in which I get offered and lose a job in the same day

Trust me, this story is not nearly as tragic as that title makes it sound.

Ok, so the week started like this.
* Tuesday – I had an in-person job interview for a job that I really felt totally indifferent about. It’s a short-term contract job that’s way the hell across town, the hours suck, and I didn’t really care for the place. (Call it a personal bias, I’m not a fan of working in places where I have to go through a metal detector to enter and leave the building, as well as let a security guard rummage around in my purse. Not a fan at all.) On the positive side, though? The pay for that job was sweet. Like, a week’s salary would’ve covered a month of daycare, with some left over. But you know, a short-term contract job means no benefits, which is why they usually up the pay rate.

One of the annoying things about that job was that they didn’t know how short-term the job was going to be. They said the contract was “one to four months.” During the interview, I asked for a more specific timeframe, and I didn’t get an answer. Just that they had this project that had to be done, and they estimated it would take somewhere in that range. Kind of hard to make plans around non-specifics like that.

* Wednesday – I had a phone interview for a job that I WANT I WANT OMG I WAAAANT SO BAD. I don’t want to talk too much about that one for fear of jinxing it, but as far as the combination of salary range, hours, commute, and work/family balance? It’s pretty much the most perfect scenario I could ask for. And the phone interview went really well. So well, in fact, that they’ve already contacted me about doing a follow-up interview with a different manager; however, the manager won’t be able to interview me for two weeks due to scheduling issues. Which, hey, that’s FINE. I just really, really want this job.

* Yesterday (Thursday) – I got a call from the recruiter from Tuesday. And they offered me the job. The job I don’t care about. I asked if I could have some time to think about it, and I called Dave in a panic.

Here’s the deal: I don’t want the crappy short-term contract job. I’m holding out hope that the job I DO want (which, btw, is a permanent gig, not a contract) will come through. But I also know that it’s going to be at least two weeks before I do a follow-up interview, and the crappy job wants me to start on Monday, and wouldn’t it be nice if I could be making some money in the meantime?

So I told the recruiter that I could commit to the project for one month (the minimum time on the contract), but since I’m currently interviewing for a permanent position, I can’t commit to the full four months right now. I thought that was reasonable, and you know, HONEST.

Over the next couple of hours, my anxiety at the thought of accepting a job I didn’t want kicked into overdrive. I freaked out. I don’t like starting something when I know I’m only going to be putting in a half-assed effort at best, and let’s face it, my heart was not in this at all. Quite honestly, my only motivation in accepting the job was the money.

But the main thing I worried about was Catie. The hours for this job meant that I’d have to leave for work before she wakes up in the morning. I’d get to see her for a couple of hours in the evening, and on the weekends, but that’s it. And you know, lately, mornings are my favorite with her. That’s when I get all the best snuggles and kisses. The idea of missing that, even though it was only going to be for a month, made me want to cry.

A little while later, the recruiter called me back. He said that he spoke with the managers, and while they certainly understand my wanting to pursue a permanent opportunity, they want someone who can commit to the full four months. Even though they have no idea if the project is going to take that long. So they’re going to keep looking for candidates. Basically it was a “thanks, but no thanks.”

Honestly, all I felt was immense relief. I think that was a sign that this was definitely not the right job for me.

Now, in light of this crazy week we’ve had, we’re off to the mountains to celebrate Dave’s birthday weekend. (He turns 39 on Sunday. Old man.) I’m planning on leaving my laptop at home and enjoying the time with my family. I mean, I’ll still have my iPhone, though. It’s not like I’m a total cavewoman.

Hope you all have fun-filled weekends as well.

routines

I’m guessing that most families with two working parents settle into some sort of a routine. It took us a pretty long time of floundering, but I think we’ve finally found our groove.

Dave goes to work really early in the morning – like, crazy early. I think he leaves around 6 a.m.? Maybe earlier? I don’t really know because I’m always asleep. He gives me a kiss goodbye – on the forehead, because I’m usually sleeping with my mouth open, such a sexy little minx am I. And I try to wake up and say a proper goodbye, but it usually comes out like this:

Mmmrrph? Bye, haff a good d… *honk* *pshew*…

What can I say? I’m a heavy sleeper.

Anyway, Dave likes going to work early because he’s the first one there and he can get at least a solid couple hours’ worth of work done before everybody else gets there. Honestly, the extra productivity wouldn’t be worth the early wake-up call for me, but I’ve never been an early bird type.

Meanwhile, Catie and I usually get up around 7:30 on average. We snuggle on the couch and watch cartoons for a little while, then I get her dressed and we set off for daycare. I usually get her there around 9:15 a.m. Then I come back home and get to work.

The perk of Dave heading in so early, is that he can leave work around 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon, and pick Catie up from daycare on his way home. He helps me out with the childcare stuff in the evenings (dinner, bathtime), but then he goes to bed around 8 p.m. so he can get up early the next day. Catie doesn’t go to bed until about 9:00 p.m., so I usually handle bedtime on my own. I suppose this means that overall, I do more of the childcare “work” than he does (getting her dressed in the morning, the bedtime routine at night), but he makes up for it by getting up with her on the weekends and letting me sleep in, so that trade-off is fine with me. There was a point, sometime when Catie was 2 years old, that I thought I would never be able to sleep past 9 a.m. again, ever, for the rest of my life. I now often sleep until at least 10 on Saturdays. Which, for the record, is freaking awesome.

I suppose it wouldn’t work for some people – the fact that we all have different bedtimes and wake-up times – but it’s fine for us. Yes, I’m a little jealous of the people whose kids go to bed at 7 p.m. and sleep peacefully all night, and who get to hang out watching prime-time TV with their spouses. But that’s just not how we roll. And that’s ok, we make this work for us.

Still, there are some mornings when Catie wakes up, and she wants her Daddy. And I tell her that sorry babe, he’s already gone to work. She looks out the front window into the driveway, sees that his car is gone, and then she cries that she wants her Daddy. Talk about heart-breaking.

Catie seriously working on the iPad

Dave had some insomnia last night so he slept late this morning. Catie was so excited that he was still here when she woke up, she climbed into our bed between us and snuggled up next to him with her head on his pillow. It was so sweet.

Dave got up to shower and get dressed for work, and I told Catie that if she wanted Daddy to take her to school instead of Mommy, she was going to have to hurry and get dressed in the next 5 minutes, or else Daddy was going to have to leave without her. And my normally sleepy-headed child who takes forever to get ready in the morning was dressed with her sneakers on and pigtails up in a heartbeat.

She went to daycare over an hour earlier than usual, and she was delighted to do so, because her Daddy was the one taking her. She kissed me good-bye, and with a “Love you, Mommy, have a good day!”, she was off. The house was completely empty and quiet by 8:00 a.m. That never happens. I actually got to exercise before starting work for the day. That’s a pretty rare occurrence too.

Since Dave was later than usual getting to work, he’s going to have to stay later this afternoon, so I’m going to be picking Catie up from daycare. I already can’t wait to see her. Sometimes a little change in the routine is just what we need.