thoughts on returning to work & some news!

Well, I have an official return-to-work date: March 24. So I have two more weeks of freedom, and then it’s back to real life. I have so many thoughts and feelings! But before I go any further, I have to share my news:

I have a new job! (Sort of!)

Let me explain. I work in the Houston medical center, which is awesome and prestigious, and the hospital I work for (Methodist) is the best. I’ve worked there for almost six years and for the past three I’ve been in an outpatient infusion cancer center and I would happily continue on there until I retire, probably, except for one thing. The problem is that we live in a suburb and with traffic my commute ends up being close to an hour and a half each way. That was okay when we didn’t have kids, but over the past two years it has gotten more and more difficult to handle. I haven’t been the best version of myself, and a lot of it had to do with the stress of the commute and the time it took away from me.

Last year David and I were talking about what we wanted our family life to look like, everything from kids to work to finances, and there was no getting around the fact that if I worked close to home, everything would improve. I reluctantly told him that I would begin looking, but I would only apply if the job was a) outpatient, and b) within my specialty. I thought it would be pretty hard to find something that fit, but in a couple of weeks I saw an open position right down the road, doing pretty much the same thing that I do now, only for a different clinic.

I applied, and I interviewed. I was 20 weeks pregnant at the time, but I wasn’t showing too much. It was a two-hour intense interview that I thought I did well in. I knew I was qualified, and I knew I would do a good job for them. I felt really weird about the whole thing though. I love working for Methodist and I hated the idea of leaving the company. If I left, I would lose all my personal time and my maternity leave would have been super short. Plus it would be awkward to tell them that I was pregnant right after getting hired. So I prayed, and I asked to not be offered the job if it wasn’t a good place for me.

I didn’t get that job, and I was relieved. By that time my pregnancy was advancing and so I promised David that once I had the baby I would resume job searching, but I really didn’t think anything would come up that met my criteria. But a few weeks ago I was shocked to see that Methodist’s local campus had a position open for their infusion clinic. It’s pretty much the exact thing I do now, for the same hospital, only a much smaller clinic (like…5 patients a day instead of 50, and 2 nurses compared to 12), and less than ten minutes from my house. I HAD to apply. And since it was internal, I talked to my current director to give her a heads-up, she put in a good word for me, and I was offered the job two days after I interviewed. I accepted right away.

I am pretty sad about leaving my current coworkers, but I know this was the right decision for us. I will have over two hours more in my days now. I might be able to start exercising again, actually cooking dinners, having morning devotions, and maybe even staying up a bit later to have time alone with David. Plus, the director & nurses at my new clinic are super nice and laid-back, and the pace is going to be slower than I’m used to. I’ll start with a week of hospital orientation (that I’ve already had before, but is required) and then more training on the unit.

I’m a working mom. I just am right now. I probably always will be, because I love what I do, although I hope one day to be able to cut back on my hours. This move is a step in that direction and will help put the focus back on our family which is the most important thing. And I’m totally not dreading going back! I wish I could stay home longer, but I do look forward to getting back to our routines.

At the top of this post you’ll see my list of things to do before going back to work. It’s mostly just logistical stuff at this point, because I’ve finished all the major projects and creative stuff that was on my maternity leave to-do list. With my extra time now I just want to keep decluttering the house, stay up to date with Project Life as we go (lots of those posts coming up because I got caught up this week), continue stitching when I feel like it, and of course savor my time with Liam!

Another new chapter of life is starting, and it feels good!