One Persistent Bug

The Toilet:
Where we've spent
most of our time
for the past week.

Ok, let's talk bugs. Not the kind with legs; the kind that knock you off your feet for days... or your kids off their feet (Warning: If you're squeamish, this is not the post for you).

I'm guessing we brought something home with us from a fun farm we visited last week. It also had an indoor play area that the kids loved and those places are teeming with germs whatever the season. Two or three days later, The Boy woke around 3:30am complaining of a tummy ache. He and I never really made it back to sleep that morning and around 8am he tossed his cookies all over the kitchen floor. He seemed fine after that, but on Sunday he spent the morning literally flushing out his system in the other direction.

Next, it was Nature Girl's turn. Tuesday night she complained of a stomach ache shortly after dinner, skipped dessert and returned what she had eaten to her bed sheets around midnight. I had left the designated "barf bucket" by her side, but she's never been a tidy one when it comes to getting sick.

Feeling rather sick myself, I spent the next hour cleaning up her room, washing out the carpet stains and getting her sheets and duvet cover into the washing machine.

The next morning, she seemed as good as new. I, however, was feeling wretched. So bad, in fact, that my husband came home early from work to take care of the kids for me. Two cups of chamomile tea finally helped things move along and I managed to eat a bit for the first time in 24-hours.

Between stomach pains and my husband's snoring, I hardly slept, so he stayed and worked from home yesterday and I stayed in bed until 11am. Being a mom, however, there was laundry to do. It takes longer without a dryer, so I needed to get on it.

By dinner time, I was feeling mostly recovered and it seemed we were finally free of this persistent, reoccurring bug. Snoring once again drove me to share Nature Girl's double bed in the middle of the night. That was fortunate, in fact, because around 6am strange, telltale noises pulled me from my dreams. I had left the bucket in her room (I always leave them near a sick kid for at least 3 days - see my guide to vomit), so I grabbed it just as she sat up and said, "I think I'm going to throw up!"

Thanks to my fast-as-lightening-mother-reflexes, this time the sheets stayed clean. The poor girl went on to try to rid her body of the bug in the other direction for the next two hours and counting...

Time to disinfect the house for the third time this week and pray to the heavens that Sweet Rose and Papa stay healthy.

Overqualified

It feels good to be back here. I've missed writing, but it's busy with kids at home. The hubs had 2 weeks off as well and he hardly lets us sit still. With school around the corner, you just might be reading me more often. Anyway...

A couple of weeks ago I was browsing through job postings. Occasionally, I get tired of being stretched too thin too often and I see what's out there that might work around the kids school schedules. One job seemed interesting enough. It had the potential to be flexible, so I brushed up my CV (Resume) and hit, "Apply."

A few days later I received a call and after a couple of "informal chats" I had scheduled my first interview in nearly 10 years. 10 years! I had nothing to wear. Mommy-clothes fill my closet and nearly everything is either stained or old.

Interview Ready Selfie

The night before the interview my stomach was clenched and my anxiety was sky high. Friends and family on FaceBook made lovely, supportive comments and my husband talked me down in a rare show of true, deep attention. I reminded myself that I didn't care if I got the job or not, so there was really nothing to be nervous about.

The next morning I was ready. An 11-year-old dress with a new-ish pair of shoes and a cute cardie I got in France a couple of years ago did the trick. The interview went swimmingly and lasted over an hour. That's usually a good sign.

We had great rapport, the questions and answers felt more like a conversation and by the end of it I felt like the HR woman and I (who had a fabulous Scottish accent) would make great friends.

The next day I totally freaked out. I realized that I did not want a job at all! While I love working with people, I also love my freedom and flexibility. I've been a Kindermusik educator and a Wine-Tasting consultant over the past 6 years and both had me leading a crowd, loving what I did! Both allowed me to set my own schedule. This is vital, because putting 3 kids into childcare before and/or after school and during school holidays is freaking expensive. Plus, The Boy only goes 3 days...

I frantically searched for school admin jobs and scrolled through the work-at-home-mom sites to find something before I got a call telling me I'd made it to the next stage. Then, I stopped and took a breath.

A day or two of contemplation and the risk of getting a real job helped me clarify my direction. You've heard it before if you've been following me for long - I am going to be a certified Passion Test Facilitator. This is it for me. I'll get my NLP/Life coach certification to complement it, but I am going to be running workshops as a PT Facilitator!! Helping others to discover, embrace and courageously follow their passions in life! That's my passion!

Before now, I've gone back and forth between following my heart or getting a paycheck. Not knowing when or how I'll ever come up with the money for the certification or the travel to get there had me nearly giving up on my dream. But I won't. It isn't just a dream, it is my path. All this job stuff helped me to finally and fully embrace that. You might have thought I had done that a few months ago, right? But I waver in the face of a $0 balance in my bank account!

After nearly a week, I hadn't heard back from them, so I placed the follow-up call. "It's going to be a 'No,'" Darryl kindly told me. "Would you like to know the reason?" Of course, I would. Overqualified.

Overqualified. With all that I've done and the goals that I have with NLP and the Passion Test, they were quite certain I would be bored handling stock and customer service calls. He didn't say that outright, but I heard it nonetheless and they're right. Plus, the couldn't really accommodate the start and end timing I would need to get my kids to and from school. Shocking.

I'm so relieved I didn't get that job! Now I can put all of my focus and attention where it belongs - on my family, my own personal development and paving the way to my dream career.