Back to Work Reality Check

I have been back to work about three weeks. I understand that it may not call for a reality check and no, I have not been out of work for years. It has only been about two months. I have finally found another WAH job that I love and it is certainly keeping me at 40 hours a week.

I fail to remember that working at a job you love does take up a great deal of your time and you no longer have the luxury of doing things like you did when you were not working. I feel that people should work at least a little bit. It keeps idle minds from getting up to no good and it keeps you focused and goal oriented. I remember when I was not working it was simply a chore to get up and actually clean the house! Yes! Now that I am working. I still have a momentum built up when I get off work and am able to at least straighten up and get dinner and laundry started.

Of course I sound like a career stay at home mom. I am!  Only that I have a forty hour a week (getting a paycheck) kind of job and that is just like getting out of the house and going to the office everyday. Only I do it in my fuzzy slippers!

Working from home is a lifestyle and not many people are prepared for it because it takes dedication and some changes in your current lifestyle to ensure that it is successful. Many people believe (erroneously) that they can work from home and still have the daily interruptions of the dog barking, their children constantly in their face, or even be able to get up and run to the door should someone ring the bell.  That could not be farther from the truth.  You have to have the gumption to sit at your desk your entire shift and work.  That is what they pay you to do. Especially these companies that pay you by the hour and they take out taxes like a regular paycheck.  They pay you to work and you need to be at your desk working.  Whether it be chat support, phones, or letter writing, you are paid for the time you are working and it is a real job.

Sure, there are draw backs.  Nobody wants to have the highlight of their day to be the point when they get out of the house to go to the store for a soda run.  That is no fun.  There is a delicate balance that needs to be considered and it takes some practice to put it all into play.  While the opportunity for more hours is endless, you do need to make time for yourself and your family similarly to how you would do at a traditional office job.  It just takes a bit more effort than normal.  Also, don't fall into the staying in your jammies all day either. That is a bad habit and not healthy!

So, while WAH is not for everyone, it is a great opportunity to do something that is beneficial to American society and it brings the much needed customer service jobs back home. Just don't mess it up or the great companies that provide this service for their clients and employees will go by the wayside much like traditional jobs have been sent to South America,  India, and the Phillipenes.  Keep these jobs at home.  Literally!

Yea, I cheat and vaccuum the linoleum.

My house is lived in. No, I don't mean lived in like there is stuff everywhere or anything like that. You can just tell we spend a lot of time at home and get our money's worth out of this mortgage. (Yess!!!!) Well, this means I can do cleaning projects at my perogative because I no longer have to worry about the landlord coming for a suprise inspection or there is some appointment for the fix it guy cus WE are the fix it guys. (Unless of course I flood the house, then THAT is something on a wholly different plane!) Yea, I'll clean it.

You all have seen my random 'Im so proud I got my spring cleaning done in the dead of winter' posts. I shampoo carpets on a regular basis, I pull my own teeth (not literally) and scrub the bathroom baseboards every now and again. I clean the blinds and the ceiling fans on a regular. Yes, I get 'er done. However, in the routine of things...I must admit...I cheat.

Every time I vaccuum, I notice things that need my attention. I need to dust the tredmill (when I don't use it much) or the teenage room needs a good sweep and mop. WAIT! I will vaccuum it and it won't look so bad! Woot! When I close the windows after a nice day of airing out the stale air from the house, I have (on occasion) wiped the dust from the sill with my fingers and wiped a lovely hand print across my jeans. These are my cleaning jeans so, it doesn't matter. Finally, while I like to dust the old fashioned way, I can attest to the truthfulness of a swiffer duster. I, too, have experienced the elation of finishing a dusting job a whole hella lot earlier than I expected and not knowing what to do with myself afterward. Heck, I took a nap, you KNOW that!

Yea, so sometimes I vaccuum the linoleum. The whole purpose of a vaccuum is to suck up loose dirt that is lighter than anything I can imagine and transport it to a recepticle that has the intent of being dumped into a larger wastebasket. Eventually this larger one goes to a dump somewhere and biodegrades only to end up as dirt in someone elses home years and years from now. (You guessed it! There is the digression!)

Dear readers, so long as you maintain your home and it is relatively clean. It does not have to be immaculate like my sisters homes have a tendency to be. (Some of us work very hard and have a half a football team to raise and not just one child to raise or are blissfully unemployed.) DISCLAIMER: Any relation to persons real or fake in regards to the last statement is purely unintentional and not meant to point the finger at anyone nor is sarcasm intended. END OF DISCLAIMER. But cleanliness is in the eye of the beholder and I can assure you, if it means anything to you, you are more discriminatory at your own cleaning skills than others are. Just keep the place picked up.