The Office

This is our annual company photograph. Really, I swear. Okay- I'm sure you didn't already guess it, but not really. Ha. I just couldn't convince everyone at my new office to stop and pose for a group picture so I could talk about them on my blog (not sure why!!!) And a blog entry with just words is so lacking. Besides, there are five of us just like in the picture and I am the only female, just like in the picture, so it sort-of fits... just use your imagination and picture Pam as me, Jim and Ryan wearing dirty jeans and t-shirts and looking all hot and sweaty from being out at jobsites, Dwight much older and dressed the same as Jim and Ryan but walking much slower, and Michael with no suit jacket but occasionally a tie. Then picture a layer of red dust on EVERYTHING in the office. Then you about have it. :-)

Here are the answers to your most Frequently Asked Questions......

Do I like the job? Yes, it's okay.

What do I do? Some things I do are to take dirty, crumpled field reports and enter them into the computer and make them pretty, type letters, reports and invoices, answer the phone, clean layers of dust off of everything, clean the bathroom, vacuum, water the office plant, occasionally play Minesweeper and Spider Solitaire.

Are the people nice? Yes, but, it gets kind-of lonely and quiet (not quiet in a good way), as the rest of them are out on jobsites or back in the filthy lab alot of the time.

What hours do I work? More than I had really wanted to, actually. I have worked just short of 30 hours each of the four weeks I have been there. I have enjoyed the few days when I have gotten off at noon and tolerated the ones when I stayed as late as 4:30. (But- I won't be able to tolerate that forever). I really meant it when I said I wanted a part-time job.

Is it weird working outside the home after all this time? Yes, it sort-of is, but I am adjusting pretty well. I think it has been very good for my mental health to have something to get up and go do every day. But, I am often tired when I get home and it is hard managing home AND work.

How are the kids adjusting? They tell me about daily that they wish I wasn't working and they want me to be at home. Tim does things differently than me, that is the bottom line, and he is with them most of the time. I think once school starts and we get into a routine, all will be well. I do enjoy being missed, though. And I miss them, too. One thing that is hard is when I get home, I am often tired and just want to lay down and take a nap. Or I am irritable and just want everyone to go away. I am not getting any real time to myself, which is something I require for optimum mental health. I don't like being away from the kids all day and then coming home and telling them to get away and leave me alone. :-) I *think* this will resolve itself once school starts, as well, as I hope to be out of work in time to be home most days 45 minutes to an hour before them and that "down time" will really help.

Is it fun getting a paycheck again? Yes. It was amazing seeing my name on a paycheck after all these years. :-)

And that's about it. And now, as my Sunday is winding down, I am going to go relax some more before it is time to get up tomorrow and start another work week!