South City Confidential

Quitter

First things first: happy 29th birthday to my husband Chris.  I could wax poetic and write something touching but he doesn’t roll like that in the public sphere of the interwebs, so I’ll keep those sweet nothings between him and me, mmmkay?

Second, I promised on Friday some big news today.  That prompted e-mail from my mother threatening that if she had to hear from my blog that I was pregnant there would be hell to pay.  But no, I’m not pregnant, as anyone who saw me swilling beer at various Holly Hills establishments this weekend is probably relieved to find out.  I did, however, as of 9:12 this morning, put in my notice at work.

Didja hear me?  I QUIT MY JOB, Y’ALL.

I was fortunate enough that I have a friend who not only appreciates my big, sexy brain, but needs some help with her business (the details are intentionally cryptic; she asked that I not immediately identify her here).  She and I had casually thrown around comments about working together sometime in the future, and when this job begun to suck my soul dry, she made it clear she wasn’t speaking hypothetically.  This new job will allow me to work much more flexible hours…wait for it… FROM HOME.   I have the potential to make more money than I currently make, and while the job isn’t necessarily in a field that I’m passionate about, I know it is something I can do and do well.  I can help her make even more money than she already does and this can help me make more money.

It’s always tricky mixing business and friendship.  Fuck, I’m willing to drop a motherfucker if I get a candle party invite, ya heard?  However, she and I have been incredibly transparent with each other about our concerns.  We’re working on a trial period, at the end of which, either party can end the working relationship.  If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be able to look for a teaching job for next school year.  Hopefully it will work out, though, because a flexible job is exactly what I need to start work on my dissertation.  I’m doing (by “doing”, I mean I have a folder that has articles in it that I’ve printed out for my lit review, so take that for what it’s worth) the preliminary work right now, and my goal is to have sites selected and my proposal successfully defended by the beginning of next school year so I can collect data during that year.  A work situation like this would be ideal.

This person is a good friend of mine, and I admire her both as a person (she’s a badass) and as someone who has a wonderful work-life balance that I would like to duplicate. I’ve learned that I don’t deal well with authority (my mom just snorted and said “No shit.”) and that I need autonomy over my day.  In principle, I hate the idea of having to justify to someone else why I can’t fucking work today, because I have a life and sometimes the shit hits the fan and that life is much more pressing than any trivial thing that could come up at work.  I want to be able to work when I can, in a t-shirt and jeans, and stop that work and do yoga or walk my dog.  I’d also not to not talk to complete idiots every day who think they should be sharing their lack of knowledge with the youth of America, and this job has that perk.

I also want time to be able to work on some new blog-type projects I’ve been mulling over.  I’ve met so many fantastic people who I’d like to collaborate with, and having the time to do that would be priceless to me.

Obviously, there is risk involved, but any way I look at it, the risk is worth the potential reward.  In any event, it’s not healthy for me to stay here, and in two short weeks, I’ll be done.  Think of all the Law & Order I’ll be able to watch working from home.  The possibilities are endless.

So that’s my big news.  Please know that I am fully aware of how damn lucky I am to have this opportunity in this economy, and I’m grateful as all get-out.   Who wants to have a drinking business lunch?  I’m available starting October 11.

KBO posted this article under life, work on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 9:57 am You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a comment or trackback from your own site.