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Did I mention that Josh has a new job? He has had a new job now for two weeks. He has been working part time for our church (although in reality that is a 24/7/365 job) and part time for a real estate agency. At the agency, he started out as an ad man for them and transferred to a courier position which meant he went to the homes for sell, took photos, put up signs, that sort of stuff. A few weeks ago, the real estate company’s SUV broke down. Transmission kapoot! So he waited for them to fix it or buy a new vehicle. And he waited and he waited. Finally after about two weeks, he had to quit. Without a big suv, he couldn’t work. And without work, there is no pay check. I stopped by with him to pick up his last paycheck and they seem to have parted on good terms, it was just laziness on the owners part that cost him a good employee.

Luckily, Josh had two offers for jobs right away. One was in a meat processing plant, but they needed someone full time, and the other was for a lawn care service that was happy to have someone part-time. If he didn’t have the church job, I’m sure he could work full time for the lawn care place.

Let me tell you something, lawn care is exhausting work. It took me three hours to mow our yard yesterday and I was sweaty and sore when I finished. Imagining doing that for  eight hours a day is really exhausting. As the newbie, Josh has to do a lot of weed eating. Since we live in the country, we don’t weed eat our yard, so he knows how to use the equipment, he’s just not as fast as the other employees. He does it enjoy it somewhat because he gets to practice using his Spanish.

So anywho, on to ME! Hehe! Seeing how exhausting this is for Josh really makes me appreciate him for taking care of his family. But as I’ve mentioned before, with Suz starting school next week, there is nothing holding me back from getting a job of my own.

When I first thought of getting a job, my goal wasn’t to get a job so I could get out of the house, or to make more money for the family. And it still isn’t. My goal is to get a job so Josh can work at one job, the church job. The last two weeks I have really been scouring the newspaper and internet job sites, searching for even the most basic job that would fulfill my needs.

See… my aim is to only work part-time. 20-25 hours a week. My aim is to replace Josh’s yard job which means I can’t work for minimum wage. As for enjoying the job, liking the employer, etc.. I really have given up on that because my first two goals are so far-fetched right now. I have been out of work a long time. I do have a degree, so I’m not stupid. Employers don’t always take kindly to mothers who choose to stay home. They are afraid if you hire them that your commitment to your family will still come first. Well DuH!

However! When I work, Josh’s schedule will be much more flexible, and now we have two retired Grandmothers who have both offered to help out if need be. So if we have a sick child that doesn’t automatically mean I miss work.

But part-time/reasonable pay is important for many reasons. We don’t want to have to ask any grandparents to watch the kids. So that means, even during Christmas vacation, Spring Break, and especially next summer, Josh and I want to be home even at alternate times so no one is infringed on. And I’m not looking to increase our income so that we can afford to have a daily sitter situation. What kid really wants to be at a sitters all day during the summer??

Now…in a perfect world, I’d find a legitimate work at home job. I’d be willing to work even 30 hours for something like that. However, that’s 30 hours during the regular work day. I looked into a call center at home position, but the most calls come in Friday, Saturday, and Sunday’s so that doesn’t really work for me, does it?

Oh well, sorry to vent. I’m just sick of reading ads for truckers, commissioned phone sales, nurses, and pre-school teachers. All positive thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.