Let the countdown begin.

14.

The number of full time days left at my job.

Minus holidays- well, that puts me at 12. And if you count the days we will surely be let go early (Christmas Eve & New Years Eve) we're getting closer to 11.

And you know what? 11 is a spectacular number.

The decision to go part-time was made about two months ago. Right around the time I was sitting at the dinning room table about 2 am and using duct tape to fend off advancing heavy eyelids while flipping through the pages Henry V. Or about the time I was sitting at Panera at 2 pm the afternoon I had a story due in Fiction and cussing out the cursors presence on an alarmingly blank white page. ( I received an A in the class mind you, but there was nothing like crunching out a horrendously drab story only hours before it was due. And it happened. A LOT.)
And I did receive an A in all of the classes I took last semester so it may seem like there is no point my reduced work schedule. But OH THERE IS A POINT. And that point sits right atop my SANITY.

I am not made to run in a million directions at once. I know many people who succeed in multi-tasking and I know that references have been made to my superior ability to do such. I assure you though, it was all a ruse. One heaping pile of deception. Oh it was. Because while others were praising my fortitude and steadfast commitment to making it work as a full time student/employee/mother, I was crying the bathroom closet and chucking the nearest shoe at my mother for questioning my sanity.

So, my easy resolution? Part-time work. Something had to give and Brae just wouldn't hold still as I tried to package him off to Tanzania. It only makes sense to sacrifice the one source of my income while taking classes that yield absolutely no tangible purpose. Makes absolute sense that I would sacrifice my health insurance and two days worth of pay over a few classes that will hopefully assist in getting me into a good graduate program. It makes sense. Of course it does.

I am lucky that my work agreed to keep me part time and while I would like to believe it really is because I am THAT good at what I do, I know it's only because the thought of having to hire someone new during the departmental restructuring that is going on would be absolute HELL for them and they figured they would rather just make due. Whatever the reason, I'm grateful that I get to stay. Given the current job market and the constrictions my class schedule places on my work schedule, it was very fortunate that they wanted to keep me.

Plus, we just recently had someone leave the company and I participated in his farewell.



The thought of walking into that on my last day would be enough to prevent me from going anywhere.