Sunday

Marshall looks a teeny bit like me here, don't you think?

The Year Carol Gets Her [Stuff] Together has gone rather too well. I mentioned in my last post that I had asked for a raise (I work as an independent contractor for a law firm writing briefs from home). Well, the response was that I should come to work for the firm, as a salaried employee, right away. I accepted, and I will start work full-time on Tuesday.

I had a peek at my upcoming deadlines yesterday and from the look of things, I am going to be one busy woman. Luckily, this work is meaningful and the people I have worked with have been lovely. The firm is within walking distance, so it will be easy to come home and let my old dog out over lunch. I have been told the my actual presence is flexible, so I hope to continue to drop off and pick up the boys from school.

I am adjusting to the fact that I will not be able to have the boys home with me during the summer. I knew it was going to be busy with my work assignments, but I had been looking forward to taking them to various activities and hanging out together. Although I know this is definitely the best decision for our family right now, I am mourning the loss of that carefree time together. There are some amazing summer programs in the area and I will contact them right away so that I can get Brennan into something that he will enjoy. Marshall and Jack can continue in their current classrooms through the summer, so that is one less thing to organize.

Ultimately, it was my goal to find a job exactly like the one it appears I have just found. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that it will work out for everyone. I had really hoped to be able to manage things while working from home, so there has been some disappointment on my part that I couldn't make it work, even though I am glad to have found such a position.

As you can imagine, there will be a significant reduction in creativity around here. In fact, all of the lovely craft books I received for Christmas are languishing on my desk, unopened. I think I will keep this blog going, although it will morph from a craft show and tell into more of a what? Well, I'm not exactly sure what it will be, we will just have to see how things go.

I'm going to go for a long run (at least long by my amateur standards) on the gym treadmill and read some celeb gossip magazines - that always works wonders for my mood.