Flexibiltiy

I started my new job on Friday. I now provide administrative support to an accounting firm. I left for work as soon as the boys got onto the bus. I arrived at work and had an excellent first day. My boss treated me to a mocha-orange coffee and donuts. Yummy! The hours zoomed by as I dove right into my new position. I left the office just in time to arrive home for the boys to get off the bus. For them, it was just a normal day. That's what I call flexibility.

Backtrack to Thursday, 12:55 p.m. I arrive for my job interview five minutes early. Whew! The office is connected to a newly built, huge, luxurious house. The office is uniquely designed. When I first arrive I am greeted by the owner's wife and am pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face in my midst . . . a fellow church member! She's one of the nicest people I've ever met. And she is an employee at this office! I couldn't believe it. The potential for this job was too good to be true and I hadn't even been interviewed yet.

At 1:00 p.m. I meet the owner. He and his wife, as well as my church friend conduct the "interview". But this interview was more like an orientation session. I felt comfortable right away. I drank a cup of coffee, and chatted with the group of interviewers. I am informed of what true flexibility is: Basically, I set my own hours according to not only the needs of the company, but also the needs of my family. Yes, at this point I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Not quite. I'm just trying to add some drama to my story.

Fast forward to an hour later. The owner informs me that if it were up to him, I'd start tomorrow. But they've got two more people to interview. Way to burst my bubble. But I was informed that they'd give me their answer either way by the end of the day.

I was then given "the tour" of the office and part of the adjoining house. Nice.

I left the interview feeling quite confident of myself. My "in" with the fellow church member certainly was a benefit to me. In fact, I'm quite certain that she's the human reason behind my getting this position. Oh, I forgot to mention that the owners of this company also happen to be Christians. Yes. Heaven.

Two hours later I was at home. The boys were already off the bus and settling nicely into their after-school routine. I was somewhat anxiously waiting for the phone to ring. I say somewhat anxiously, because, for one of the first times in my life, I felt at peace about the results of a decision that was completely out of my control. It was in God's hands.

The phone rang almost two hours after I'd left the interview. It was the owner's wife. She offered me the job. I accepted. I hung up the phone and did the happy dance. So did the boys.

I started work the next day. I'm totally green. It's been a while since I've held a permanent office job. But my bosses seem to be completely okay with that and understand that I need time to adjust to my new surroundings.

Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to set my own hours, this job has several other perks. I get the summer off. I get the summer off. I work in an office and I get the summer off. Do you know how huge that is for me? It means I don't have to send the boys to daycare all summer long, and I get to spend time gardening. I get to relax. I get to enjoy my summer.

Another benefit is that I don't have to pay for parking. Plus, the owner's wife owns a coffee shop and as a result, our (free) coffee at work is above normal standards as far as I'm concerned. I'm no coffee expert, but the coffee at the office is really good. Really good. Unfortunately, I am now heavily acquainted with the washroom. Too much coffee on my first day.

So, basically my job is somewhat seasonal as far as busyness goes. For the next while I'll be working everyday, just to get the hang of everything. There's a lot of work to catch-up on, so I'll be busy for quite some time. Especially since most of what I'm doing is completely new to me. However, the truly busy time of the year is from January to April (you know . . . tax time). I'll be working approximately 28 hours per week for the first four months of the year, and then 20 hours per week for the remaining months of the year, minus July and August. This is just a rough guideline. Flexibility, remember?

As I said in my previous post, God is faithful. He provided me with the flexibility I wanted, but never thought I'd get in the real world. I'm excited about this new endeavor. But I've already realized that work (at my job) is going to be easy compared to trying to keep up with all the work at home that isn't going to get done in my absence. My goal is to be the most efficient I've ever been. Not just at work, but at home, too. It's going to be an adjustment. But thankfully, it's an adjustment that me and my guys are willing to deal with.