Pros and Cons of a new job

-
As some of you may know, Steven found a job and began working a week ago today. So far I have very mixed feelings about his new job.

Pros
  1. Steven has a job with a large company.
  2. Steven is finally earning a paycheck comparable to what he was making two years ago.
  3. The job benefits include good health insurance and 401k matching.
  4. Steven gets out of the house so I get more done during the day.
  5. We don't have to move away from our home.
  6. The kids don't have to change schools or leave their friends.
  7. Steven's new job is across the freeway from a light rail station, so he could potentially take public transportation there and back when he gets comfortable with the idea. 
  8. I'm getting more exercise, riding a bike or walking when I need to get around during the day. 
  9. We will soon have money to spend on non-essentials again. 
  10. We can start paying off the loans we have borrowed over the last couple years.
Cons
  1. After one week on the job, Steven doesn't seem to be enjoying it very much. 
  2. The job involves an hour commute each way - longer in inclement weather.
  3. The skills Steven has developed over the last several years are not being utilized.
  4. The job requires frequent business trips, starting next weekend. 
  5. Moving might have been a nice change.
  6. The kids don't get to see their Dad as much.
  7. We only have one car now since Steven sold his broken down Jeep, and Steven takes it to work every day.
  8. The long commute makes Steven tired (and grumpy) when he gets home.
  9. We've had to cancel Hannah's free viola lessons due to lack of transportation.
  10. I have to rely on others for rides to go to Institute, Visiting Teaching, anything else during the day outside walking distance.

While I am very grateful that he is finally employed, I wonder if it is very ungrateful of me to be wishing he had found something else a little closer to home, something that challenged and excited him. I don't feel the relief and satisfaction that I thought I would feel when he found a job, and I still feel the uneasiness and stress of his unemployed state. We started packing some of our books when we thought we would be moving to Virgina. I don't think I will unpack them until I really feel settled.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Talk about Gratitude

-
I recently told my bishop that I enjoyed giving talks in Sacrament Meeting, and it is true. I didn't expect, however, that I would get an email from a bishopric member on Thursday last week to say that his talks for Sunday had to leave town, and would I be willing to speak? Here is the talk that I gave on Sunday, May 27th, 2012: For my topic today, I was given a talk which was given by President Monson in 1992, entitled “An Attitude of Gratitude”. In his talk President Monson begins by telling the story of the 10 lepers. I would like to share it with you. In Luke 17 we read: And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” And when he saw them, he said unto them, “Go show yourselves unto the priests.” And it came to pass, that, as they went,
Read more

How Clean is Clean Enough?

-
Image
How clean is "clean enough"? I realize this question is loaded and the answers are very individual, so for a moment, think about yourself and your home and consider, for you, how clean is "clean enough"? What is the difference between a "quick clean", a "daily clean" and a "deep clean"? At what point do you consider your home "clean enough"? Does "clean enough" mean having a clear path from the front door to the other rooms in the house? Is it having the clutter picked up and the floors vacuumed? Must it be dusted every week, every month, or at all? Is it a quick swipe on the surface to remove the dust or crumbs? Is it a scrub with disinfectant? Is it clearing tables and desks, or delving into cupboards and drawers, purging and organizing?    Does it depend on the day of the week? Is "clean enough" on a weekday the same as "clean enough" on a weekend? If not, is it more clean, or less? Is there a
Read more

School closing, Josh adventures, Back pain relief...

-
On Wednesday school was cancelled all over the Denver area because there was a credible threat that an 18 year old woman with a fixation on the Columbine shooting would attack a school. Apparently she arrived in Denver and bought a gun and then vanished, so they shut down everything just in case. (They found her body later that day... She committed suicide. More info here .) John was frustrated that school was cancelled because one acts are coming up (they are this week!) and he needed the rehearsal time. Instead, John took advantage of the free day to go to School of Mines to check out the campus and talk to someone about getting his admission deferred. I got a ride to my book club, and both of us were home again before Josh and Peter rolled out of bed. Early in the afternoon I took Josh to Children's Hospital to see a cardiologist about his seizures . They did an EKG, but the results were normal. He doesn't have a heart murmur or anything else they could identify. I still thi
Read more