Hi-Ho

My last day of work was the Friday before my daughter was born. She will be six months old soon, so if my math is correct (said the English major), it has been about six months since I’ve held a job. Lately things have been a bit tight. My husband is a fantastic, hard-working, committed provider for our family. He is, however, self-employed and the money doesn’t come as steadily as it might otherwise. At the same time, I am a relentless curmudgeon about spending and the holidays only exacerbate my condition.

After much discussion, I have decided to go back to work part time and from home. As you can imagine, these specifications do not make me the top candidate for potential employers. Still, I have been working on my resume tirelessly (searching Google for templates) and asking around for any clues to breaking into this elusive industry (sorry facebook friends).

While updating my resume it struck me that this job search business is really not as simple as it should be. I in no way align myself to any politically driven percentage (I am the Switzerland of all percentages), but I can definitely relate to the frustration of looking for a job.

Recently I read an article that explained how the previous generation inadvertently programmed their children into this “failure to launch.” Now, the article was mostly aimed at getting a chuckle rather than a Pulitzer, but it made some interesting points. How many of my followers out there (millions of you by my estimates) heard from your parents that you can get any job you want once you get your degree? Or how many heard things like “you don’t want to flip burgers for a living, do you?” In reality, a college degree hardly guarantees anything other than debt and flipping burgers may not be such a bad idea, especially if it is the only job available.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am all for higher education, and I understand the merits of pushing your children toward higher goals. However, it makes sense that this mindset has perhaps contributed to the current state of things.

At the same time, I could read an article about how lazy and entitled my generation is and I can’t really argue with that either. The day I finished my degree I not-so-metaphorically walked out of the school with a smile on my face waiting for a six-figure job to hit me while crossing the street. I didn’t expect to have to work so hard for a meager income after I had worked so hard for a degree. And if I’m going to be completely honest, I didn’t work that hard for my degree.

I guess it is all about perspective.

I wish I had some shockingly brilliant solutions to the world’s problems, but I don’t. Afterall, I went to an American public university, not Hogwarts.

All I can do right now is be thankful that my search has been somewhat fruitful. I’ll be doing my old job from home. I think the most important job qualifications you can have are luck, and perhaps some humility. I wish both of these on my generation.

Dear Sunday

I’d like to use Sundays as they were intended: a time of rest and meditation. It is my blog, after all. I do what I want. So this is my first “Dear Sunday.”

Have you ever stopped to appreciate the fact that each week is seven days? This cyclical nature of life, I believe, is one of God's most merciful acts on humanity. It's as if He programmed in moments to recharge or even reset, knowing we might need a second chance (or third or fourth or nineteenth). Just think of all the references to new life that invoke time: a new season, New Year’s resolutions, tomorrow is a brand new day! God has so instilled himself in this world of ours that the very time that flows over us can't help but reflect His nature of rebirth and renewal.

See! Now Monday doesn’t seem so bad.

Nice to Meet You

It occurred to me I should introduce myself. My name is Susan. I have been married for almost 3 years. I had a little girl in June of this year. Those are the facts and nothing more. The facts tell you pretty much nothing about me. The truths in my life are far more interesting.

My name is Susan and I have a love/hate relationship with the name. As a child I always hated it. It is old-timey and has the word "ooze" in it. Later in life I began to appreciate its uniqueness. I realize it is a well-known name, but not an often used one among mothers in the mid 80's. At this point I mostly love the name. The truth is, it suits me far better than Kirsten or Megan would have.

I have been married for almost 3 years to my soul-mate. He is a beautiful, complicated, strong man. He is flawed, just like me. Our marriage is flawed just as any human institution is. However, this man's heart was designed with mine in mind. I count myself blessed to have found him and I struggle daily with not taking that blessing for granted. He is my hero and my one true love. Our souls are tied together in a way that cannot be undone (and believe me, that knot has been tested). The truth is, this man loves me more than I ever knew I could be humanly loved, and I love him more than I ever knew I could.

Exhibit A: Young Love

In addition to a great husband, I have a perfect little daughter. She is everything. She is a sleepy, gummy smile in the morning. She is a grumpy furrowed brow in the afternoon. She is uncontrollable giggles in the evening. And she is a sleeping angel at night. She is the spitting image of her father with my ears (you’ll grow into them some day). She speaks only in babbles and coos, but if I could understand her language, I'm certain it would be poetry and love songs. Love is something that I can never quite define as it continues to grow and evolve and bloom into something new and better than before. I love this little girl with all of my heart. She is the physical embodiment of mine and my husband’s love for each other. The truth is, in her 5 ½ months she has taught me more about life than I ever imagined I would teach her in her lifetime under my care.

Exhibit B: Grumpy Furrowed Brow

This is my life right now. It seems pretty simple spelled out like this. I could probably get some serious critiques from the feminists out there for defining myself by my marriage and my child. I'm ok with it. There is more to me and I have all the time in the world to go into detail. This post, however, is dedicated to what my life is dedicated to. The truth is, I am happier living for my family than I ever was living for myself.

Formalities are behind us. Now I feel like old friends, anonymous late-night blog surfer. Welcome to my life.

Just This

I have caved. I resisted as long as I could, but today was the day that my resolve was tested and broken. Today I begin my blog and thus, step into the 21st century (flying car not included). I had resigned myself to being old (26) and set in my ways (lazy) and therefore unable and unwilling to learn new technologies like this whole internet fad. However, I think it is here to stay and I may as well make it work for me.

I have several friends with beautiful blogs and clever posts and pretty pictures. I hope to get there one day, but for now I am satisfied with starting this up and capitalizing the first letter in each sentence.

I have a great life and a beautiful family and plenty to write about. I am notoriously flaky about things like this, so I'm not making any promises. So here it goes. Cross your fingers.