Back to Adulting: My Return to the Working World

On July 1st of this year, I woke up in the morning… and had nothing to do.  The Store was sold and transferred to the new owners the previous day.  My parents were now officially retired, but I had no definite plans for my future.  I am thankful that our finances are strong enough for me to take a long break from working, to unwind physically, mentally and emotionally from four and a half years of 70 hour, 6 day work weeks.  I was looking forward to resting at home, checking a lot of my “honey-do” list, and reconnecting with friends after not having much of a social life.

But the gravy train had to end sometime.  I’m not a member of the 1%, not able to live off a trust fund, eating caviar and drinking champagne while tanning on my yacht in the San Francisco Bay.  (Ask again next year.)  I had to refresh my resume, and start hitting the job sites, responding to any posts that looked interesting.  And tomorrow, at 9 AM, I’m back in the work force.  (I’m sure all of the presidential candidates will take credit for this.)

Going back to work after a 3 month hiatus will be weird.  I will have to answer to a boss again (other than my wife).  My time will no longer be my own.  I will need to groom myself EACH AND EVERYDAY!!!!  (My wife will be thrilled.)  But I am looking forward to being around other people on a regular basis.  Though I tried to keep busy outside the house, I did get lonely at times, hanging out at home with just my 3 cats to keep me company.  (Angela, Whiskers and Mort will be sad to not have me home so much.)  And it will be nice to get a paycheck again.  It’s way to easy to just spend money when you don’t have a job (especially with Amazon Prime).

I won’t be looking forward to a regular driving commute again, though this time, I will only have to drive 30 minutes instead of 60 each way.  And this new job should not be as busy as the one I had at the Store, at least initially.  I should even find time to each lunch everyday!  Plus, I’ve been friends with my new boss for several years.  Unless he’s changed dramatically in the last few months, it should be a good working relationship.  (He is a Packer fan, so I’m hoping that Aaron Rodgers puts together a good year; otherwise, the winter could be bleak at work).

I will need to get back on a regular sleep schedule.  I will have to get used to waking up at a normal person’s time again.  I will need to start making lunches again to go.  But those are small sacrifices.  I’ve found a bunch of podcasts over the summer, so that should help ease my commute time.  I’m refreshed after a summer break, so I’m exciting and energetic going back to work.  And I have some great ideas for my new job.  I’m not sure if I would be so thrilled if I hadn’t had the time off, if I had just jumped from one career to another.

I will probably be writing less, now that my free time will be greatly diminished.  But I still have time to think (especially on my daily hour commute), so I hope to still write on a regular basis.  I’m hoping for once a week; any more would be a bonus.  I enjoy this too much to give it up completely.