Coming up for Air

I have been a bad, BAD blogger! I’m so sorry I haven’t been around much here lately – not just for you, readers, but for me. Crafting and blogging has become a part of my heart and although I have a good reason for not posting…I miss it being here.

Work has been insanely busy – apparently this is the busy time of month here so I’ve been staying in the office until at least 7 PM almost every night. Thankfully, I’m told that it’s not usually THIS bad. Aside from working long days and late nights, there’s a lot for me to learn and remember, but already I’m happier here than I was at my old job. My co-workers are kind, helpful, and don’t fixate on gossip and drama. My boss is wonderful, and it makes me so happy that there is constant good feedback on my performance and that she makes a point to tell me that she’s glad I’m here – something I never heard in almost 6 years at my prior company. An added bonus? I’m working for a construction company now so I’ll be eligible for an employee discount on anything related to home renovation – both structural (doors, windows, etc) and material (woodworking supplies, tools, etc). How awesome is that for a DIY/home blogger?! I can already tell I’ll be using that.

On the flip side, I’ve really struggled emotionally about going back to work. When I got laid off, going back to work was always the plan but I let myself hope that this would change. I would love to be able to stay home with my child and raise him and concentrate on developing Paisley and Porter as a business, and I’m very fortunate to have a husband that agrees on those priorities. That time is not now though, so there simply is no other option if we want to continue to do fun things…like eat and keep our house.

Over the past 10 days since I got the job offer I’ve run through the full range of emotions, ranging from devastated to be leaving my child to confident career woman and back again. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to be the mom and wife I want to be when I went back to work. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it all, that I would somehow fail my family. Then I realized that my priorities (serving my family) are still the same, it’s just the job description that is changing. By going back to work, I am providing my family with another income that will allow us to save money, pay down our debt, and make better opportunities for our child – all the things a responsible family should do. And as I’ve mentioned, we have an absolutely fantastic baby-sitter for my son & knowing that he is safe & happy with her is a huge weight off my shoulders.

When it comes right down to it, the bottom line is this: I am lucky. Lucky to be out of a job I was desperately unhappy in, lucky to have 5 solid months at home with my sweet son, lucky to have been out of work for only 5 months, and now lucky to have found a job I enjoy with a company that seems to be very rare. There are negatives in there, of course, but attitude is everything and I’m making a conscious decision to focus on the positive. And there is always the possibility that someday our situation will change.

 

Since all this has been going on, I’ve barely had time to do anything with the blog or business. Last weekend I picked up a really ugly nightstand from the Habitat for Humanity thrift store.

Please pretend like you don’t see all the junk in the garage – getting my crafting area organized was one of the things on my ‘to-do’ list but now that I’m working…obviously that hasn’t happened.

It’s kind of scary looking, isn’t it? My husband actually looked at me like I had 6 heads when I made him get it out of the car for me, but I could see the good bones behind the horrible orange-ness.

Here it is after the first coat of paint…still not great but definitely an improvement already! I’ve finished painting it now (don’t have a picture yet) and this weekend I’m planning to finish it up with some light distressing and a protective wax finish. After that, it will be available for sale in the Orlando metro area. Let me know if you’re interested! & of course I’ll share all the ‘after’ pictures with you here.

 

I hope all of you are doing wonderfully…I haven’t even had time to be on my computer all week but I’ve been keeping up with some blog reading on my iPhone when I have a few minutes to spare. I haven’t forgotten you! I’m still trying to figure out how to balance all this but I’ll figure out a way (even if I have to drag my laptop in to work and blog during my lunch hour – which I am doing now!). 

Love to you all!

-Em