The world works in strange ways, no question. As the rest of the country is, we are watching our budget carefully. Starting Ella in daycare means an additional $1400 a month (OUCH) for 3 days of care. It is somewhat of a gamble because I have no idea what I will earn this school year from teaching and who knows about next summer. Anyway...we've been talking about my desire to get back to singing and contemplating how to finance lessons which don't come cheap. We'd negotiated between ourselves that I would try to do 2 a month and factor in an hour of practice time on the days I'd teach. It is a far cry from weekly lessons, coachings and daily rehearsals, but I'll take it.
Just as we settled on this, I got an email from my uncle saying that a great uncle who died probably 4 or 5 years ago had an additional life insurance policy that no one knew about. He died without a will, which, when you live in Delaware means they hunt down all of your living blood relatives and divide the estate up between them. I'd already gotten my initial payout years ago, but this amount will pay for 5 months of lessons twice a month for me without having to touch our other income. The check arrived yesterday and my first lesson is in 2 weeks!
Thank you Uncle Ross!!!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Accomplishment!
Here it is: I actually made dinner at a decent hour last night.
Throughout Ella's life I've not figured out how to make dinner while she is still awake. In the early days dinner time was her meltdown time and now a days, she is on the move, so I can't exactly plunk her somewhere and go off and do something else.
Yesterday, it dawned on me to try putting the pack and play in the kitchen, load it up with toys and see if she'd hang out in there while I cooked. It worked!!! We had some music on, she bopped around, sometimes standing up to peer over at what I was doing and then plopping back down and playing with her favorite toy - measuring spoons.
The bottom line is I had dinner all assembled before feeding her dinner and was able to put it in the oven at 6:30 and we ate at 7, right after she went to bed. My whole being is happier with that plan - I'm not so hungry I'm crabby and I've had enough time to digest that I don't get reflux which messes with my chances of singing decently. She even stayed in long enough for me to wash up prep dishes so the kitchen wasn't an utter disaster to clean up.
And, the most fun of all, was I held out some of the pasta, put some sauce and parm. cheese on it, tore up some chicken we'd had the other night and it was her dinner. There is something of a huge relief to me to have her move into eating table food. She loves it and the mess it makes and I love seeing her grow and move towards a bigger kid.
Now if we can just get her to sleep until at least 6am again.....
Throughout Ella's life I've not figured out how to make dinner while she is still awake. In the early days dinner time was her meltdown time and now a days, she is on the move, so I can't exactly plunk her somewhere and go off and do something else.
Yesterday, it dawned on me to try putting the pack and play in the kitchen, load it up with toys and see if she'd hang out in there while I cooked. It worked!!! We had some music on, she bopped around, sometimes standing up to peer over at what I was doing and then plopping back down and playing with her favorite toy - measuring spoons.
The bottom line is I had dinner all assembled before feeding her dinner and was able to put it in the oven at 6:30 and we ate at 7, right after she went to bed. My whole being is happier with that plan - I'm not so hungry I'm crabby and I've had enough time to digest that I don't get reflux which messes with my chances of singing decently. She even stayed in long enough for me to wash up prep dishes so the kitchen wasn't an utter disaster to clean up.
And, the most fun of all, was I held out some of the pasta, put some sauce and parm. cheese on it, tore up some chicken we'd had the other night and it was her dinner. There is something of a huge relief to me to have her move into eating table food. She loves it and the mess it makes and I love seeing her grow and move towards a bigger kid.
Now if we can just get her to sleep until at least 6am again.....
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
had it, having it and whatall...
I'm not sure if I'm still in the process of 'having it' or if I've just officially 'had it' with working for other people.
This week's adventures make me think it might just be time to hang out my own shingle and go it alone. I long, yearn, pine, drool over the possibility of having a manager who wows the world with communication skills, negotiation abilities, management talents. Thus far, I've come up with diddly on that front.
The aforementioned adventure went from simple, to odd to all out clusterfuck (SUCH a great word). It began as a meeting in which it was recognized that I've been donating my time for about 4 years to run the program I teach in and it was suggested that I should receive a stipend for said work. All good. A meeting was held, an amount was proposed and agreed on and everyone walked away happy. Except one person who, the next day, fired off and email saying I should be paid 80% less - at a rate I haven't been paid since probably high school. I replied and said as much and a bit more.
Things continued until last week when I was asked to put together a list of tasks and estimate time and dollars and my supervisor would get back to me with what the potential stipend would be and I could say yay or nay. I followed through on my end. What did I get in return?
What did I get in return, indeed.
What I got was a mass email sent out to all the teachers yeaterday about starting up in the fall and rolled into the middle of that email was, 'oh, by the way' Person X (not a voice teacher and definitely not me) will now be the Director of the Program'.
Uhhhhhhh.....you know, it saves me load of administrative headache to not have to coordinate things, but that was NOT the way to tell me about the decision. I have been ridonkulously helpful in providing info, setting up the meeting for alumni to talk about the financial side of the program, done this that and the other, was lead to believe we were simply dickering over dollars and THIS is what I get. Communication from someone who appears to be in over his head, with no idea how to manage employees.
Bring on the school year, I can't fucking wait.
All of that had me lying awake listening to my child cry randomly at 4am and thinking, perhaps I should just escape the whole working for someone else and work for myself. Launch a venture that will be workable from home, have some childcare to keep my sanity and just fuck the work world. Sounds pretty appealing if you ask me.
This week's adventures make me think it might just be time to hang out my own shingle and go it alone. I long, yearn, pine, drool over the possibility of having a manager who wows the world with communication skills, negotiation abilities, management talents. Thus far, I've come up with diddly on that front.
The aforementioned adventure went from simple, to odd to all out clusterfuck (SUCH a great word). It began as a meeting in which it was recognized that I've been donating my time for about 4 years to run the program I teach in and it was suggested that I should receive a stipend for said work. All good. A meeting was held, an amount was proposed and agreed on and everyone walked away happy. Except one person who, the next day, fired off and email saying I should be paid 80% less - at a rate I haven't been paid since probably high school. I replied and said as much and a bit more.
Things continued until last week when I was asked to put together a list of tasks and estimate time and dollars and my supervisor would get back to me with what the potential stipend would be and I could say yay or nay. I followed through on my end. What did I get in return?
What did I get in return, indeed.
What I got was a mass email sent out to all the teachers yeaterday about starting up in the fall and rolled into the middle of that email was, 'oh, by the way' Person X (not a voice teacher and definitely not me) will now be the Director of the Program'.
Uhhhhhhh.....you know, it saves me load of administrative headache to not have to coordinate things, but that was NOT the way to tell me about the decision. I have been ridonkulously helpful in providing info, setting up the meeting for alumni to talk about the financial side of the program, done this that and the other, was lead to believe we were simply dickering over dollars and THIS is what I get. Communication from someone who appears to be in over his head, with no idea how to manage employees.
Bring on the school year, I can't fucking wait.
All of that had me lying awake listening to my child cry randomly at 4am and thinking, perhaps I should just escape the whole working for someone else and work for myself. Launch a venture that will be workable from home, have some childcare to keep my sanity and just fuck the work world. Sounds pretty appealing if you ask me.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Feeling Grateful
There are many days when I long for a dear friend to get together with to talk about life and what is going on in it these days. I miss having girlfriends who are experiencing parenthood at the same time I am and who know me well.
In my pre-marriage and Ella days I had friends who were married and had children, but most of them lived in adjoining states - New York and San Francisco to be precise. Locally, I cultivated friendships with other single women - many of whom have no desire to have children or probably get married. Since having Ella, I still see them, but I think we'd all agree it is different though they have been my friends for 15 years. My life has simply moved onto a different track and while we do get together for dinner or a pedicure once in a while, we won't be taking girl's trips to Spain together of going, spur of the moment, to a local watering hole to hang out.
I know I'm the type of person who tends to have fewer, but closer friends that I've known for a long time. Being casual acquaintances with people was not something I ever did well. My mom will be the first to say it was hard to plan birthday parties for me as a kid because I only wanted my best friend there. College was the first time that was ever really required of me and I can't say I felt totally successful at it. I never enjoyed going to dinner with people I didn't know well. In all honesty, I would rather have eaten alone. Over the years I've gotten better at it and have a fairly big circle of people that I know and enjoy, but those I hold near and dear are those I can get close to and form a lasting bond.
Today my desire was fulfilled when I got to chat with my friend Bronwen. We met 19 years ago this month when we started college and lived in good old Marshall Dorm. It is amazing to me that we've known each other that long, when in some ways college feels like just yesterday.
I so appreciate her friendship because our relationship has stood the test of time, relationships, distance and a whole host of other things. There are plenty of years when we probably haven't seen each other more than twice a year, but we've always caught up by phone and it is as though no time has passed no matter how long we go between chatting. Though we've been there for each other over the years, I think in the past 5 years we've really come to appreciate the friendship of the other in a way we never had before. Though our lives are so very different in some ways, we are similar people in our core.
In any event, it felt like a spot of my soul lit up when, after weeks of phone tag, we were able to catch up. There is just something wonderful about getting to talk with a person who just gets you and knows your history so there's no back story needing to be filled in when you talk. It makes me grateful for the friendships I have invested in and so glad to talk with someone who has a life that is somewhat like mine.
In my pre-marriage and Ella days I had friends who were married and had children, but most of them lived in adjoining states - New York and San Francisco to be precise. Locally, I cultivated friendships with other single women - many of whom have no desire to have children or probably get married. Since having Ella, I still see them, but I think we'd all agree it is different though they have been my friends for 15 years. My life has simply moved onto a different track and while we do get together for dinner or a pedicure once in a while, we won't be taking girl's trips to Spain together of going, spur of the moment, to a local watering hole to hang out.
I know I'm the type of person who tends to have fewer, but closer friends that I've known for a long time. Being casual acquaintances with people was not something I ever did well. My mom will be the first to say it was hard to plan birthday parties for me as a kid because I only wanted my best friend there. College was the first time that was ever really required of me and I can't say I felt totally successful at it. I never enjoyed going to dinner with people I didn't know well. In all honesty, I would rather have eaten alone. Over the years I've gotten better at it and have a fairly big circle of people that I know and enjoy, but those I hold near and dear are those I can get close to and form a lasting bond.
Today my desire was fulfilled when I got to chat with my friend Bronwen. We met 19 years ago this month when we started college and lived in good old Marshall Dorm. It is amazing to me that we've known each other that long, when in some ways college feels like just yesterday.
I so appreciate her friendship because our relationship has stood the test of time, relationships, distance and a whole host of other things. There are plenty of years when we probably haven't seen each other more than twice a year, but we've always caught up by phone and it is as though no time has passed no matter how long we go between chatting. Though we've been there for each other over the years, I think in the past 5 years we've really come to appreciate the friendship of the other in a way we never had before. Though our lives are so very different in some ways, we are similar people in our core.
In any event, it felt like a spot of my soul lit up when, after weeks of phone tag, we were able to catch up. There is just something wonderful about getting to talk with a person who just gets you and knows your history so there's no back story needing to be filled in when you talk. It makes me grateful for the friendships I have invested in and so glad to talk with someone who has a life that is somewhat like mine.
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