Hi Strangers! We've had a lot going on lately and I haven't had time to blog. It is amazing how quickly things can change when you've been waiting for it. Today is my last day at my current job. While Ryan was job searching, I was as well, but didn't feel ready to share it here. I start my new job on November 9th, heading back to a law firm, but as a Professional Development Manager, not an attorney (I'm crazy, but not that crazy). I'm leaving a place I love deeply and will stay connected to forever, but it is a hard transition and I'm feeling very emotional.
Whether making a career transition in the middle of a pandemic is a good idea or not remains to be seen, but I'm immensely grateful for the opportunity. I'm very excited and the move will help us greatly with our precarious financial position. As you can imagine, I'm anxious about all sorts of things about the change, but I try to remember that I've survived all sorts of things (including 6 straight weeks without leaving my apartment). We also just survived 7 days without the kids' full-time caretaker, my biggest pandemic nightmare. As we always do, we rolled with the punches, got one of our Mother's Helpers to come help out a few days and it actually renewed my confidence in my parenting. That renewed confidence is something I'm very grateful for as my schedule and work commitments are about to shift drastically. Repeat after me, "We can do hard things." (Thanks, Glennon Doyle).
On top of all of the change, we are still reckoning with Black people dying at the hands of police, an intense election that may be contested and a rise in COVID across the nation and the world. Every day feels like an onslaught of pain and I've had to work hard to find some space for self-care. This is actually impossible, yet we continue to trudge on. I've found myself flirting with the idea of doing things that I know we really aren't supposed to do in relation to COVID. I've come close to agreeing to attend small gatherings indoors. I've fantasized about going to visit family for the holidays. Luckily, Ryan (surprisingly) is more steady with our commitment to follow the rules, so we will be alone and hopefully connecting with our loved ones online as much as possible. We are also doing as many social interactions as we can outside while the weather is still palatable. The winter is certainly looming and I am frantically trying to come up with a plan to entertain the kids inside for months on end.
Halloween is tomorrow and we've milked the poor holiday for all it is worth this year. We've carved a pumpkin, put up decorations on our windows (that only we can see, ha!), eaten Halloween candy and treats for the last week, listened and danced to Halloween music, drawn Halloween pictures, visited Halloween decorations in our neighborhood and read so many Halloween books. Tomorrow we are carving another pumpkin in the morning and stopping by a neighborhood outdoor Halloween party in the afternoon. This year it feels like a last hurrah before whatever the election may bring, so I'm trying to stay cheerful through the weekend.
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