I tried it and did not like it

Well, I tried it and I hated it. It is working from home. What's not to like? I was home for my teen and almost-teen aged sons to check in with me. I could make dinner most nights. We saved on lunches and gas (especially since Hubby drove my Prius and left the gas-guzzling mini van in the driveway.) What went wrong?

I felt like a prisoner in my own home. I regularly worked a 9-10 hour day. But most of all, I missed co-workers. I miss chit-chat around the water cooler. I missed getting to know my co-workers, I missed eating lunches with others.

I was working with my boss to be able to go to the local office a day or two a week, but my husband convinced me to take a contract position. it is with the same company I worked at last Fall until this current job came along at the first of the year. It might have worked if I had an office to go to once or twice a week,but I also seem to prefer project work as opposed to operations.

My kids cheered last night when I told them I was taking a new job.

Summertime challenges

Today is my youngest son's first day of Summer break. I am worried. How will I manage working from home when he dislikes watching TV in the basement? When he was coming home from school, the first thing he liked to do is turn on the Family room TV. This was a problem when I am working in the dining room. The Dining room is off the kitchen, which is open to the living room.

Last night he was already moaning that he was bored. I am on the lookout for rules that will help. I also fashioned a door from Foam core art board. (I now feel close in in the office.)Wish me luck.  

Confession

In case anyone is still following my blog, quick update, my job was eliminated June 2011. Spend July and Aug at home hanging out with my 11 YO. We did a hometown touristy thing a week. Then the week after he went back to school, I got a call to work a temp job. Then Jan 3 I started a new job, working from home.

I saw a line in a blog this morning. The Author loved being a WAHM, but she did not always like it. Hey, that's me. I am doing work that I mostly enjoy. I get paid well. I love being home when my boys leaved for school. I love being home when they get home (even if they are a bit loud at times). I love being able to take 4 steps into the kitchen to make dinner before practice rather than leaving a boy to his own devices. I love knowing where they are (usually..). I love leaving my car at home (rather Hubby's, he drives my Prius to work and his Mini van stays here.) I love being able to make my own lunch in my own kitchen.

What I don't like: I miss the people. the co-workers. I miss knowing what my co-workers are working on, is someone following up on this issue? It gets lonely at home. Then I made my home's dining room my office. However, there is a door way to the kitchen and the kitchen is open to the family room. the now-12 YO tends to come in form school and flip on the TV and watch DVRd episodes of MythBusters and Good Eats. Not bad programs, but it is distracting to me. Hubby said "tell him he's not allowed to turn on the TV until 4:30." Well, D-oh. Great idea. Worked well yesterday. I am worried about this summer. So I am working on some sort of homemade barn-style door for the office. Wish me luck.

update

Hey, I think I will post more often and this poor neglected blog. I created a gmail account back in January when I traded in my Blackberry phone for an Android phone. This resulted in me being logged into my browser whit my gmail account but I would have to log off and log back in whit the email account I created this blog with. It was a pain.

So anyways, here is my update... When I was first notified that my job was being eliminated, I had a lot of co-worker express dismay and a lot of people calling their favorite recruiters on my behalf. I even had an interview two weeks out as well as a possible contract job. So I felt like I'd be "doing" something soon. But the Contract job fell through. The interview was for a sales position, but we expect some technical sl;aes support positions to open up in the third quarter that you'd be perfect for. " (yeah, I know, there is still 5-6 weeks left in the quarter.)

Three weeks ago I attended a job search networking group. The once a week meetings have interesting topics but I have to be careful because there are a lot of people who have been there for a long time and you can almost see the Eeyore-type rainy cloud hanging above their heads. I have been fortunate enough to meet with some expert networking and have friends contact me with job openings. So it is a hurry up and wait situation. Guess what, I am not very good at waiting.

I am blessed to have a paycheck through November and my husband is still working so we can maintain shelter, food, clothing and transportation.

Upside down

Almost 4 weeks ago I was led into a conference room and informed that my position was being abolished due to budget cuts and the University where I was working. While I was blind-sided by the announcement, logically it made sense. The system that my team worked on did not really need three of us to maintain it. A year ago I was campaigning to get another system as part of my responsibilities. Obviously I was unsuccessful. I did leave with people telling me they were sorry - and I believed them, and 5 months of my continues paycheck and benefits.

So initially there was a lot of momentum moving forward to find a new job. I reached out to my network and got a lot of positive feedback. I had an interview 2 weeks later. I even had a friend reach out to me on Facebook about a temporary consulting opportunity. Now, almost 4 weeks out and things are quiet. A conference call about the consulting opportunity was postponed from last night until a time TBD next week.

I am not a homebody, I am not used to being home. But when I do venture out, I want to spend money. I don't have money to spend. Our household depends on my income for paying off Hubby's school debt (he went back to school and got his degree in 2005) as well as parochial school tuition for the 16 YO. Fortunately Hubby's income covers most of everything else.

Anyways, as a Catholic Christian I am so trying to be patient and let the Lord's plan for me unfold in His time. I am terrible at this. I am restless. But I am getting items off my to do checklist accomplished, albeit slowly.

I have reorganized my home office (architectural Dining room). I did buy a new printer and a Sauder TV stand to hold the printer. I have cleaned and organized. (am still working on it. This thing is an elephant. )

Update on my pre-teen son

It has been over year since I picked up my younger son from the after school program and told him he was not coming back. In a nutshell, A was engaging in inappropriate social behavior (smart-kid obnoxiousness), and his classmates responded with typical social behavior to pressure him to behave more the norm which then caused A to respond inappropriately that the school administration interpreted as potential violence. Fancy way of saying A liked to brag how smart he was, other kids subtly harassed him (Why do I keep avoiding calling it bullying?) and A responded so vigorously that he was the one viewed as the bully.

So we pulled him from the parochial school and put him in the local public school. I am happy to say he is thriving. His grades are A's with the occasional B thrown in. He did get into an altercation on the playground about 2 weeks before Christmas (there is a pattern here) that was quickly resolved by the principal and the school counselor. He also was involved in an incident with a neighbor boy but thanks to a persistent Mom, It did come out that A's story was the accurate one.

But overall, A had a lot of friends. They do seem to shift. He'll play with one kid for a few weeks and then find another. But there are plenty in the neighborhood. He is learning to distance himself from the neighbor who seems to cause him a lot of problems.

I am very happy with my decision.

It’s not enough to keep records, you must review them

My Dad is a closet car enthusiast. He built his first go cart at the age of 8 from a lawn mower engine. He admires a nice car but ultimately, he’s cheap and has always driven a car that meets his needs at a reasonable cost. As such Dad started keeping a book in each car he owned, and recorded each fuel-up, service and the associated mileage. This is great for evaluating your gas mileage and determining how log it has been since your last brake job. When I bought my first car, my Dad bought an empty receipt journal for my book.

I own a 2002 Ford Escape and I have my book. When I took a new job in 2006 that has my driving 50 miles one way, I used data from the book to analyze if it would be worth my while to buy a different car 9I determined that a payoff would be 4 years, not worth it.) My husband was starting to complain that we seemed to be dumping a lot of money into my beloved SUV. I kept brushing it off, thinking that the repair were less than car payments on a new car.

Now it is 2011. My oldest son will be 16 in April and we are looking forward to him being able to get himself to school and home on his own. That means a car for a teenage boy. After contemplating different scenarios, I decided to purchase a 2010 Prius for me and hand the escape to the teen. But it has been in the shop 3 times in 2011, and it still is not running right. New problems keep cropping up. So we have the car at home and are ready to take it somewhere else to diagnose the current problem (the last shop wanted to just start replace the three catalytic converters).

But here’s the rub. Last weekend I sat down with my book and gathered all of the receipts I found in the glove compartment and my car file. The results were downright sobering. In 2008 we had transmission replaced for about $2200. In 2009 there were various and sundry issue – new spark plugs and coil, new shocks, tires to the tune of at least $2200. (I was missing a few receipts but my book told me what kind of service we had done.) In 2010 a new fuel pump and rack and pinion was $1400. And in less than 3 months in 2011, we have spent $1400. If I had included reviewing my book in my financial housekeeping, I would have known that my beloved Escape was becoming a money pit and I would have traded it in when I purchased my Prius. Now we need to figure out what to do with this barely-running vehicle.