cheekysuze

Hi all!

I just wanted to thank those of you who are clicking, even though I haven’t written anything in awhile. I really appreciate it, and hope to be back writing soon. Life has kindof gotten in the way a little, as it often does, but hopefully these pages will be filled again before we know it!

CS

Well, I did it. I quit my job. And I have to say I feel quite good about it. I don’t want to dissuade anyone who might want to do this line of work–but it was becoming painfully obvious that my income was far less than my outgo. To put it mildly. They told me upfront that I would not be making millions, and I understood that, but I assumed it would average out. It all depends on potential clients’ need for information. No client, no work, no cash. Simple as that.

Honestly, I’m not too upset about giving notice (though I will miss getting a paycheck)… what’s next? I have no idea. I’m going to relax and enjoy my kids, and I’ll go where my dreams take me.

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls”
-Joseph Campbell

It’s always tough to find a good babysitter. Face it, babysitting isn’t the most lucrative job around. Most people who want to do it are younger than I would prefer, and the people who are generally old enough have a busy social calendar, so it’s hard to get someone to commit to a regular sitting job.

Luckily, I discovered a woman who has a son Taz’s age. She comes once a week while I work, and watches both boys. I’m so glad that Taz has a playmate his own age, and they really seem to be getting along well. They are both tall for their age, and are good-natured and very inquisitive.

I still miss my kids while I’m gone, but it’s nice to know that there is someone reliable watching my little guy. And when I come home, I get the biggest hugs!

Last weekend we went to the Build a Bear store. I’d never been inside of one, though I passed it by many times. It always looked kindof fun, but also like a money trap, I have to admit. However, this time it was a necessity. Sweets is going to be a flower girl in a wedding next weekend and the bride wants to give her a Build a Bear outfit… though neither of the flower girls actually have a Build a Bear. Anyway, she requested that we bring the bears to the rehearsal dinner. So off we went.

Sweets walked in the door and zeroed in on the only pink animal in site. It is fluffy, with white hearts on it. She got to pick out a sound for it’s little foot (not surprisingly, one of the things her bear says is “I love shopping!”) Then she got to warm up a little heart with her hands and drop it inside before stepping on the pedal that made the bear fill up with stuffing. After that, it was off to groom it and pick out an outfit. More pink. 3 shades of pink sparkles in the shape of a tutu and ballet shoes, to be exact. She even got to make a birth certificate for it.

All in all, I thought it was a fun trip, and Pinky has been by her side continuously since we brought her home!

I’ve gotten into a kind of groove with work. So far, I am enjoying it. I’ve been given a few additional projects, and my supervisors so far have said good things about my work. That’s quite a warm fuzzy. I’ve even managed to head next door and visit with some of my old coworkers.

I’m not sure what I expected, maybe that I’d step through the doors of the deed vault and everyone would be right where they were when I left, goodbye cake and all… Obviously a lot changes in 5 years, so I knew that wouldn’t be the case. So far I’ve only run into two people. The real estate business has been a little slow lately, so no one is scrambling about frantically like they used to. Still, it’s nice to reconnect with people from the past, even if it’s just one or two of them.

As for the actual work, we’ll see what happens.

A few weeks ago, we were on the way to the beach and we stopped at a McDonalds for dinner. Usually, we use this as a pitt stop as well, but I couldn’t convince Sweets to use the restrooms. She is scared of the automatic flushers on the toilets. Frankly, I find the restrooms at most fast food places a little scary as well, in terms of the cleanliness factor, but that’s another story.

Anyway, I usually hang a piece of toilet paper over the electric sensor, which placates Sweets and ensures that the toilet will not flush unexpectedly. These toilets were not even automatic, but nothing I said seemed to help. She started to cry and became near-hysterical. What could I do? I couldn’t force her to use the bathroom. That would make it worse. She tilted up her chin, looked me in the eye, and told me she would just hold it for the next 3 hours.

Luckily, we had remembered to pack the travel potty, so she used that, but we won’t always have that with us. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to make the experience better (besides telling her to go before we leave)?

Hello all,

I guess you’ve noticed I haven’t posted in awhile. I’ve been doing a little freelance writing and, sadly, Cheekysuze has fallen by the wayside. I’m really enjoying it, though I am having trouble finding large blocks of time to devote to it. With two kids, you say? That’s crazy! (Har har)

I think my kids can sense when I am excited about doing something that doesn’t involve them. They tend to latch on even more whenever I find myself trying to do something else. When Taz is napping, I will turn on my computer and viola! I’ll hear crying from the next room. He’s up. Sigh. Or Sweets will need something so desperately that it can’t wait. There’s a spider (okay, I understand that one, but I wish they were pretend spiders!) or she can’t find something she really wants (like a toy that’s been in storage for 6 months and she’s just now remembering she wants to play with it.) Sigh.

I know I will have plenty of time to do whatever it is I want to do in a couple of years when the kids are both at school. I just hope I can wait that long, ’cause it’s sure slow going here!

Ps–I’ll try to get back to my regular MWF postings, so stay tuned!

Day 1 of work is under my belt. It went very quickly, actually. I had 4 hours, including driving time, to get everything done. By the time I got situated, I had 2 hours left to actually work. No sweat!

I was so nervous the night before I went in. I made notes, I reviewed them, I wrote questions, I visualized. In other words, I majorly obsessed about it. Specifically, what if I couldn’t find what I was looking for or what if I had to pull every single file to get the information (meaning it would take forever and I wouldn’t earn anything at all !)

I should have focused more on the town. A lot has changed in 5 years. There is more to the town, for one thing. The courthouse as I knew it is gone, and in its place is a bigger, more modern building complete with metal detectors and policemen. There is a parking deck, which I find amazing. There were never enough people there to necessitate a parking deck before.

All in all, it wasn’t bad! I didn’t see any of the people I used to work with, but they were likely in the deed vault (which is in some new, mystery location). I’ll see them later, after I get used to this whole work thing. I got to talk to some of the clerks, and listen to them try to learn Spanish, just for fun. I re-learned a lot of words that they probably wouldn’t have spoken in front of strangers if they knew I understood them. And I also got to listen to Michael Jackson’s memorial service in the background. It was a far cry from Dora the Explorer.

When I left the courthouse, I filled up with gas and went to get my kids at the babysitters. And there went my earnings. Okay, so I’m not making a fortune, but it felt really liberating to be in the adult world. I think I’ll go back next week!

It’s been almost 5 years since I left the work force. I was lucky enough to be able to quit and stay home when I had my children. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly heartbroken about leaving my job. I was unhappy being the low guy on the totem pole. But there were elements of the job I did like. The other low-totems, for example. We had a great time. We all tried to stay in touch–and did for a few years– but gradually lost touch.

Now, thanks to a job post on rewardsofworkingfromhome.com, I’ve been hired for a very very very part time job as a court researcher for JBS. I’m actually excited because, though I work for a company, I get to decide when to go, etc. I get paid based on what I do, and I don’t have to deal with people I’d rather not deal with. And I get to see some of the old crowd again.

Another bonus is that I will have to leave my kids with a sitter. I always feel a slight pang of guilt when I admit that I am over-the-top excited about this, but I’m immersed in the kid world so much–I wake up singing Dora the Explorer and sporadically call my husband ‘Kiddo’– that I think it will be good to venture out into the adult world, even if it’s just a couple of hours once a week.

I’m not exactly looking for a career doing this, just a little something to get me out of the house for awhile, but it’s something new to put on my resume when my kids are in school and I’m back in the workforce full-time later on.

Cross your fingers for me. I’m a little nervous, and hoping that it turns out to be fun!

How was everyone’s 4th?

I’m a little sad that we weren’t able to be with our family this year, like we usually are, but after our trip last weekend we decided to take a Stay-cation instead of heading to the beach. It was our first free weekend in quite a while, and we had stuff around the house to take care of.

What’s your favorite thing about the 4th? I like the fireworks, of course. My favorite memory of the 4th was when I was in high school. My mom and I went to the fairgrounds, popped the sunroof open in her car, dug into a bottomless bag of popcorn, and watched the fireworks. You know they are brighter, louder, and more spectacular if the watchers make comments. For example: “Oooh!” “Aaah!” “I like the red!” Without comments to boost the performance, they would just fizzle.

Fireworks at the beach are banned now, except for the professionally set ones, but people set their own off anyway. I always get a kick out of the show; it’s like a made-for-TV movie, where the underdog goes up against the giant. In this case, the underdog (the public) never wins the match, but you can’t beat being surrounded by beautiful exploding lights!