Children are Like Snowflakes: car

Given the weather in the last few weeks, with a title like that I could actually be talking about the weather. After all, the storms that blew through here last night were pretty loud and rough!

But I'm not talking about the weather... Usually, life around here is pretty quiet, predictable, and generally uneventful (or as much as it can be with 3 young kids!). And I'm quite content with the quiet life we lead. Last week, the drama started to unfold, with the announcement of the closing of Blake's preschool for next fall. That was more than enough drama for me, as now I have a new task of finding a preschool that I like and that fits in with the rest of our life.

But yesterday, more drama... I have a new boss. Or more specifically, my boss is no longer with the company. The reasons, while not really important here, are totally bogus. Why is a new boss drama? To be honest, I've been debating returning to my job for a while. In fact, for most of my pregnancy, I debated if I would return to my job. Don't get me wrong, I really like my job, and LOVE my boss. I work for Market Day, and love that profits from the food I sell, go back to the school to help education. I also love the products, and find it easy to sell something I love. And, I work from home, doing a lot of the work when it fits in to my schedule, and that lets me be a mom during the day, and do my work after the kids go to sleep.

So why debate returning to work? Lots of reasons, like how young Izzy is (I didn't work until Trevor was 5 months, and Blake was 9 months), and how hectic life with 3 kids is going to be, and how irregular my work schedule is (some days I'm gone for 2 hours, others for 6...that's hard to plan around for a nursing newborn!). I've been watching want-ads for ages now, to find another job that would work for me... which is a tough bill. After all, with the flexibility of my current job (i.e. doing lots of work after the kids are in bed, and not paying a sitter) it's hard to beat my current "hourly" pay rate. Add to that the awesome-ness of my boss, who will do pretty much anything for me or any of the others who work for her, and it's a little hard to find a "better" job. But now the boss is gone.... my motivation to go back after maternity leave is GONE! I have no motivation to work now....

Oh yeah, money. I guess that should factor into the return to work equation. Especially since, if I go back in June, then in late June, July & August, I get to claim "under-employment". Claimed through the unemployment department, but for a "lack of work" (since most of my work is in schools, lots of it disappears for the summer). So I get paid from unemployment the difference between what I usually make during the school year, minus whatever actual earnings I've made during the summer. It's a VERY sweet deal....getting paid when you're not working! So, I was planning to go back the first week of June. Now I'm seriously re-thinking that.

Then today, the third "drama" event unfolded. Hubby's car (formerly my car) that is 9 years old, has been leaking some kind of fluid for a while. When he drove home earlier this week, he told me something smelled like it was burning.... great! So we took it to get looked at today, and it needs some major transmission work that will cost at least $1500... maybe more, depending on what they find out. The car is only worth $2-3 thousand anyway, how much do I really want to spend on it? And it will be there for at least 3 days! Joy, happy, fun. We just bought a new car...we really can't afford 2 new cars at once (and I really don't like buying used cars!).

So that's the drama as of late. It seems bad news always comes in three's. So I hope we're done for a while around here. I guess some of the drama has be "solved". I really should keep my job, at least through the summer and until I find a new one, so that I can earn some money towards fixing the old car or buying a new one!

Happiness for two little boys is 2 hours at the gym! They have such a blast, burn off so much energy, and do some pretty great tricks too!

So we hit this gym this morning, after dropping off the car at the local dealership. It's funny to write that, as it sounds "SO" easy. The reality of dropping the car off is this..... convince 2 kids to get in car (in raincoats and boots as it is POURING today), get to dealership, unbuckle kids, walk thru puddles (or jump in them), talk to service guy, sign paperwork, wait for loaner van to be ready.....wait a little more. Then, put 2 kids in loaner car, and then proceed to kill myself getting 2 car seats out of our car and into loaner car in the rain (did I mention it was pouring!?!). Anyway, the kids had a grand time running in circles in the back area of the van (where the 3rd seat should be) and I contorted myself to get 2 seats out of one car and installed in the other. Of course, the best part...I get to reverse the process tomorrow when I get our car back! But there's no other way to get the car serviced....it just can't be done! It's taken 6 months avoiding what I did today, for me to realize I just have to do it this way....I apparently can't spend 1 day at home without a car!

So we finally hit the gym and the kids had some energy to burn off....and so they did!!! Here's some photos to prove it!

Trevor running down the track to the pit: