Author: Nikki J.

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Our Next Big Change

Any day now, Chuck and I are supposed to find out where our next assignment will be! I think I’ve mentioned he was selected for some specialty billet, which narrows our options a great deal. It seems that Monterrey, California, and the DC area are the two most likely! We’d most likely move late summer, when Chuck gets back from Afghanistan.

We both have a preference for Monterrey. It would be a grand adventure, something new, and the billet would eventually send us overseas – an even bigger adventure!! DC is a great option too, of course, for many obvious reasons. We already have a social and professional network there, it’s fun, and it’s accessible.

At this point, my biggest hold-up to going to Cali are all the rapid-fire weddings we have. I’m starting to get super nervous about those. Two are in September, two are in October, one in November, and one in January. Chuck and I are in pretty much all of them.

They are going to be crazyyyy costly if we are in California. Like, thousands of dollars costly. And then what about the holidays thrown in the mix, when we’ll be expected to fly home again? I’ll have to be the Scrooge that says “no, we just can’t do it!”

Otherwise, Chuck and I will just have to go to each (or most) solo, which sucks, but it will cut our costs in half. I’m trying to avoid backing out of any – you can’t really back out of a wedding you’re in. I don’t want to stop pulling for California… but if we do get it, I’m going to have to pace myself so I can enjoy the experience, as well as the weddings! But the craziness of this fall/winter definitely makes DC atypically tempting…

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but luckily the USMC will make that decision for me 😉

I got a partial set of eyelash extensions this week, since they’re significantly cheaper down here than in DC. I love them, but I’m trying really hard not to get addicted… Grrr! I’m hoping they start to get really annoying. They’re a little annoying already, but I like them enough so far not to care. Figures 🙂

It’s really fun not needing mascara!!

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This Job Renews My Hope…

… in my ability to possibly be a working mom someday. Not that I like to think about having babies at this point, but as a married woman approaching 30, it does need to be thought about. And when I was on the Big 4 career path back in DC, I seriously thought there was no way in hell I could ever be a working mom. I worked on a team that was mostly women, and the team leaders were all mom’s. Honestly – their lives sounded miserable to me! Big 4 workloads are notoriously challenging. To be considered for advancement, it is REQUIRED to work large amounts of overtime. Other people and lots of money are at stake with everything you do or don’t do.

I felt the stress (and the guilt) when my bosses had to leave work suddenly – usually in the middle of something big – to tend to a child with an ear infection. I felt their fatigue when they had to hurry home in time for dinner, then sign back on to log more hours from 8pm till close to midnight. I shuddered when I heard stories of one leader sending emails on her Blackberry while en route to the hospital to deliver her baby. I remember thinking, “No way do I even WANT to try and balance early motherhood and career.” I didn’t want to run the risk of half-assing either of them. It was discouraging, because like many woman, of course I want both, and recognize the value in both…

But that brings me to this job. It seems that not every career path is like a Big 4 career path. It’s pretty amazing to be in a work environment where all hell won’t break loose if I need to leave for a few hours. Or take off early if I need to watch my kid perform in some school show. Everything is so much more… reasonable. There are very few crazy hours or asinine requirements. The mom’s and dad’s alike here have a good balance of work and family. Even though I sometimes pull funny hours here and there for an event, there is tons of flexibility to make up for it by taking off early or coming in late at some other point during the week.

It makes me wonder, if we do end up back in DC (which we probably will), if I even want to return to a job like the one I had before – children or no. The paycheck was nice. The recognition was nice. But even as a single, childless person, it was hard to justify the pressures I felt. It’s even harder now, knowing it doesn’t have to be that way!

I guess we’ll have to see what my options are when we move. And of course, I don’t have kids yet. But I don’t see the point in jumping back into that kind of job for just a few years, before facing those issues all over again. I know I don’t want to balance babies and multi-million dollar contracts…

We shall see!

sundaymorningbikerides:

hahah

Aww! My preferred nicknames for Annie are as follows:

The Bean
Little Tiger Cublet
Peanut Buttercup
Fluff Muffin
Cream Puff
Honey Butter
Annakin Beanwalker (courtesy of Chuck)
Katniss Everbean (also courtesy of Chuck)
Sugar Dumpling
BEAN Baby
Pumpkin
Bizzle

Oh, and I can’t forget Snickerdoodle and Beansicle! I may have to incorporate Squiblet and Sugar Muffins!