The last couple of weeks have been completely crazy and I wanted to wait a little while to update my blog about why it has been crazy, but I've decided to go ahead and do it now.
Moving to Kansas was sort of a no-brainer decision for us, but ever since moving here we've faced a lot of obstacles and have wondered if maybe we didn't make the right decision. Dave took a fairly significant pay cut in moving here, but when we sat down to look at the numbers before we made the decision it looked like everything would be okay as long as we could get our townhouse rented in Utah, which we did in two days. After we got here and got settled a little bit, money got extremely tight and we were really confused as to why. We still are a little boggled by that. The decision was made that instead of having Dave work two jobs that I would go back to work. While trying to find a job I also started putting stuff in Dale's store to sell to help supplement our income in the interim. I also thought it would be a good time to "launch" my cake slice business and see how that went. But as you know, it takes money to make money! Things are going well with Dale's store, but right now it just isn't providing the amount of extra money we need.
I didn't hear back from any jobs I had applied to for several weeks, but a few weeks back I finally started getting calls for interviews and had two interviews in one day. One particular interview was interesting in that I went in to interview for a receptionist position and ended up leaving being offered a much higher paying position in the company doing more managerial work. I sort of felt like maybe this was an answer to our prayers although the thought of putting Miles in daycare full-time was very hard for me.
I went in for what I thought was going to be a second interview of sorts or a "chat" about what this other position would entail, but the Director had other plans in mind. She essentially thought it was my first day. I had not even arranged for childcare yet and hadn't wrapped my brain around going back to work full-time yet either. By the end of that day I was completely overwhelmed. The Director had painted a pretty ugly picture of the status of her company. I ended up telling her that I didn't feel like I could put in the time required to help her. She then came back and offered me a part-time position. I told her that that might work out better. We went back and forth for a bit about the pay and I sort of felt like this job was slipping away from me because she was hinting at a much lower amount of money. I had a few days to think things over and talk things over with Dave and other members of my family and ultimately came to the decision that maybe I should just take the full-time position. The Director was glad to hear that I had changed my mind back and was eager for me to start right away. I asked for another three days to get childcare arranged for Miles. I never imagined it would take several more days before we found something we are comfortable with for Miles! We have toured lots of facilities and lots of homes!
So I "officially" started on 10/11/12 (I'll never forget that day)! My amazing mother has stepped in and has helped with Miles while we continued to look for childcare. Miles has really enjoyed his time with Grandma. He even got to go spend a morning with Great Grandma & Grandpa and is still talking about the fun he had there. I'm so lucky to have family around that is willing and able to help us out! I toured a daycare facility (Wichita State University Child Development Center) last Thursday that Dave and I both really like. The only downfall is that it is located in Wichita and doesn't open early enough for Dave to drop Miles off on his way to work. Dave did get special permission from his boss to be a little late every other day (since he has his planning period first thing every other day). I will get Miles in there on the opposite days which means I will drive from Halstead to Wichita (45 min. drive), drop Miles off, and then drive from Wichita to Newton (25 min. drive). Not ideal but at least we will be comfortable with where Miles is during the day.
Our ultimate goal is to buy a house somewhere between Wichita and Newton (like Valley Center) and it looks like with my income added to Dave's that we might be able to do that a lot sooner than we thought! Yippee!
The plan right now is to let Miles finish up October in his current preschool program and my mom will continue to watch him for the next 1 1/2 weeks. Dave has Nov. 1st off due to a Catholic holiday so Miles will start at his new daycare on Nov. 2nd...or that is what we are thinking right now (it could change). I hope we are making the right decision!
My new job is still overwhelming. There is a lot of work to be done, but I feel like the challenge will be a great experience for my career. I'm working for a company that provides support to individuals with intellectual disabilities. The support we provide allows them to live in their own homes (not group homes) and be involved in the community as much as they would like. My job is to recruit, hire, and train staff to work with our clients. Currently we have about 20-30 clients and about 40-50 staff. I'll be getting to know the clients well so that I can match them with the appropriate staff based on their needs and personality. The main problem right now is that we are short staffed and need to let a few staff people go as well so that is the priority. When a shift isn't covered by staff the Director fully expects me to cover those shifts. With Miles still being so little and having spent the first three years of his life at home with him, it is hard for me to agree to work outside of the regular 8-5 Monday-Friday hours and at this moment I'm just not willing to do that because my time with Miles is more important. Hopefully we can get this resolved so that everyone is happy with the outcome. Wish me luck!
I'm emotional every day when I leave him in the morning and I get emotional again in the evening after we put him to bed. It is so hard to be a working mother! One of my coworkers who has managed lots of people told me that for most stay-at-home moms it takes a couple of months for the emotions to subside and for some people they never do. We'll see.
And in case you are wondering, I'm still selling cake slices at Layman's Antique Mall & Flea Market in Newton, KS. I took a week off, but had slices there yesterday and today. My goal is to have them at the store on Fridays and Saturdays. I hope it doesn't become too much for me to do.
If you made it through all of this, kudos to you!
