Why Working At Night is Great

I did some work last night and it was so great. It was so easy to focus because when it's 9-10pm here in Hawaii, it's the wee hours of the morning in the rest of the country. This means that there are very few people online and on message boards so I don't get distracted. When I try to work in the morning or during the day, the rest of the country is in full swing and message boards are hopping! So it's very easy to get side tracked with forums and with e-mails coming in. At night, there are very few e-mails and virtually none are urgent or important, so that atmosphere allows me to really concentrate at the task at hand. Not only that, the house is quiet because the kids are asleep. The only bad part is that it's also DH's and my "couple time" without the kids. So, either we miss out on that, OR I stay up later and do work after everything else for the day is done (including couple time;)). We'll see how it goes, but I think I'm going to try to get a few nights of work in each week and see how that works out.

I Hate When I Do That

Tonight I got on the computer just to check on a few things, not to stay on for long. So my son came up to me telling me that he wanted to go to sleep. He asked me to go lie down with him. Since I wasn't really all that busy on the computer and just wanted to finish up a few things, I told him, "Just a minute. I'll be right there."

Well, usually if he's fussy, he'll sit there and nag and I'll, of course, have to give up what I'm doing to tend to him, but tonight, he just went and waited. When I got off the computer, I realized how quiet it was. I looked over to my son's bed and there he was, sleeping. He sweetly and patiently went to lay down and fell asleep waiting for me. Oh, I wish I could take that back. I wish I got off the computer and just went with him. I hate it that he fell asleep waiting for me and as far as he knows, I never came like I said I would. :(

That's why I'm on the computer right now, as he sleeps, so that I can get a bunch of work out of the way and can spend more time with him tomorrow during the day. I don't think I'll do any work at all tomorrow, just cruise with my son.

Smashed Finger = Slow Typer

I'm so sorry - I've been out of commission a little. I smashed my finger on Monday (got caught between a softball and a bat). My daughter was tossing me balls to bunt and one came up toward my face. At the last minute I decided to put my hand up to stop the ball - wrong move! She wasn't even tossing them hard or fast, but impact on my finger tip was painful! It got all bruised and swollen. I could feel my pulse in that finger tip for the next two days.

Needless to say, my typing has slowed down quite a bit. I have only been typing when absolutely necessary and because it takes so long I am only half as productive as I usually am. I know - it's still faster than the woman sitting at her computer typing with one hand while feeding an infant, but it's been so long since I've had to do that that I feel like a turtle.

Anyway - the finger is getting better and I think I should be back up to speed by the end of next week if not sooner.

Almost Got a Job

Since I was laid off in June, I was eligible to receive unemployment benefits. However, as part of unemployment you have to make job contacts every week. Before, it was just one a week. Recently it's been raised to 3 per week. My benefits are almost expired so I won't have to really keep up my job search, but, coincidentally, I actually got a call from a company that I had contacted and sent a resume to.

This surprised me because I've never gotten a job or even a response when I submitted resumes in the past. Any job I've had was through a staffing agency. Anyway - this company called and basically said they had my resume and that they were not calling regarding the position I applied for (client services rep), but for another management position.

I asked them to tell me about their company and was actually kind of interested in the type of work it entailed and the business the company did. I agreed to come in for a face to face interview just to kind of learn more about what the company and the position was all about.

The management I talked to did say they had some reservations (my schedule being one due to softball commitments) and my ability to be mean I think was another. I'd be supervising warehouse staff (mostly guys) so the big boss guy was trying to figure out if I could be mean if necessary and keep these guys in line.

After the interview I went back and forth between wanting to take on the position and not wanting to go back to work. This company is the biggest in the state for what they do. What an opportunity it would be to be in a management position there. Plus, I told them what I'd need compensation wise for it to be "worth it" for me after child care. But did I really want to give up the flexibility I have as a SAHM/WAHM - being able to do whatever it is my kids need when the need it? Not having to make arrangements or coordinate with other people to get my kids to where they need to be. I ended up deciding I wouldn't worry about it unless they call me back. I mean, why stress when there's no need?

Well, yesterday the lady that was in the interview called me back. She said they were still looking things over, but the big boss guy was out, so they'd call me today. My husband and I thought they probably wouldn't bother to call and let me know that unless they were really thinking about offering me the position - even though they did say that what I asked for compensation was higher than what they normally pay. Though the big boss guy said he didn't mind paying it if the value was right. In other words, if I was worth it to him. I know I would be. But anyway - turns out, I didn't get a call today. So no need to stress. No need to make a tough decision. I'll take it as a sign that I'm just supposed to get on the ball with my own business and be there for my kids and my family!