Life Style Journey

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Story behind Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday's Wordless Wednesday picture was the scene out my backdoor on October 31, 2011. So far this Winter in Connecticut, which officially began on December 21st, snow fall totals have been nominal - we're talking maybe 2 inches at the most and it melts almost the same day.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Wordless Wednesday


Another "New" Start?

I feel like I'm constantly trying to re-invent myself. I know the logical reasoning behind this - the kids are now in school full-time and I'm trying to get back into the workforce - without any luck I might add. For the last 2 years I thought teaching was the way to go for me. I took some classes, even applied to a graduate program in the hopes of earning my teaching certification from the state. Even though I did get accepted into the graduate program, I learned that I would have to take 9 undergrad courses before I could be officially begin the teaching program. UGH! 9 classes - going part-time that would be another 1 1/2 - 2 years before I began than another 2 years for the teaching program. I would be 45 before I could even think about having my certficate. Who's going to hire a 45 year old, first time teacher, over a young, energetic, wide-eyed one?
So then I tried to get into substituting. Everyone said with my background I could do substituting on a regular basis and make a decent living. Um, yeah. I signed up with the service that handles the substitutes for a couple of towns around me and after 2 months got 1 call to substitute. That's not going to help pay the bills.
So now I'm back on the kick of finding a traditional office-type of job. Something stable with job security, a decent wage, good distance from home/school for the kids, and some flexibility. Within the first week of the new year, I thought I was on the right track. I had one offer (for title searching) that was extremely flexible so I could work around the kids' school schedule and was a decent pay. The only downfalls are the driving (wear and tear on my car) and getting paid once a month. Oh, and have I mentioned, I've made 3 attempts to get the training I need and 3 times been blown off by the owner. (It's not that I need training per se, but the owner carries the insurance for everyone so she wants to sit with everyone for the first search or two.)
Within the same week of getting the title searching offer, I got asked to interview for an assistant town clerk position, which I did. I'm still waiting to hear back about this one. For those of you that don't live in CT, we don't have a county form of government so each and every town has it's own land records. This is one of the big components of the town clerk. So similar to the county clerks in other states, the town clerks also coordinate various town and board meetings, assist with elections, provide notary public services, distribute hunting/fishing/dog licenses. This job would be perfect for me. It's close to home, great hours!, good pay, and most of all I like the woman who's taking over the town clerk position. In fact, she's the one that told me about the job and encouraged me to apply. God I want this job! (I hear the song from Chorus Line in my head everytime I say that.)
I know it's only the 3rd week into the new year, and 2 weeks after my interviews for these positions but after having been looking for a job since August, I'm really getting frustrating and losing my patience, as well as a little bit of faith in myself. I know I have a good work ethic, know a variety of computer programs (and am not afraid to learn more). I may have taken time off to be with my kids, but that should be an asset not a hinderance. I'm tired of getting the same old "we chose a candidate better suited for the position" letter. I'm not applying to be a rocket scientest folks! And I don't want a job like I had before the kids - working 50+ hours a week, demanding, travel for work, etc. I would be quite content with being a legal secretary / administrative assistant again. I just need someone to give me a chance.