to some new demands.

In my next post, I will write about how I am preparing the boys and myself for this new gig.

Break Time

Everyone needs a break now and then from the demands of life. I find the beach to be the perfect place to veg. I took this picture about 20 years ago on a vacation. This is the Island of St. John in the Caribbean. This is the one place where any spirit can soar. Peace, tranquility, and beauty.

As a self-employed mom of special needs kids, home schooling, and wife, I need to escape once in a while. Self-preservation. This photo provides a great five-minute mini-vacation. Of course, I have the memories of a wonderful vacation with family and friends.

I hope you enjoy it.