September Arrives

Well, September has finally arrived and puts another piece of the puzzle together for our family. This summer was quite a whirlwind, and I can honestly say that I'm glad it's over.

In summing up the summer, all I can say is "Whew." Our first big change was moving into our house in June. We were eagerly anticipating moving for the entire month of May, happened to both get ourselves worked up and sick mid-month and couldn't get our apartment ready before the move-in day finally came, which added to the stress and chaos of it all. Moving in and of itself is hard enough, but not being ready for it was just overwhelming. We're here in our house for at least a year, and hopefully will remain here for quite longer than that. The move was great, we love it here and couldn't have been happier to leave our apartment after 5 years. Apartments are not made for long-term use, especially when we moved in with a 3 year old and a 9 month old when we walked through the door. After cleaning it out and seeing the damage report, I'm kind of surprised we got off as cheaply as we did.

So, July comes around and we handled the moving situation as best we could being that we had an entire month to get our apartment cleaned, furniture moved and into the new place. It might have gone better if we hadn't have been procrastinators and waited until the last weekend, but I really can't blame us for wanting to spend any extra spare minute of the weekend enjoying having a yard and not walking on top of each other for the first time. You always think you have more time. It also didn't help that I got laid off in the middle of July.

Losing my job was a blessing in disguise, really. I've done Social Security law for over 10 years now, and have worked for attorneys all of my life. I really can't say I was completely dedicated to my job for the last 3 months because I do think I was suffering from burn out and just needed an extended break from it all. Being by myself day in and day out was nice in one way because you don't have to worry about office politics, but being a social creature, I think it did take a toll. I was upset at first to be without a paycheck, but I was also really glad that Greg and I worked together, and I was able to take about 6-7 weeks off of work and be with my kids. The downside of that was living on the limited amount of money that was my unemployment benefits, and not being able to furnish or go shopping for little knick knacks & treasures for our new place.

August seemed to really drag on, and as each week went by, I became more and more stressed about finances, and worried I wouldn't be able to find a good job. I have always wanted to work for the state, and applied my brains out for every open position that I could find. Then came the news about the state hiring freeze. I was pretty downhearted when they put a big announcement that no more jobs could be filled becaue those were the only jobs I had been applying for. Despite getting interviews, most of the agencies warned me during the interviews that they might not be able to even hire, but had to conduct the process anyways. It was pretty distressing. It felt like there was going to be no end to the interviews with no offers, but then last week came the news.

I'm really excited to start down a new career path. I really like the division I'll be working for, as it seems like a very small functional little family network. I'm wondering what the difference between working for attorneys and working for Judges will be, and I'm hoping it's a good difference. I was warned that I am on a 6 month probation period in order to become a permanent state employee and any hijinks or lack performance would result in termination, so I'm pretty worried about that. The last two jobs I've had here in Olympia have not ended so good, one being fired from and the other being laid off, and to be completely honest, I am concerned that maybe something is wrong with me at this point.

I'm very nervous and scared about starting tomorrow, because I do want to do a really good job, and I think the change from what I have been doing career wise is a good move for me, because I'll get to see a whole other side of law. This time, I'm on the other side of appeals. No more helping needy client, no more grouchy attorneys, no more dealing with the public. It will all be different.

The girls start school this week as well, and the thought of Katie and Candice both in school is just odd to me. Time moves so fast, but I'm excited that they are getting older and their personalities are starting to unfold. Another new change will be that daycare is now at my house, with family. My Aunt Cherie is going to be the new nanny/housekeeper and I'm excited that the girls can ride the bus and come home to a familiar face since I won't be here.

All in all, the changes are good, and everything is starting to settle in and fall into place. I'm glad the chaotic summer of change is over and can look forward to hopefully some stability and routine now.