Got a new job now in the unemployment line

So . . . here we are.  When I wrote this post a month ago, I thought there was a reasonably good chance that I would move from my current job (which ended due to budget cuts) directly into something new.

For awhile, my biggest worry was that I would have a new job but no childcare arrangements (for the past nine months, Gabriel was in a daycare center literally right across the street from my [old] office, which was a great arrangement, but whose location only made sense when I had to drive there for work anyway).

Turns out I was putting the cart before the horse, since I, in fact, do not have a new job lined up.  No job means no money to pay someone else to raise my child.

So today is the first day of being a [temporary, I hope, or at least I think that’s what I hope] SAHM.

Though it brought its own set of stresses and challenges, going back to work nine months ago was a very good thing for me.  While I still struggle with some low mood and anxiety, I credit my job with preventing me from spiraling further into postpartum depression.

Getting out of the house every day, having a break from the constant demands of a young infant, having some space to breath and eat a meal without worry of being interrupted by a needy cry — glorious.

So it’s with a bit of trepidation that I enter this unemployed phase.  I’m trying to have realistic (i.e., low) expectations for what I’ll be able to do while I’m home with him.  I hope to spend time in the kitchen, but having dinner on the table every night when Matthew gets home from work is probably not in the cards.

Today I would like to make and can salsa, but we’ll just see how things go.  One day at a time, right?