Blissfully quiet Friday

It's been awhile since I've had a Friday to myself. Usually Steve is home since he works 10-hour days Monday - Thursday, and often we keep Jenna home with us as well. But today Steve went to work, Jenna went to school, and I decided to skip my optional work training and STAY HOME. Alone. Just me. Well, me and my 3 very needy cats...

I'm afraid these glorious stay-home Fridays are coming to an end in the near future.

I've been so very fortunate to work part-time since J was born. I love being a social worker, and it's always been important to me to continue working in some capacity. We really don't *need* the money, although it would be much tighter without my income, and keeping Jenna in private montessori school would definitely not be an option. I started my current job when she was 4 months old and worked 20 hours/week. After 3 years at 20 hours, I moved up to 30 hours/week where I've been for the past 2 years. I've always had Fridays off.

If I stay at my current job (which would mean I am not offered a school district social work position, which I recently applied for and hope very much to get), in January I will be moving back down to 20 hours/week. My boss has been very accommodating to my part-time desires for the last 5 years, but she has decided that my agency needs a full-time social worker. She'd like me to do it - but the hours don't mesh with my duties as a mother. So, she's graciously agreed for me to job-share the full-time position with someone else. I'm so grateful for her flexibility, and I'm actually kind of looking forward to going back down to 20 hours/week. However - because of some programming changes, I'm going to lose my Fridays of, which makes me sad. On the other hand, Jenna is now in kindergarten and really should be going to school 5 days a week, so it's probably ok in the big picture, as I don't keep her home on Fridays nearly as much as I used to when she was just in pre-school.

The school district social work position would be full-time - which will be a big shift for me. However, school breaks and summer off are beginning to become imperative.

Did I mention my car accident this past week? It was awful. Completely my fault, had 3 kids from work in the backseat, and I was 2 1/2 hours away from home at a conference. Fortunately, no one was hurt, we were able to drive home, and my work car insurance is covering the damages to the other drivers vehicle. Unfortunately, I did $2100 damage to my own car, have a $1000 collision deductible and no rental car coverage.

My 39 week pregnant sister-in-law got some tragic news yesterday. Her sister lives in Las Vegas and is on a ventilator in intensive care with H1N1. While in the hospital, her husband had a heart attack in his sleep and died. They have a 12 year-old son. SIL of course can't go out to Las Vegas right now, and is devastated. I am aching for her and for her family.

And finally, open season for our flexible spending account starts soon. I told DH I thought we should max out our health care account in case we decide to pursue donor IVF in 2010. Yikes!!!