my job and all its awesomeness (and a lot of pictures taken from my car)

I haven't written much about my new job. This is mostly because my job requires me to keep client information confidential, so I tend to err on the side of saying nothing about it to be safe. I don't even like to describe the types of clients I see. Even without identifying information, it's not a good idea. Anyway... Now that I've been at my job for about 8 months and have really settled in, I thought I'd write about it a little.

First of all, I really like it a lot. It's the perfect type of job for me. I get to work independently most of the time, but also have time to collaborate with colleagues. I set my own schedule and decide how many hours I want to work and what those hours are. I travel to clients' homes, which means I'm in my car a lot. I like this because I like alone time, I get to listen to NPR as I drive, and I often have a little down time between appointments to run an errand, stop at home, or just stop at the park for a few minutes.

I recently switched from a salaried position to a fee-for-service position. This gives me even more flexibility with my schedule, and I'm able to be home more without being paid less. It's quite a deal. I'm usually done with work early in the afternoon now, which gives me time to go home and take a walk or run, prepare dinner, garden, or do whatever else I need to before I pick up the kids. Amazing! Especially during the summer when I don't have to drive all the way to Celia's school, I'm going to have a lot more time. I'm much less stressed out with a little uninterrupted time to get things done a couple of days each week.

So, here is a typical work day.

5:30-6:00 Wake up, get dressed, and have coffee before the kids wake up. Essential. I also unload the dishwasher, get everyone's lunches out of the fridge and backpacks by the door, etc.
6:30-7:00 Get Celia and Henry up. Nurse Henry. Fix Celia's hair and get her dressed if she wants my help.
7:15 Leave for work. (I like to start early because it means I can be done earlier. I try to find clients who will take early morning visits.)

Stop for gas.

7:30 See my first client. (Did you notice the length of my commute? Fantastic.)

My office: Bag, water, cooler for lunch and pumped milk, pump, cardigan.

Client number 1.

8:30 Done with first client. Drive to next. I have about ten minutes of extra time, so I stop at the office on the way to use the bathroom and check my mailbox.

10:00 Done with my second client. I head toward my next appointment at 10:30, but make a bathroom stop at the grocery store. (This is rare. Usually I just stop at the office, or sometimes at home.)

11:30 Done with my third client, and I have time to stop at the park for lunch before my last client of the day.

12:00 See my last client.

1:00 Done for the day, and home by 1:15! Often I have office work or phone calls to take care of, and end up working from home for a while after my appointments. Today I didn't have work to do, so I had plenty of time.

I got a lot done in the afternoon. I was able to start dinner and work outside in the yard and garden until it started thundering and raining. There is so much to do outside and I never have enough time.

Cut some flowers, and picked greens and my first tomatoes of the season.

4:00 I finished up with everything I was doing, cleaned up the kitchen, and went to pick up the little ones. They were busy playing, happy as clams.