I was going to say something about giving you the skinny on what's new with me, but given I'm back on the dieting wagon but with the reins slack in my hand and my fat arse on the seat instead of on the treadmill, let's not. Also, I'm sick. Good times, peoples. But a couple of Cold & Flu tablets that have 1,000 mg of Panadol with 8 mg of codeine followed by a 500 mg Naprosyn chaser and I'm feeling better. Temporarily at least.
I've been a very busy woman since my post about Winston. So busy it's taken me 3 days to finish this post! Sure there was the whole routine change to get used to, and Clive has been keeping me extraordinarily busy as he's up early and doesn't like to practice crawling too much - he much prefers the royal hip treatment where he can yank my hair and cram his fingers into my mouth to explore my teeth. I think he may have been a dentist in a past life. Which is a shame, because dentists are evil. So why so busy? You're about to find out.
First, let me just say to the person who emailed me 'guessing' that the thing keeping me busy was that I was pregnant again - hell no! That would involve a bright star, angels and 3 men in tacky robes showing up at my door with presents. I know it's the season for that kind of stuff, but not in this house. No more kids!
What's been keeping me busy is my new job. That's right - I've rejoined the ranks of the gainfully employed. After my post about trying to fight off another recurrence of depression, I did some serious thinking about what it was that was calling Winston to Chez Mooselet. I came to the conclusion that while I love my kids and I love the fact that I'm able to stay at home and care for the younger two and be here for the older two, it just wasn't enough. I needed to feel useful, like I was making a contribution to the household. That there's more to me than wiping backsides and doing dishes 365 days a year. In short I wanted, no needed, to go back to work.
Unfortunately it's going to take many months, maybe longer, until my nursing license is approved. I still haven't received paperwork from my school, although one instructor who is still there from my time is being as helpful as she can - even if it means a 3am phone call. Once the paperwork is submitted, I need to wait until it's assessed and I strongly suspect I will be required to undergo some remedial training of one kind or another, possibly through a university program, until I'm approved. While I love nursing - when people ask me what I do I still answer "I'm a nurse" and explain I'm just not working - and I have no intention on giving up on a career that I worked my ass off for I'm not willing to bide my time at home waiting. I want to work.
So what kind of a job could I possibly land that would still allow me to be at home for the kids during the day and did not rely on any kind of skills that require licensure? I could go and work at the McDonalds where Miss Thing used to as they recently changed their hours to be open 24/7, but I quickly discarded that notion. I wanted to job where I'd be kept busy, not standing around cleaning the fryer on a Wednesday night at 11pm because everyone is home in bed. To cut to the chase, I'm now employed by Woolworths supermarket as a nightfill, or shelf stocker. A brain dead job? You betcha. Opening boxes and putting cookies on the shelf is not exactly rocket science. But it has these advantages:
- I pretty much dictated my availability. I said I was only available to start an hour later than they normally have their nightfill start, and they were okay with that. Nor am I there until 3 am, so I can still come home and sleep before the little ones wake me up. Plus I'm only doing 3 or 4 shifts, so again I'm not risking exhaustion.
- It's incredibly busy. Aside from a 15 minute break half way through my shift, I don't stop. Since nothing makes time fly like being busy, I don't mind.
- It's a very physical job. My thighs were killing me over the weekend from all the squatting, so if nothing else I may drop a few kilos. Who needs a gym when they pay me to work out?
- I'm left alone for vast stretches of time. Except for me asking a few questions or my supervisor popping by to see how I'm doing, no one is bothering me. I can't tell you how good this is.
- 
Coming from the Land of Minimum Wage, I'm being paid what I consider an obscene amount of money that very nearly equals what I was making as a newly licensed RN in 1999, and not too far behind what I was earning when I left in 2002. Yes nurses earn more - and when I look at the wage I could be earning had we not left Massachusetts I want to weep - but I'm earning a decent salary that will definitely help out the family budget. That makes me feel good.
The Hermit was not happy with me at first for going this route, but now that he understands that my ultimate goal is to get my RN license and go back to work in nurisng he's being supportive. Still not thrilled, but it beats the anger and the non-discussions that we had a couple of weeks ago.
So there you have it. This damned cold aside, I already feel better and have only gotten glimpses of Winston as he skulks way up on the curb instead of at the foot of my bed. I doubt you'll read too much about it - after all, how exciting would posts about the new cookies that were delivered be - but I think you won't hear too much about Winston any more either.
