Working Mom

I am a working mom, once again. Mixed feelings. I actually got the new job! It's been pretty good but SO busy. The learning curve is steep and I barely have time to take a lunch everyday. The change of work and work environment is good and I'm so happy that I decided to take that leap. I went from public practice into education; I am a business manager at a school. Going back to school has been interesting. It's kind of funny seeing the students and reminiscing about how I was like when I was their age.

I actually went back to work a month early before my mat leave ended since that was when the job was required to start. The trade off is that I don't have to worry about working crazy overtime hours any more. I mean, I still put in extra hours every day, but nothing like working in a firm. 

But anyway, Son #2 turned 1 last week! The time has flown by and of course it always makes me wonder if I made the right choice to go back to work. Son #1 really likes his dayhome and has a buddy to play with. His colouring skills have improved vastly (from uninterested dots/sparse lines to actually scribbling somewhat within the lines - yay!) and he plays so hard that he sleeps in his own room for nearly the whole night. Son #2 is with Grandma and Grandpa during the day so he's being loved but it's really hard to leave him when he's still so young. I'm still nursing him a few times a day and make sure to do so before I leave to work and then I give him a nice cuddle before putting him back in his crib. I'm grateful that I could spend at least eleven months at home with maternity pay from the government, compared to the three months that my friends get in the US. I think if we could, I would stay home with the boys until they were both in school but for now, I need to work.

I hope I can update on a more regular basis but the pace of my new job has left me exhausted! I love to cook and bake but even those are becoming somewhat cumbersome tasks. We've been eating far too much pizza and the odd McDonald's (there's one too close to our house). I should really start doing some more meal planning. Now that the weather is becoming cooler, maybe I should pull out the slow cooker more often!

Family Vacation

We were able to get away for ten days and flew into Vancouver to visit family. We also decided to drive down to Oregon to do some shopping and eating at some of the food trucks in Portland and then stay at the coast for a few days. We had a really good time! We drove down in our upgraded rental car - we had booked a full sized car at a pretty good price but then were offered an upgrade to a brand new Hyundai Santa Fe for around $10/day at the counter!

The initial drive down to Portland wasn't that fun: Son #2 wasn't used to the long driving and was screaming/loudly babbling/shrieking almost the entire way down. He also didn't like sleeping in the portable crib and I had to bring him into our king bed that was also being shared with Son #1.

Since the sit 'n stand type stroller that we have was too big, we decided to bring just the umbrella stroller in case Son #1 got tired from all of the walking - which he did - and also the Ergo carrier for Son #1 which was good since he would only fall asleep in the carrier while we were out and not in the stroller! My shoulders and legs got a bit sore after carrying him around Downtown Portland all morning, but it was a good workout I guess since we stuffed our faces with Thai food, Japanese food, Voodoo doughnuts, and some handmade ice cream.

I also had a Skype interview for a job that I had applied. I was nervous that the WiFi connection wouldn't be good at the hotel, especially after Husband's cousin said that he was having trouble Skype-ing with his sister the night before on his cell phone. But luckily I brought my laptop because the Skype connection was great and the interview went well since I got the job! Skype interviews are something that I definitely will try to avoid if I ever have to. It was very distracting to see myself on the screen (I kept thinking that I looked funny or worried that I looked nervous) and then I felt more nervous because I was staring intently at the interviewers' faces while they were writing down their notes during the interview.

The drive to the coast was beautiful and it was really nice once we got there because we were able to book a two bedroom condo-style hotel. Son #2 was able to sleep in his portable crib since he wasn't distracted by us being in the same room; we were in the living room talking with Husband's cousin and his family and Son #1 was able to play with his second cousin. Cannon Beach was nice but extremely windy. So windy, that flying a kite involved nothing more than unwinding the string. Someone down the beach accidentally let go of their kite and it flew away over the beachfront buildings!

The drive back went pretty well. We made some stops along the way: Costco (no tax in Oregon and there were so many things I would have bought if we had room!!), giant Korean grocery in Tacoma, WA called Paldo World, yummy Korean restaurant also in Tacoma, WA that had delicious charcoal grilled spicy pork, quick outlet shopping stop in Skagit, WA. Son #2 was really good and fell asleep for most of the drive but started getting fussy near the border.

We had a great vacation, especially since we got to spend so much time with extended family. Now to decide if we can/should go to Hawaii in November. Oh Hawaii... *cue dreamy ukulele music*

Not Being Wasteful

With so many blogs on the Internet, I find it hard to come up with an original idea. I mean, I come up with an idea that I think it so brilliant, say, a recipe, only to do a quick Google search and find that many other people have already thought of it!

I thought of Cookinotti with pretzels. Already done. Cookinotti mixed in with Rice Krispies squares. Already done. Fine. So I made Cookinotti Rice Krispies squares topped with crushed peanut butter filled pretzels and then drizzled them with chocolates. Muhaha. I showed them. Dialing wand to continue typing on my laptop has been ordered

I often look for new recipes or try to think of things to bake if I have an overabundance of an ingredient or two. Last week I had a carton of whipping cream to use up so I was thinking of making Japanese style spaghetti carbonara but then decided to make some apple cinnamon scones topped with maple sugar. I hate throwing out food throwing out food that's gone bad so I always try to make sure that I use it up while it's still good.

One thing that was starting to accumulate was those garlic butter sauce discs from Papa John's pizza. The first time I tried it, I thought it was pretty disgusting but if I limit the amount that I dip with my crust, it's not too bad. But we always end up with a lot of unopened ones leftover. So I added some to mashed potatoes instead of using butter. Mmmmm. Then I added it to some stir fried seafood (squid, prawns, scallops, mussels). Mmmmm. I mean, it's not the best thing for you but it makes a nice addition to a dish once in a while.

I went for a second interview last week. This time it started off with a 30 minute test followed by a 30 minute interview with FIVE people. Well, it was supposed to be a 30 minute interview. I think the adrenaline, nervousness, crazies induced by sleep deprivation, caffeine all kicked in and the question and answer period was done in 15 minutes. Ummm is that a good thing or a bad thing? I guess I talk fast when I'm nervous. Dang. I wasn't even going to apply for this job in the first place but the competitive side of me wants it so bad now that I've gone through the second round. I'm still hoping to talk to the partners at my current work about being able to go back to work with reduced hours but I'll hold off until after I find out if I get this new job or not. I still technically have over three months left in my maternity leave so I have some time. The bad thing about the new job is that it starts mid August so I would be cutting my maternity leave short by a month, meaning one less month to spend at home with my boys. I guess it would be better to go back a month early than to potentially have to go back to my old job full time plus super overtime during tax season. Ugh. I can't go back to my old job.

Splurging

 

This was my lovely tree before the windy thunderstorm blew most of the blossoms off :(

I went for an interview last Friday. I didn't really want to apply for the job because it involves some traveling in the form of highway driving - especially not fun when it's Winter! Not only that but I'm overqualified and the pay would be a cut compared to what I could get anywhere else. So why did I apply? Minimal overtime, the job itself seems interesting, good benefits - including pension! And the job environment seems to be good and not overly stressful. Plus it would be easy for me to drive to since it's not in Downtown and it sort of has flex hours. Oh and free parking. I didn't prepare for the interview since I'm still indecisive about going back to work but definitely felt nervous when I walked in to three interviewers staring at me. I think the interview went pretty well seeing as I have to go back for a test and a second interview. A test? I don't know what to expect but I'm really really hoping that both sons will let me have a good night's rest or else these potential employers might question my resume and maybe even the validity of my CA designation ha ha...

Even though I'm still undecided, I think I'm leaning towards returning to work. Especially if I can land a job that has good hours so that I can come home, not be stressed/exhausted, and just be able to spend some quality time with my family. 

I don't want to think that this is another reason why I'm returning to work but my trusty old 1999 VW Jetta died a few weeks ago. It's not really dead but needs some work done. It actually needs a lot of work done if you want to include the body of the car but I think the starter went. If it's only the starter, then it wouldn't be too bad but I have a feeling there's more - plus more to come for sure. It has over 220,000 km. I purchased it at around 90,000 km and have not replaced the clutch yet. So I've been spending a lot of time trying to research used cars. I think I will be going with a 2010 Subaru Outback 3.6R. I was going to go with the more fuel efficient 2.5 engine, but after test driving both, I made my choice. It's a bit more than I want to spend on a car right now but I want something safe and reliable...

Oh and I bought a Blendtec blender. I've been wanting to buy a Vitamix for the longest time but then I saw a Blendtec at Costco last week for $360. I quickly picked it up and bought it so that I could research first and then return it (unopened!) after; I knew at that price it would sell out quickly! So I did a lot of research that made me even more undecided. Finally, I just decided to keep it. I mean, it has an 8 year warranty so it should be okay. So anyway, I made my first smoothie this morning which consisted of: spinach, milk, kiwi, frozen mixed fruit, Greek yogurt, chia seeds, and a banana. It was so smooth and thick, just how I like it! I liked the fact that I didn't have to tamp it down or stay there to control the speed, like I would for a Vitamix. The Blendtec has buttons and has a digital display. Do I think it will last as long as a Vitamix? Probably not, but it should last at least 8 years under the warranty and by then, I would have definitely got my money's worth. No buyer's remorse here!

Decisions

 

I did it. I purchased two more packs of Cookinotti. That's FOUR jars. I was cookie naughty :( I'm planning to give them away though so I put them in the basement where I won't see them.

I haven't been to the gym this week because of a sore wrist. I went to see my doctor and it turns out that I have a ganglion. If it was bigger, I might have needed surgery to remove it, but it's not too big. It's really annoying and it feels like a bad bruise when I press it and a bad strain when I don't. I have to pick up Son #2 with my right hand and gently support with my left. Sometimes I just grab his sleep sack with my right hand and lift him out, crane style, complete with machine sound effects. I HAVE been going out on longer walks with the boys to kind of make up for the absence of intense physical activity.

I was really tempted to ask Husband to pick up some pizza on the way home from Son #1's swimming lessons today but then I decided to try this recipe from one of my favourite food blogs, Week of Menus. I didn't have any tofu so I just served the spicy kale salad with some pan-seared salmon and brown rice. It was really yummy! The creaminess of the avocado balanced the spicy dressing and crunchy kale so well. Yay for healthy eating!

On another note, I've been casually applying for jobs. By casual I mean, if I see a job posting that I really like, I'll submit my mediocre resume along with a half-hearted cover letter. I'm still not sure if I want/need to return to work after my maternity leave is over but I thought that I should keep an eye out so I'm not scrambling to find one in case I have to!

Work vs Stay-At-Home

 image from here

Tax season. Ugh. I'm so glad that my maternity leave lets me bypass tax season this year. Crazy me, though, had to offer to help out for a few hours a day since I felt bad. Today was my first day back at work and it was only for about four hours. I think I will only come in for four hours a day until the end of April since I'm still nursing Baby #2 and he doesn't really like the bottle. I want to help out as much as I can, but I don't want to make Baby #2 have to sacrifice his comfort and nutrition! I also thought that going back to work would make realize how horrible it feels to return to work and then be warned to never return once my maternity leave ends. But it was nice to see my coworkers again and of course it wasn't bad since it was my first day back and for only four hours! If I could only work four hours a day, I wouldn't mind :) We'll see how the rest of the month goes. One thing I forgot was how tiring it is to wake up early and go to work, especially after the baby was up numerous times throughout the night.

It's actually been a while since I've only been assigned to do personal tax returns. I'm usually working on audits at around this time of the year or other corporate tax files so it's a nice change of pace. I find that a lot of people have personal tax questions once they find out that I'm an accountant so it's good to keep up-to-date on this kind of stuff so I don't seem like a complete idiot. Or maybe it's bad because then I can't use the excuse that I haven't done personal tax in a long time...

Any other parents or parents-to-be out there in accounting? I would like to stay at home after my maternity leave/pay comes to an end, but sometimes I worry about finances. I don't really want to work from home because we don't have an ideal space where I could set up an office and it's hard for me to get any work done at home anyway. Plus I would have to pay extra professional fees, software, access to accounting info, etc. And if I wanted to stay in public practice, I would prefer to work with another partner. But that's not where I'm at right now. Working in a small firm, I know how stressful it can be and the huge amounts of overtime that have to be worked. I want to be there for my kids and for my husband. I enjoy being at home and cooking, (sometimes) cleaning, and spending time with my family.

If I go back to work, it would be nice to be able to work part time or at least somewhere that doesn't require large amounts of overtime (i.e. government job). It's not that I'm lazy, but I really want to maximize the amount of time that I can spend with my sons while they're still young! I think that this is a really important time for me to be there for them so I will try really hard to make sure that I can as much as possible :)