I have found myself being quite restless lately. It's been a year now that I have had my career as a Stay at Home Mom. Financially, overall, we've made it just fine; there's not a lot of money for too many "extras," but it's ok. However, I have not enjoyed seeing our savings go down due to boring purchases such as a not cheap evaporator coil for the air conditioner, and not being able to rapidly replace those savings. I have been able to pick up a little money on the side here and there with my photo gigs, which has been nice; have been able to do some of the 'extras' like getting my hair highlighted, that kind of thing. All this to say, I started thinking about going back to part-time work as a speech path, probably contracting with a school district doing testing. Really want to build back up those savings. But I just haven't been able to do it. Found plausible (ahem) excuses for not being able to dust off the resume (it's on the upstairs computer that is unplugged, I'd have to plug back in all those cables, clear off the table for it, it would just be toooo muuucch wooorrrk!) Would have to research child care, and from the little I've found out, it's expensive, and wait lists abound. Not completely sure I'm ready to leave little dude in someone else's hands for two whole days a week, consistently. Would have to probably find a contract agency. Not to mention this little fact: I am SO. Burned. Out. The thought of doing therapy makes me want to put a fork in my eye. I did therapy for 15 years, poured my soul, so much energy, time, creativity into those children and therapy sessions. Attended numerous continuing education courses. I'm proud of what all I accomplished, and feel guilty that I simply don't want to do it. The only thing that sounds somewhat appealing is to do testing/evaluations; by doing just testing, I can still use my skills - (I actually LIKE testing and reports) - and do not have to become so emotionally invested in weekly therapy. The past 3 (or was it 4?!) years, I didn't even do as much therapy, since my role evolved to the therapy team leader position. That would take a whole other blog post to talk about my feelings on THAT; let's just say, glad I did it, learned a lot, wouldn't do it again. Even with that 'break' from full time therapy, I still was not, and am not, in the place where I want to do therapy now. Maybe eventually. Maybe even early next year. We'll see. All of this to say, I found another opportunity for making some side cash.
I signed up to be a consultant with a direct selling company. Yep, sure did. I came across the website for 31 by browsing random blogs (ever get sucked into reading blog after blog, linking to them from other blogs?) and really liked the stuff. And thought, what the heck - it's not that much to get started, I like this stuff - and, not that many people in Houston area sell this stuff, so the market here is not saturated with it. My starter kit came in today, and the stuff is soooo cute! 31 sells all kinds of totes, bags, purses/wallets, that kind of thing, that can be personalized. I have found myself actually excited about doing something new and different - from home - without paying for childcare. Because I really like this product, it's been easy for me to talk to my friends and neighbors about it. Going to have my "debut" party next week, and hoping to book some parties off of that; already have a few parties booked. I figured, might as well hit the ground running and see if I can hit some selling goals in these first three months, get some of the incentives they offer during the first months. Can't hurt to try! With the shopping season approaching (Fall/Christmas), timing couldn't be better. If I can make some extra money, great. Do I think I'm going to rake it in? No, not really. But if I can make enough from selling this stuff, and my photo gigs, to help us pay for 'extras,' build up savings a little more - it's worth it. I love the items in my starter kit and had them personalized for me (well, just one item has my own initials), so it's not like I'm stuck with items I'll never use. I know these next few months will be a little tougher on Doug, as he will have to be parent-on-duty during the times I'm hosting these parties, but he's on board. Thankful for a supportive husband! I snapped a few pictures of my stuff today, so thought I'd share:
Love this thermal lunch tote. My favorite so far.
Had "yummy" put on the picnic tote. Could have used this at the pool this summer!
The "spread" and pink box it came in. Can't see it all. But trust me, it's all cute.
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