Thankful #8

I am thankful for my job.  I only have to work at the office two days a week, and the rest of the time I get to work at home.  I have a wonderful boss who is flexible and understanding.  She has let me bring kids with me to work, and she has let me drive in and pick up work and bring it home when I had sick kids.  I am very fortunate!

13 x 7 = 28?

I like things that are exact and precise. 
I have always been really good at spelling.  There is a right way to spell a word, and every other way is wrong.  You just have to know the right way and you are set.
In math, 13 x 7 always equals 91.  No matter what (well, unless you are watching Abbott & Costello!).

But I digress.
I didn't really care for English class.  When I wrote an essay, the grading was too subjective.  You can get a different grade, depending on if the teacher is in a good mood or a bad mood, or just doesn't like you.  And it's hard to argue the grade.
In math, it doesn't matter what the teacher's mood is, 13 x 7 = 91.  Period.
I realized last night that this is why I hate doing taxes so much.  You have deductions and contributions and different tax rates and you are always trying to manipulate the bottom line.  It is very frustrating.
Just keep me in bookkeeping.  I am very happy there!

Trust

I am grateful that my boss trusts me so much. It gives me the opportunity to work from home.

Except yesterday, she told me that she wants me to handle ALL of the quarterly taxes for 1st quarter. Which means I have to do them for 65 clients.

So if I am not here very much, please be patient. It's like this every 3 months now.

Working from home

Whenever I heard about people working from home, I thought that was the easiest way to work. However, after working from home for over a year, I have discovered that it may be the most convenient, but it's not the easiest.

It takes me 6 hours to get 4 hours of work done. When I am at the office, I leave my timer running when I go to the bathroom, and while I am visiting with my coworkers for short periods of time.

When I am at home, I turn my timer off when I go the bathroom because inevitably I will make a bed, or pick up some toys, or something similar while I am up. And when the phone rings with a personal call, I turn off the timer. Or The Princess needs some help putting on a Polly Pocket dress. You get the idea.

It's also hard because The Princess watches way too much TV because that is the easiest way to keep her entertained when I can't give her attention.

Don't get me wrong...I love being home and working in my 2 day funky hair and pajamas. I'm just saying that it's not as easy I thought it would be. But I am home with her and if she really needs me, I can stop and be with her. That is what is important.

I'm tired

I normally work between 13-15 hours a week.

This week I got 26 1/2.

That is twice the normal hours. And next week will be just as crazy, plus I have to go into the office on Saturday and spend all day printing W2's.

So when you get your W2 in the mail, think of the poor sap who worked all day away from her family to get it out to you.

Speaking of W2's, between The Doctor losing his job and working temporary jobs and such, and with my W2's, we will be getting 7 of them!

Can anyone beat that?

Busier than December!

It's January.

For most, that only means cold weather and depression (by most, I mean me).

Now it means quarterly taxes and W2's.

I have 46 payroll clients. I have to file all of their quarterly taxes before the 17th. I also have to print all of the W2's for all of my client's employees on the 17th.

And I still have to do all their regular payroll and my other projects.

Plus my boss is doing her billing a little differently, which means more work for me every payroll.

I am freaking out a little bit.

And how was your day?

So today marks my 1 year anniversary of working. I hate working. I want to be home full-time. I want to snuggle with k after the boys have gone to school instead of taking her to babysitter.

However...

Since I do have to work, I have to tell you how much I love my job. My job has been constantly evolving since I started.

When I was going to school to get my degree in Accounting, I discovered that I really didn't want to do accounting, I wanted to do bookkeeping. But I was a year into school and only had a year left, so I stuck it out and got my Bachelor's in Accounting. I graduated in 2000 and never used the degree. Until...

Our car broke down last June and we didn't have the money to replace it. So it was either go without a car that would hold our entire family, or me go to work. Crap. So after worrying about how I was going to get a job and what kind of job would it be, I was inspired to talk to Liz about her job. Liz is an accountant and recently adopted a baby, so she quit work. I called her after a while and talked to her about getting a job. I asked her if the place where she used to work was ever looking for part time help. Liz got really excited and said that Karin, her old boss, had just called her yesterday and asked Liz to work on a couple of files because she was so behind. Liz said that she would call Karin and tell her about me. I told her to be sure and tell her that I had no experience, but I did have my Bachelor’s degree. Liz called me back later and said that Karin is definitely interested in me and wants me to call tomorrow and set up an interview for probably next week.

I called the next day and they wanted me to come in that afternoon for an interview. That was good because I didn't have much time to freak out. I went in (completely nervous) and walked out 15 minutes later as a working mom. Not only that, but she wanted me to work afternoons, which is what I wanted, and she would pay me double what I was hoping for. It was the answer to so many prayers.

So Karin does taxes. I felt like a fish out of water for weeks. Everytime I thought I was getting it down, something would come up and I just wanted to cry. But Karin was so good to me and patient and understanding. Like when my brother-in-law Andy fell 75 feet and I just stood up and told her what happened and that I was leaving. She said okay. No questions, no repurcutions.

Anyway, I digress (not that you would know, but I just spent the last 1/2 hour reading my sister's blog from Andy's fall...he has come so far! You have to go read it!).


So, Karin shares an office with Delayne, who runs Small Business Connection. They do payroll and bookkeeping for small businesses. One day, after 1 1/2 months of working just for Karin, Delayne asked me if I wanted to help her do payroll. I had made it clear that I would love to do work from home, and Delayne told me that payroll is something I could definitely do from home. How cool is that? So I started doing payroll for Delayne, and gradually I started doing more work for her and less for Karin.


Around the end of August I started working 2 days a week from home. Even better! Then around the end of October, taxes totally dropped off and I was really concerned with how we were going to make our car payment. But Delayne talked to me about doing even more for her and that saved us.


So by the end of 2007, I wasn't doing much for Karin (and that's okay because I discovered that I really hate doing taxes!) and mostly working for Delayne (and that's okay because I discovered that I love doing payroll and bookkeeping!).


And now, I am only working 2 days a week away from home. I work Monday in the office, and on the same day I go to a client's business and do his bookkeeping. On Friday, I go to another client and do their bookkeeping. And on the other 3 days, I am kept busy with doing work from home. I really love what I do. I have 36 clients that I do all their payroll, plus doing bookkeeping for a bunch more.


Oh, and I have to mention the 2 wonderful women who are making this possible for me. My wonderful sister-in-law and my Bishop's wife, both of whom I trade babysitting for piano lessons. They are angels to me to watch k, because I know both of them have the means to just pay for the lessons outright, but are willing to serve me. Also the other two women who have helped me out. Thank you to you all!


I also have to mention my Heavenly Father. Everytime something has come up and I don't know how to handle it (a babysitter can't sit anymore, etc.), I just have to cry for a few hours, then turn it over to Heavenly Father and he will help me find a solution. My mother told me the following and boy, is it ever true:


"Heavenly Father can't take our trials away, but he makes them as easy as possible on us."


I could be working a much crappier job, with horrible work conditions, awful hours, and sucky pay. But I work at a great job, with a great boss, funny and smart and incredible co-workers, super hours, and better pay that I could ever have imagined. I still have days that I cry on my way to work, because I want my life back to how it was. But I try to remind myself that's not how it works. I can't look back. I have to look forward.

Revelation

I used to be a SAHM. For those of you who aren't lingo savvy, this means Stay At Home Mom. I liked being a SAHM. I could sleep in when I wanted, I could take a nap in the afternoon, and I could then stay up late with my husband. I loved being there for my kids. If one called from school to say he was sick, I would be right there to bring him home. I loved being home.

Last June our car died, and in order to afford a car payment, I had to go to work. It has become the ideal job. I love what I am doing (now that I have moved permanently off of taxes), Ihave a great boss, I work great hours, and I get to work 2 days a week from home. If I need some time off, I can take it, no questions asked. It is wonderful.

However, I would much prefer being at home with k. I hate having to leave her with someone while I go to work. She loves going on play dates, and I couldn't ask for better babysitters. But I have been praying that T can get a job where I can be home again.

Then this morning, as I was laying in bed at 5:20, trying to wake up, I had a revelation. I will never be able to go back again. I just know that this is it. For the rest of my life, I will be working. k will never get me just to herself again. Because even when I am home, I am either cleaning or cooking or working.

It makes me so sad. I know it could be a lot worse, but I miss how simple my life used to be. I haven't scrapbooked in almost a year now. And even if I had the time, I would have to clean out my scrapbook room in order to get to my desk.

I'm just sad today.