A woman's got to make a living

I'm in my final few days of working at my pre-baby job. I've been up there the past few weeks filling in between the time that the interim person left June 1 (she covered for me on maternity leave and then continued covering for me after I (technically) "left" (i.e.., when I went from salaried to consulting)) and the new actual (i.e., non-interim) person started today. I'll be up there some the next few weeks training this person, but it finally looks like it is winding down and I will soon no longer even be consulting for them.

For a little history on the timeline of all this, see below:

Pre-baby: I worked 45-55 hours a week (some weeks much, much more, but this was average) at this job, really enjoyed it, although my boss drove me nuts sometimes and the work sometimes was out of control

Pregnancy: Same hours as above, but with a bigger belly and ankles. I found a trashcan that doubled as a footrest and made it work. I worked until 7 pm the night I went into labor. The two months before I was due, I was up at work 6-7 days a week, 55-65 hours a week, working on two huge projects. One got finished before J was born, the other I was still working on during my maternity leave.

Maternity leave: I work a few hours here and there to finish the project. Once it's done, I don't do anything for work, except check email every once in a while.

Post-maternity leave: I return on a part-time schedule (3 days/week), with the full support of my boss. We start figuring out how to make my full-time job work on a part-time schedule. Two weeks into this, I interview for new (part-time, work from home job in my ideal field that ties much more closely to my long-term goals).

One month post-maternity leave: I am offered and accept dream part-time, work from home, in my career field job. I resign from my other job. My boss was speechless for about 6 minutes after I did so. This was last August.

As compromise, I agree to stay with old job for two more months to help finish a project with an October deadline. I also agree to start new job. One part time job + one part time job = insanity.

September: October deadline gets pushed back to March. Boss nicely asks if I will stay on.

October: J was still not sleeping through the night; I was still not sleeping through the night. Sleep deprived employee = employee who didn't realize that she just agreed to continue at old job for another two months. Oh, and ramp up activities at new job. I wanted to scream. I did scream a few times, in my car.

December: Finally done with regular salaried role at old job. Boss asked if I would stay on and "consult" on project that was pushed back to March. Having had a little more sleep in recent weeks, I agree, but only after indicating that all work would be done from home. Boss isn't in a position to argue; I now have two part-time work from home jobs.

January-March: Finish project, with only a few days up at the office. Enjoy the extra money.

March-June: Nothing from old job. Finally get to start jumping into to "new" job and focus on it.

June: back up part-time, 3 days a week, at old job. Still doing "new" job.

So almost a year after I gave notice, it's finally ending. I think back last August, last December, and even last March, I was a little sad to reach that new stage and transition to my new role with the job. I put a lot of myself into the work for that job, changed alot of things for the better, and had quite a few accomplishments in the job. I feel really proud of what I did in the job, even with it being beyond frustrating at times, and I was having a hard time letting go and moving into this new stage.

Now though, I can't wait for that last day. I can't wait to turn in my termination paperwork. The past few weeks have only reminded me why this job was not my career goal. I also have been shortchanging my new job for the old job, and I want to stop doing that - I need to be able to focus on my real job and make that my priority, or else it won't be around for long! And it's such a great opportunity for me, both professionally and personally (can't argue with working part-time, from home).

So I'm almost done. It's almost time to shelve that part of my life. And I can't wait.