Working Angst

I'm thinking about going back to work.  As in a job, outside of the house, making money, etc...

The problem is I don't know how to go back to work.  I've had two (paying) jobs in my life and I can't say that either were life affirming or even these days would pay the bills.

My first job was as a cashier at Publix. And while I enjoyed that job because it wasn't demanding and I could take vacation whenever I wanted, it doesn't really pay a lot of money.  I can't imagine how I would support two (soon to be three kids) on minimum wage. I worked at Publix for 7 years and became office staff which meant that I counted money and tried to make sure that none of disappeared.  Even if I went back at that level, I still wouldn't make enough money to live on. 

My second job was teaching high school in Clayton County public schools.  I loved parts of that job.I loved working with (most) high school students. I loved the subject matter.  I loved the vacation schedule.  However, these days with cut backs and other things, I don't know if I can teach again.  And that is the only thing I know how to "do".  And yes, it would pay the bills and while there wouldn't be much money until the youngest went to school himself, it would be enough to eat ramen and peanut butter several times a month.

I've also been out of the work force for the past 4 years.  Some of it by choice, some of it by the recession and schools not hiring teachers.  So yeah, even if I had a "in demand" skill, I don't know how to go back to work. 

I suppose I should seek some kind of advice?

Lion Cut

Six years, my husband and I acquired a beautiful fluffy orange kitten who grew into a beautiful fluffy orange cat.  The poor thing was found on the football field of the high school where I was teaching.

Here she is in all of her fluffy glory:










I know, she looks pissed.  It is her normal look when you take her picture.

When she became a cat rather than a kitten, my husband and I always said that she needed to get a lion cut during the summer.  One because cats with any kind of grooming look so silly/awesome.  Two because summers here are very hot and humid. And a thick fluffy fur coat just seems cruel to an animal that likes to be outside.

Although, I don't post to blog very often about the experiments I do, I do actually do some of them.  And this was probably one of the ones I have been looking forward to the most.  The orange fluffy cat finally got a lion cut.

(Ignore the mail and the weird stomach thing)

An update

As you can see, I haven't really been updating.  Don't feel neglected.  I pretty much start blogs and never post to them.

I never can find my voice.  I read so many amazing writers and then I feel that I can't measure up to them or that my voice is stupid and boring.  These are issues I have in real life too.  I have ideas about what I want to do and then fear of rejection or fear of change or just fear keeps me from doing things.  Even "stupid" things like blogging or changing my hair style.  Or just stepping out of my comfort zone. 

Maybe one day I'll really do this and it will great.  Or at least therapeutic.

One day.

Hola

I think I'm going to try this again. 

I have so much I want to say, write, post, share, and create.  But I never find the time, or feel that my contribution would add to the internet.  And I can't find my voice.

Grocery Shopping

Two weeks ago, I went to 4 different grocery stores.  I probably could have gone to 2 more stores but something about 6 grocery stores in 5 days seemed a bit ridiculous.  At one store, I did some pantry stocking but not with menu planning in mind.  However, when I put the meat away, I realized that I have the habit of stockpiling food and then not using it before it goes bad.  So this past week, I didn't go to the grocery store.  This would have been fine if I had done a slightly better shopping or make more  interesting things from chicken.  The only thing I could have gone to the store for was milk.

I found it much harder thank I expected to NOT have the option of going to the store when what I planned for dinner sounded yucky. My husband always knows when it is the end of the week because I have to go the grocery store for things I forgot or didn't purchase because I wanted them to be fresh for the weekend.  So this experiment was either about better list creation or about using things in the pantry.  I'm not really sure but either way I'll have an empty freezer and a depleted pantry.  Both will be good things.   

New Thing week of October 3

Okay, I'm cheating a little but since it was the reason I decided to make this blog I think it should count. 

I made this coconut cake .  I was really looking forward to eating a coconut cake that wasn't German chocolate cake.  I had been sitting on the recipe for several weeks, bought all the ingredients, and really wanted some cake.  But for some reason I couldn't get off my lazy butt and do something.  That's when I said, I need to do something rather than whine about what I'm NOT doing.  Thus, it is an experiment of sorts. Later that week I made the stupid cake.  And it came out only okay.  Not great, not awesome, not omg the best cake I've ever eaten.  But okay.  It wasn't the coconut explosion I was hoping for, but it did lead to me figuring out some why to make the idea of  deployment of my husband a little more manageable.  Now I have something to focus on that isn't just my kids and how lonely it is at night especially during the "witching hour".

Goals of This Blog

Or why the world should read this. 

So, this will probably be another deployment/mommy blog mainly because those are the two things that are going on in my life. 



Here is the goal of this blog:

Try new things or things I've always talked about doing.  I'm keeping it pretty simple because it really is an experiment of sorts. 
   Examples of this are: 
                              paying cash for everything or at least in the places I tend to impulse buy: grocery, clothing, and the marts.
                              One new recipe a month
                              One new place a month: park, attraction, restaurant


I decided to start this blog because my husband is deployed for the next year in Kosovo.   And while Kosovo isn't a scary place like Iraq or Afghanistan, he is still going be gone for a year.  I'll be lonely, so trying new things and blogging about it will hopefully make the time pass by a little quicker.  I hope that this doesn't become one of my many attempts to write that I just forget about after a few days.  I'm really excited about this experiment and hope to continue it for the year.