Careers

Tomorrow we our getting our house appraised becuase we are trying to refinance at lower rates. This will save us nearly $130 a month, which is a ton of money to save a month! Please pray that it gets appraised at its original value- that it hasn't lost value despite the housing melt down that is going on.

So, today I am in Atlanta working and I'm avoiding doing this certain task that I have been dreading (related to a just nasty project). So, I will tell you about what I'd like to do with my life related to work. WORK- don't I wish I didn't have to! hehe. I have for a while now wanted to become a nurse. Specifically, a labor and delivery nurse. Several things appeal to me about this job. I love the miracle of childbirth, and wouldn't it be cool to be around that all the time and help with it? I think I would find that much more rewarding than working with gas pipes. Also, I am a people person- I would like to work with people instead of at a desk. I would love helping pregnant people have their babies! Nursing to me seems very fast pased and people oriented. I would like the fast paced schedule of it- I loved being a waitress and running around and just being busy. I would also like fewer, longer shifts and I think I could do well with weird hour shifts. Plus, if I could work nights or weekends we could avoid daycare. And, eventually I would be able to do this job parttime which is really what I would love to do- work part time.

The feasibility of this desire is a whole other ordeal. Macon State college has a 4-year BSN, Bachelors in Nursing degree, that I could complete in 2 years (with exception to a few pre-reqs) because I already have a bachelors. Since Zach and I both have student loans (we're anticipating his being paid off soon- yeah!), we can not take out any more loans for school. Fortunately, because nursing is in high demand, hospitals in the area have a program where they will pay your tuition if you agree to work for them for 2-years. What a deal! We figure that if our house refinances and we get Zach's student loans paid off I could quit work next January. The only thing holding me back from going back to school for this is DAY CARE for David. Pesty expensive day care! Currently, we pay nearly $700/ month for David's care (which is actually a GREAT deal) and we obiously would not be able to afford that if I wasn't working. I wish we lived near David's grandparents! I know in Atlnata my mom would watch David, but we don't live in Atlanta. Maybe we could find an older woman who has no grandkids that would like them and would babysit David for cheap while I went to school. That would be nice. Too bad you can't bring kids with you to class. I think colleges should offer daycare that you can drop your child into for a class and pick them up afterward. This would really improve the opportunity for single moms to get better eduation.

Having a career that has a flexible schedule and potential to work part time would really help us out for the future- by me making some money instead of staying at home. We would be able to save for college for our kid(s), and maybe pay off our mortgage early, have more babies, and do things we couldn't have otherwise afforded. Engineering just isn't a good career for having a family. There are no part time jobs, hard schedules (unless you work for the government like Zach), and all men so they are not understanding of pregnancy and being out of work to take care for a sick kid and such things.

Since this nursing degree can't be a reality because of no one to care of David, I will probably wait and do it when David enters kindergarten. Then we won't have to pay day care. Of course, then the question comes up- how will we fit in baby #2 into this plan? Sigh. We don't want our 2nd child to be more than 5 years apart from David. I guess for now we will just keep on with what we are doing- our current jobs and day care- and trust that God will work out the logistics of the future.