WORK, WORK, WORK

In the past 9 years since I went from stay at  home mom to working I have had 6 jobs.  It seems like a lot to me since I am not really a job hopper.

The first job was with a small web based retail company and I was there for 5 years.  I loved the job and was devastated when I was forced out of it by the combination of a manipulative co-worker and weak business owner.  It still haunts me.

One job was very short lived, only 6 months. An old friend was made the manager of a local office of the finance company she worked for and after I had been at my first job for just over a year with no medical benefits and low pay,  she strongly recruited me even though I told her I didn't think I was a good fit. The pay was really good and the benefits were huge, but I was right and left to go back to the my first job where I was a good fit, had been missed and the owner added medical benefits as an inducement.

Shortly after I left the small business the economy took a dive and it took me a long time to find another job. I worked with my husband in his law practice but that was affected by the economy, too and I needed to get out there again so I took to applying for pretty much any job and ended up at the boutique hotel.  Basically I enjoyed it, I liked the 3-11 shift as it gave me lot's of time to blog and get stuff done and I had lot's of time to read while I was working.

My hours also allowed me the opportunity to go into business with my sister.  She wanted to increase the home staging work she was doing in addition to her work as an interior designer.  We did that together for about a year but her life just got too busy with her children and we stopped pursuing that work.

Tom grew lonely with me gone in the evenings and it was very clear that I could stay at the hotel a long time but with no opportunities to improve my pay or position or change my working hours, so I began to apply for other jobs yet again.

Which took me to the office manager job.  I knew going in  that the guy who owned the business was "a character" and for the most part I dealt with him and his boundary issues.  I didn't mind the all boys, construction worker, roughness of the environment.  I did mind that I was bored and had little to do most of the time and the busy work had run out and the days were so slooow, also that the owner was getting more bizarre and financial promises were not kept.  So I threw my hat in the ring again.

My current job is great.  I enjoy the women I work with they are professional and smart and the environment is stressful but supportive. No finger pointing or lectures over mistakes, just straight forward problem solving and move on.  I went from half my day being down time to feeling guilty for leaving my desk for a 30 minute lunch.  The days fly by. (And I learned I need that 30 minutes away from my desk to re-group!)

One of the business owners is in her 30's with 2 little kids and as hectic as her life is she said she can't imagine not working as I did for 16 years.  The older woman I work with has been employed throughout her life and doesn't show any inclination to retire.

I can't say that I want to work.  I would prefer to be home, pursue my hobbies, have time to hang out with my sisters and go to the gym and get my house clean and keep it that way.  I would like to have the freedom I had looked forward to once the kids were gone and my life was no longer tied to their schedules and needs.

But that isn't the way life has gone.  In support of Tom's dream of practicing law, my trajectory was steered in a different direction.  All kinds of forces have entered the picture over time and who knows what might be the next thing to send me off!