{Embracing Change}

If you have spent any time with me over the last year, you know that I have been struggling with the decision of how to balance family and work. Last fall was a tough transition to being back at work full time. Elijah was 6 months old and for me that was a huge change compared to when I went back to work for 3 weeks when he was 3 months old. My hormones had balanced out, and I was enjoying the 6 month phase. I panicked a couple weeks before school started and had considered putting in my notice to stop working then. I started crunching numbers to see if we could make it on one income. And though the numbers worked, the fear settled in.

I felt guilty about letting my team down so close to the start of the school year, I felt guilty that we would not make progress on my student loans if I stopped working, I felt guilty about whether or not I would actually enjoy being a stay at home mom. And with the guilt, came the doubts. Would I even be good at staying at home with Elijah. Or if I leave my job now, will I ever get another counseling job?

Fear and doubt. These are the real enemies.

All year I have turned over my options. Do I stay at home full-time? Do I take a year long leave of absence from work and decide after that? Do I look to see if a job share opportunity comes open in the district? Do I look for a part-time position in a district closer to home? What would I do about daycare? Will a job share position with a friend in another district be an option? Honestly, I have been a ball of nerves, fearful that there was only one right decision to be made.

I have spent a lot of time praying. Praying that one clear option would come up and I would have peace about it. God answered my prayer in June when a part-time counselor at my school put in his notice. So for the 2016-17 school year I have the opportunity to stay at my school, work part-time, and job share with a friend. Elijah will stay at his daycare. This is was what I had hoped would happen, but was also afraid of being too hopeful.

I have had a lot of peace about this decision, and I'm not frantic as a new school year is starting. I am hoping that I am able to strike more balance in my life between family and work. I am hoping I will not be as run down and emotionally exhausted as I was last year.

Over the last 8 weeks I have also found more peace about staying at home. It finally hit me, that I will not always enjoy being at home, but generally I do, and that is okay. I am never going to be the perfect mom, but I am the mom for Elijah and I do feel like I am being equipped to be a darn good mom for him.

This is my last week of break. I am going to enjoy it and then charge into this next school year! How about you? Any big changes? Are you letting Fears or Doubts hinder you?

Transitions

Just as the temperatures are dropping and leaves are changing - Team O is in transition too. Life currently feels like it is moving at a crazy and hectic speed. We're holding on and trying to take it one day at a time.

I started a new job! After two years of looking and interviewing I finally have a school counseling job. I am working at the middle school level which is great. This middle school is 6th through 8th which is fascinating. A 6th grader is SO different than 8th grader! I see kids running around half my size, and kids taller than me with facial hair. Whoa!

I am a .6 counselor which means at this time I only work at the school 3 days a week. That definitely brings pros and cons. A pro is that this schedule is allowing me to transition well out of my position with the YWCA. I'll finish up there in about three weeks. I'm thankful that I can be of service, but I am also looking forward to having that time back. I will be able to use my Mondays/Fridays for research, refreshing myself on hot topics for middle school and putting time into planning the rest of this year at the school. I am thrilled! I'm also honestly overwhelmed. I've had some tough issues come through my door, and it is often scary that people think of me as a professional. But I'm in it and definitely pinch myself quite often to make sure this is still real!

Moving on to Paul. After nearly 14 years of being a professional software engineer as an individual contributor, Paul is taking a new position with his company. He will be moving into a management position where he oversees 8 people managing his companies cloud operations. His new official title is Manager Cloud Operations and Engineering. This is a major switch from what Paul has done in the past. I am so excited for him and though it will be a big challenge, I know he is up for it.

In addition to the position change, Paul is presenting next week at the Big Android BBQ. This is the first professional conference that Paul is presenting at. Much of his time the last couple of months has gone into developing his presentation.

And this is a taste of the exciting things going on with Team O.

Other fun things during September:

A visit from Paul's Aunt & Uncle.
Lots of fun dinners with friends old and new.
A trip to the State Fair with the Kaetzel Pretzels!

A Brazilian Cooking Class Date Night (thanks to my SIL)

Lots of snuggle time at the house.

My Meet Mrs. Oremland Poster that is now hanging outside my office door!

That's a wrap!