6 Months Ago...

For lack of anything better to do (the girls are both napping.) I thought get on the horse again (is that the saying?) and update this blog. More for myself than anyone else, since I'm pretty sure I'm the ONLY one that sees it, but none the less.

When I started this blog, I was in such a different place and doing what I am doing now is the LAST place I thought I'd end up. I can't even begin to desribe, in retrospect, how much I absolutely hated my job. I understood when I took the job that working from home would be a big challenge. There's quite a bit of self-discipline involved, and although I don't have alot, my lack of self-discipline is not the reason I did not like my job or stay at it. The biggest problem was that I was not MANAGED. Basically, when my boss sent me off to Chicago, he told me "treat my sales position as if this were my own company." He gave me the freedom to do WHATEVER I wanted. With no client base in Chicago, I was literally expected to spend 50-60 hours a week building a successful business from ground zero. With no past work experience OR specific schooling in Marketing (or Sales for that matter), I was bewildered with where to begin. I had no direction, no clear expectations, and no supervision. What the HELL was my boss thinking? Of course my venture into a new market, and thus his venture into a new market, was unsuccessful -- it was doomed from the beginning. It was not from the actual job that I gained experience at that position -- it was from what was LACKING at that job that I learned a TON.

Besides for the dislike for the position, the economy played a huge role in my getting laid off/leaving from the company. There was, almost literally, no business coming in. I knew it was going to happen weeks before it actually did, and had many conversations about what was going to happen when it came. Applying for and getting a nanny position the same day my position ended at the company was a little bit luck, but moreso planning. I needed to get my bills paid, and being the stubborn, independent person that I was, would not depend on anybody else for that. It would give them leverage to say "I Told You So" about my financial decisions, which I would not have. And so, I happened upon finding some great families. What was meant to be temporary is going to last longer than 'a month or so until I find a real job.' This is MY real job. In fact, I did go on a couple interviews, and turned down a "real" job -- I like what I do. Every aspect of it fits what I need right now, and hey -- If it's not broken, don't fix it.

So, looking back, it's amazing at how things can change. I have a feeling that over the next few years, there's going to be a lot of 'big' decisions being made that will determine the course of where the next 10,15, years go. And that's exciting!!



[Quick Update: Nannying is great. My days go by pretty quickly, which is hard to conquer in the winter months. I'm getting cabin fever, though, and I think so are all the kids. Thank GOD that hopefully the subarctic weather is finally over with, because now I will be able to go out and about during the day with the kids, which is AWESOME and going to make the day fly by even quicker.]