Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Lady of leisure (ha)

After months of hemming, hawing, ranting, and raving, I quit my job last week. It was so hard to snip that final thread. I've had this job since before my kids were born, before we moved to Mayberry, before I got married. I've been through 8 bosses in my 8-year tenure, and only one of them (#6) was worth staying for. When she left, I knew things would change, and probably not in a way I'd appreciate. Still my heart sank at the thought of voluntarily leaving a job that allowed me to work in my chosen industry, part-time, from home, 1000 miles from the office.

But sometimes telecommuting isn't enough, you know? So, the end, I gave my notice. I'll still be there (well, here/there) through the end of next month, but having one foot out the door is awfully nice. Meeting request? Decline! Annoying task? Forward! Old email I never did follow up on? Delete! Yoga class during business hours? Don't mind if I do!

I have some freelance work lined up--including developing a new site that'll be live in a few weeks, so I'll share it with you then (because my paycheck depends on its traffic!). I'm not going to give up working altogether. As I've often said, a big reason why I work is to justify sending my kids to child care. Not to pay for it, but to validate my need for them to be out of the house at regularly scheduled intervals. So they'll do their thing, I'll do mine, and we'll meet back up again for our usual end-of-day R&R. Which usually involves neither resting nor relaxation, but we like it anyway.

17 comments:

the mama bird diaries said...

Congratulations. It feels so good to leave a job that for whatever reason is no longer right.

Heather said...

Good for you for knowing when to call it quits.

Kimberly said...

Congrats! Good luck with your next web venture - I'm excited to hear about it.

Kate said...

Hey congratulations! God I wish I could do the same. There's no greater feeling than leaving a job you are ready to quit. I just blogged about work today, too. Mine is a little more depressing.

Can't wait to hear about the website!

motherbumper said...

You must feel so liberated - send me links, can't wait to help with traffic and OMG are you FREAKED OUT?! oh that wasn't nice of me, I'll go back to the liberated shtick. Well done my friend, well done.

Unknown said...

Wow, big news! Congrats!!!!

Magpie said...

I'm so happy for you. Good luck.

Vodka Mom said...

Yeah. As for the chid care, as a teacher, I say YEAH! They are always more at ease in the classroom and better at interacting with others, than those that are home until Kindergarten. I'm just sayin'.

Minde Herbert said...

Yay. For. You. :) Good times ahead.

Julie Marsh said...

Congratulations! I'm sorry that #6 moved on - that was definitely the beginning of the end - but I have to admit I'm excited for you!

When I quit my job to move out here, it felt like the series finale of Seinfeld. It was the right move at the right time. I'm betting the same is true for you!

Lady M said...

Good for you! I hope that you enjoy the freelancing and flexibility.

Patois42 said...

Good for you. And I love your child care reasoning.

GHD said...

Wow! That is a very big step. Congratulations and I wish you the very best :-)

BlondeMomBlog (Jamie) said...

Good for you! I know you've been thinking about this for a while. Looking forward to reading about the new online venture!

Anonymous said...

Ah, freedom! I'm glad you're out of a situation you didn't love and wish you the best moving forward. It sounds like you have good things in store, and, hey, if they fall through, there's always that daytime yoga class. Not all bad!

Christina said...

Glad you knew the right time and took the opportunity to quit. I can't wait to hear about the new freelance gig!

Gretchen said...

Congrats! Very excited to see your new venture!