Chocolate Chips and Chaos

2015_Day 14: Here’s to working my ass off once again| Daily Prompt

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Connect the Dots.”

Until about six months, I had never been unemployed. I had worked as a journalist for more than 20 years — and loved the fast-paced, never-a-dull-minute lifestyle it offered. But when husband had the chance to take a new job in Austin, Texas, I gave my notice, sold our house, packed up the family and made the trek from Green Bay, Wis., to join him. It was strange, to say the least, not going to work every day.

Let me tell you, as a community journalist, you work your ass off. There’s always another deadline, another breaking story, a newspaper to put out or a website to update. The news never stops. And that’s how I liked it. I always felt the most exhilarated when in the middle of a breaking news event — and the most fulfilled afterward. Yeah, it was stressful, but most of the time, it was a good stress (if that makes any sense).

So, leaving my paid job without having another one to slide right into was a huge change for me. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t unhappy to have some extended time off. There was plenty to keep me busy the first several months between getting the old house sold and packed up, moving into a new house, helping a teenage girl adjust to her new school and new life, getting acclimated to the community, etc. With husband working nights, I’m glad we could afford for me stay home for a bit — until life got back to normal again. There’s no doubt in my mind that it would have been more stressful (in a bad way) on the family if I would have had to go back to work immediately.

But the time off also has served as a reminder of what my professional career has meant to me. I miss being in the workforce and contributing to something I believe in. So look out world, I’m back — and ready to “work my ass off” once again!

(By the way, if you couldn’t tell, my writing prompt was the sentence “You work your ass off.” It came from page 82 of the book “Modern Women” by Ruth Harris.)