The Sweet Feeling of Freedom

Freedom from work that is!  Last month I stopped working for my old company in favor of being a full-time domestic engineer.  I had been working at least two hours a day from home since Philip was three months old, squeezing in work during naps and after bedtime.  We always knew that this arrangement would be temporary, but weren't sure exactly how long we would do it.  This summer I took on an extra hour each day to fill a gap and it was really tough. I was so ready to be done.  In November, it was finally a good time, both for us and for my company.  I had my last day of work a week before Thanksgiving and we promptly left for vacation two days later! 

Since then, I haven't stopped. I'm not sure when I found the time to work!  My to-do list is definitely getting worked through much more quickly now, but there are always things to add to the list.  I'm happy that I no longer have to worry if Philip takes a short nap one day or falls asleep in the car on the way home (because that would cut off the amount of naptime I was able to use for work).  No conference calls or urgent calls from work interrupt the flow of our day.  And I don't mind if I miss a little bit of a weekend nap because I need to eat lunch - those weekend naps used to be precious times because they were my only free time to take care of special projects or business around the house.  So, life is even more sweet these days. 

Some people ask if I miss my work, and I have to say, no!  It was a great job for me, we did good work and I loved my co-workers, but I have always, always, always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, so I feel like I have finally reached my career goal!   I'm so blessed to be able to do this, even if just for a few short years.

No post is complete without some pictures.  Here are a few I dug up related to work.

I visited some beautiful places...

Palm Springs

Albuquerque

Even got to take Andy with me on a few trips...

Guitar from the band Yes, at one of our hotels, one of Andy's favorite bands

Made great friends...

And had a little fun while I was at it!

Twins game

Giving a penguin a check-up

High-fiving a Beluga whale

By looking at these pictures, you may think my job had something to do with biology or nature, but it absolutely did not!  We just took on a lot of different projects!

Closing down a conference in Vegas with who else?  Elvis!