Land of the working

So I’ll admit, we haven’t been exactly rolling in the dough over here. ?Can’t say that anyone I know is these days. ?To be really honest we just about eek by each month and survey the pantry on a regular basis for staples that could stand an eating… ?Barley and crackers for dinner anyone?

We are rather tired of living like this. ?I will say it has been a luxury to be able to stay home as much as I have over the past 3 1/2 years. ?My job at the church is very flexible and they have allowed me to work at home when needed. ?I also had my hours increased from 20 to 30 hours a month. ?A month people, not a week. ?I love my church job and it keeps me occupied and allows me to have at least a little extra time with adults, but it certainly does not pay the bills.

We had a few unexpected bills come up earlier this year and we thought that now would be a good time for me to start thinking about looking for a job. ?If you didn’t know already I’m trained as a horticulturist. ?At least that’s what my degree says. ?At the time I started looking for a job it was prime nursery hiring time. ?I had a few options. ?There was the nursery close to my house, that I shop for my window boxes at, but they aren’t super friendly especially since my friend Michele left. ?Then there was the giant nursery across the bridge where I would have to “commute” and pay a toll and would be just another number in the giant place. ?My last option was the little tiny nursery in the north end of town that I don’t shop at on a regular basis because I forget about it, but love every time I go in there. ?I turned in my resume at nursery #1 and #3. ?I waited on #2 because I knew that if I turned it in I would get hired fairly quickly. ?There aren’t many people with actual nursery experience looking for jobs let alone one with a degree.

I was holding out for nursery #3.

Nursery #1 never called. ?Shocking. ?They didn’t the last time I applied either. ?I waited and waited for nursery #3 to call. ?I was on the verge of calling them when some friends happened to go in and talked me up a bit. ?That Monday they called to schedule an interview.

**as an aside, most nurseries around here do their spring hiring around Valentine’s day. ?I turned my resume in around the first week of February and all of this started happening the week before last.**

The owner informed me that I had a pretty good shot at the job, but that they had a few more people to interview. ?They would let me know by Tuesday (as in day before last). ?I didn’t hear Tuesday despite having my home phone forwarded to my cell phone. ?I sat on pins and needles all day Wednesday thinking surely they would call. ?I went to church Wednesday night still not knowing anything and sure enough they called at 6:00 last night when I wasn’t home. ?Of course by the time I got home the store was closed so I had to wait until 10:00 this morning to call them.

They agreed to hire me and here are the best parts… It is only part time (I don’t know if I could handle working full time), I don’t have to work on Sundays (I thought I would have to), I will have Fridays and Mondays off (Oleg doesn’t have school Fridays) and during the week I will only have to work 1/2 days. ?They are also ok with me going to China for 2 1/2 weeks this summer which is way cool since I’ve been planning for this trip since last summer and have already paid my deposit and my plane ticket is purchased.

I start on Tuesday and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. ?I haven’t worked in this kind of environment in over 7 years. ?It means missing out on hockey on Saturdays and a little bit of time with my boys, but in the end it will be a good thing. ?I get more interaction with adults and I get to help lessen our financial stress. ?For the record I will be keeping my church job and still doing a little bit of design work on the side, but now I can afford to be a little more picky with that kind of work.