The Nest

Do I Really Have To Work

Posted Tuesday, September 04, 2007 10:50 PM

It was SO nice to have a three day weekend. I got home around 4:35 on Friday last week and started my long weekend. I had time to go for a walk with Hubby and the baby, make dinner, play for a bit, put the baby to bed, relax and blog and watch TV. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were much the same. We had three great days of family time, and they felt so full and busy and then... Tuesday arrived.
While it was a rather mellow day at work it was still a total bummer to be there. In fact when it's slow like that I'm of two minds, on the one hand I'm so thankful to not have to jump back in to things full throttle (I like easing my way back in to work), but on the other hand it feels sort of pointless and useless to be there all day if there isn't much to do.

I work on the post production side of advertising and things can get busy, deadlines are tight, personalities are questionable far too often and people burn out quickly. I'm pretty lucky to work with a great group of people and have a boss who also happens to be a very close friend. If things are quiet we are free to leave and run errands, our breakfast, lunch and dinner are catered in because of our hours. There are many perks to our business, but it's mostly because the hours suck. We work with clients and vendors across the nation and even around the world so the hours can be VERY long. Mine have improved over the last year or so, but only because I'm a new mom and my friend/boss takes that very seriously and gives me a lot of flexibility. I usually wake up say hi to the baby and make myself a cup of coffee - then head to the computer and check emails at 8am. I get to work around 10:30 (I go in late, everyone else is in around 9a), work until 6:30 at the office, then head home. I then set up the computer at home and check emails until about 9 or 10p. This whole time I am of course available on my cell should anyone call.

Based on these hours one might think I'm a doctor on call saving lives or something grand and noble like that... but I am creating 60 to 30 seconds of TV that most people chose to skip over by fast forwarding the Tivo or changing the channel.

So how do I make myself get up every day to go to a job I'm not exactly passionate about and takes me away from my adorable son for 8 hours (not counting the time at home)? Well I do make decent money, and I do have those good perks, and I do truly like the people I work with, and at times it can be fun.

Oh right and I'm the only one with a job right now, and will be the only one with a job for the next two years. I guess the answer is yes, I really do have to work.

Perhaps I'll win the lottery one of these days, or perhaps as hoped and planned (although most things don't happen according to plan) the hubby will get through nursing school, be hired upon graduation with a great salary, and I will have baby number two and be a stay at home mom for a while, a long while.