I'm hesitant to share this, because I think some of you might have a hard time finding it in your heart to forgive him. But Coach's comment, combined with the opening of an email a few minutes later, sort of rocked my world back in January.
Coach and I were planning to visit Tank in Ireland. I have off the last week of March - like starting Saturday, March 25th. Coach has a hard time taking off during spring break week, because all of his people want that time off. My thoughts:
1. He has seniority over just about everybody.
2. He might not be able to find a sub, but the whole company isn't going to fold if there isn't someone to cover for him. Patients will have less available appointments.
3. He has vacation days whereas I have unpaid days off, when I cancel my sitting services I make no money. *remember when Mini's senior year- her schedule wasn't all that taxing and she could skip school to cover for me? I ask with a heavy sigh. AH, THE GLORY DAYS.
We were leaning towards leaving on a Wednesday evening and returning the following Tuesday. I feel like I might need an extra day, since leaving Wed means arriving Thursday. I'm miserable and worthless on no sleep. I hope to see Shling, the friend I met while I studied in Ireland my junior year. She was in our wedding. She lives in Galway - over an hour from where Tank is studying. I also hope to see her parents, who still live in the town where I studied about 45 minutes outside of Dublin. I want to be sure I have time to squeeze those visits in along with getting to spend time with Tank and hopefully travel somewhere in Ireland with him.
As we discussed travel dates and work schedule difficulties, Coach said:
I HAVE A REAL JOB.
I know what he meant, but still.
He did some back-pedaling as I picked my chin up off the floor. He said that since I own my own business I can take off whenever I want. Um, at a financial loss.
When he said this, I'd been working for HOURS on making the 11 'fake' children that I sit for, because apparently they aren't 'real', Christmas ornaments. I've done this for a number of years, and it went to the wayside when I got covid. Since I have so many cute photos of them, I decided I'd still make them and I'd deliver them after Christmas. I gifted each family with a copy of our favorite book: THE WIDE-MOUTHED FROG.
Anyway, I was tired. My back was breaking. I sat down and checked my email. I got a rejection email from a magazine that I'd submitted one of my book chapters to. I get rejections regularly. This was different, because the email included a few sentences from each of the three readers who read my submission.
Getting feedback is great and beneficial. Most places charge extra for a critique. While there are many positives to this free service, it arrived at a bad time.
Three readers shared words that weren't unkind, but they hit me like a slap in the face. I didn't even tell Coach. I just cleaned up my arts and crafts crap and went to bed.
**********
So that happened back in January, and obviously we ended up agreeing on the dates for our trip. We booked flights to depart AFTER my three busiest work days, only taking off Thursday and Friday - the next week is my spring break. Coach apologized profusely for implying that I don't have a real job. (here's where you all remember how nice it was when he drove to book club with my glasses).
I reached out to a teacher from my last writing class. When I re-read the rejection, I decided - it wasn't really all that bad. She helped me realize that I needed to tie the ending together a bit better in order for the submission to stand alone vs working as a chapter in a book.
Then days before we went to see Mini at Notre Dame for parents' weekend, I got an email from my college. They were hiring someone. The applicant could live within a 3 hour radius from campus (I live under 2 hours away). Work from home and show up on campus a few times a month. *imagine me waving my hand wildly, YES, I CAN DO THAT.
Then I read the job description and I had NO CLUE how to do what the job entailed. *wah, wah, WAH.
A few days later, I got an email from ND.
'Considering your second career? Join your student at Notre Dame'
They were plugging the grad school, which has some innovative schedule/location options - like take classes on a weekend or in the city of Chicago.
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Where would I be without my daily pre-nap Memory game? |
Do you imagine yourself in a different job/career? Or are you doing something now that had nothing to do with your initial plan/degree? Ed often says I would've been a great corporate party planner. I think logistics is where I'd excel. It's basically what I do. Other career suggestions for me?