Well then.  That was a long break from the blog.  But, there is a reason.  There is a really good reason.

There is a reason why you haven’t seen these finished knitting projects:

Jadis Shawl

Winterlong Cowl

Buds & Bumbles Shawl

(Thanks to Mari at The Spinning Room who came to my rescue to send me pictures of my projects because my brain is a little fried due to The Reason!)

There is a reason you haven’t seen pictures of this guy:

There is a reason there have been no book recommendations like:

The Great Alone: A Novel by Kristin Hannah
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrick Backman (love, Love, LOVED this one especially!!!)
Summerland: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand
Badlands: A Novel (Highway Quartet) by C.J. Box

There is a reason there have been no garden updates (and still no garden pictures to show you).

There is a reason you haven’t seen the picture of the Frank Pepe’s pizza we got as we passed through New Haven in a roundabout way to get to our vacation in Cape Cod:

There is a reason you didn’t see my yarn-purchases-in-a-garbage-bag-because-I-went-a-little-nuts-at-the-sale from WEBS:

There is a reason you haven’t see any food pictures like my recent so-happy-to-find-it-in-August pumpkin spice finds:

And here is The Reason:

I got a job.

An honest-to-goodness-five-days-a-week-Monday-to-Friday-get-a-paycheck-like-clockwork-full-time job.  I haven’t had one of those in ten years.  TEN! YEARS!

Since 2008 I have owned a yarn shop, sold a yarn shop, became a part-time nanny to my niece and nephew along with teaching knitting classes, then added proofreading on the side to those two jobs, then they went to school so I had proofreading, knitting classes, selling on eBay and being an office manager for my friend’s business.  Aside from the nannying, none of the jobs had a regular, predictable paycheck.  And it finally wore me down.  So, I looked for a job.

Now, I’m an Education Specialist at the Professional Development Program at The Research Foundation for SUNY.  I teach the NY State child welfare workers how to use their case management computer system.  The great part is that I LOVE IT!  It’s right up my new-in-the-past-ten-years-loving-to-teach alley and I can still use my social work skills without being out in the trenches. It will soon involve travel so hopefully I will still love it once that ramps up.

Needless to say, no longer having an incredibly flexible schedule seriously put a cramp in my lifestyle.  Oh my gosh, the things I’ve had to adjust to:

1) Waking up at the same time every day.

2) Leaving the house at the same time every day.

3) Getting home at the same time every day.

4) Having to schedule any kind of appointment for the hours that I’m not at work (at the same times every day).

5) Doing every kind of errand on the weekend.

6) Not having vacation whenever I want. That one is seriously a bummer.  I have to accrue time.  I have to wait until November to take it since I just started.  And I can’t have as much vacation as I want. Unlike my husband who has been at his job for almost 20 years and the company now has a permissive time off policy where they just take all the time they want.

I totally realize that these are things that most people go through, and I even went through them myself for many years, a very long time ago.  It just took some adjusting.  Just ask Paul…. he’s trying really hard not to roll his eyes every time I say something like, “Well, I would do that for you on Tuesday at noon, but I can’t because now I have A JOB.”  Or, “I’d love to take a couple days off with you to go away for a long weekend but I can’t because now I have A JOB.”

And it truly is fine.  I feel very lucky to have a job that I like, with a like-clockwork paycheck and good benefits. (And I do still have a second job – my knitting classes!  The Jadis Shawl and Winterlong Cowl are both upcoming classes at The Spinning Room.)

So, hopefully I’ll be back to somewhat regular blogging for those of you who have missed reading about my adventures.

What’s new with YOU? : )