Once upon a girl said goodbye to her kindred spirit, her familiar, her greatest love. Then, not soon after, the girl fell, once again, in love. Oscar is a total goofball and a dork, and I adore him terribly. He is my favorite reason to wake up at 5am, by far, even though I wish his belly/bladder would grow a bit so we didn’t have to be up that early. He’s mouthy and gets the zoomies quite often, which is slightly exhausting. Still, and growing all the time, my love for him endures.

But enough about Oscar (there’s never enough about Oscar), I did something. I quite my job that I started ten days after my graduation, and got a new job that I started yesterday. So far it’s pretty basic onboarding things, I-9s and W4s, enrollment into direct deposit, etc. This job really excites me already, though, because of certain things they do. For example, they have a new employee task sheet in which you ask every current employee what their job is, why you would go to them, who they are; fill out the entire sheet so essentially you’ve interviewed everyone in the building. It’s the kind of thing that would be terrifying to a shy introvert, but I absolutely love it. It’ll solve my problem of having difficulty remembering names, which is a very fearful thing in my profession (no-one likes the therapist who can’t remember your name). It’s something I’ve struggled with my entire adulthood, and I very much appreciate name badges, but you can’t always count on those. This is an elegant, person-forward solution.

I’m also taking cultural training on American Indians and Alaskan Natives, who are my primary demographic for providing services. My goodness, I’m excited for this part. Learning the culture is intriguing and engaging, and I’m mostly excited, somewhat nervous. I don’t know the cultures of indigenous peoples very well, embarrassingly little, in fact, and that’s something that definitely will change with this role in this organization. It’s kind of the point, really.

However, this week is significantly lighter than next week will be, since all I’m doing is interviews, online training modules, and reading the policy and procedures manual.

By the way, I know discussion of compensation is taboo in American society, but it’s so so nice to be on salary for a lighter week like this. I’m eager to be in the office full time, but I admit that I’m grateful I’m not immediately working 8 hour days in a new organization, with a new job title and role. I have some free hours in the week and I’m in real need of a hard reset, which it turns out this week can be. I’m staying on my workweek schedule, as follows:

7:00-wake up (unless Oscar got me up earlier, in which case, curse my alarm that I inevitably forgot to turn off)

7:00-8:00: walk Oscar, take a shower, get dressed, brush teeth, do hair, pack my lunch, etc.

Then, if it’s a puppy daycare day, take Oscar to that; if it’s a day he stays home, crate his cute little butt.

8:15: arrive at work if everything went smoothly.

8:30-17:00: Work work work work work. (take lunch at home to give Oscar a pee break if he’s not at daycare)

17:00: Either head to the doggy daycare to pick up Oscar, or head home to walk him.

17:30-22:00: Um? the possibilities are endless.

22:00-bedtime stuff, go to sleep.

Rinse and Repeat five days a week.

Not having an 1100-2100 job is certainly freeing up my evenings, and I feel a sense of abundance and joy at the idea of having a night to myself on a consistent basis. I’m also so very glad that Oscar is a good crate boy, because if he was loud or miserable I’d probably feel a sense of dread leaving him at home; I can’t afford puppy daycare every day. Thankfully he’s quiet and cam and just chills in his crate for hours at a time. Not too many, lunch breaks happen, but I made very sure that his crate was comfortable and welcoming, and he simply loves the treats that come with it.

(As I write this, he’s chewing on a metal table leg. My boy is a SMARTY.)

So, yeah, when one of my cousins asked me how I’d manage as a single mother, not demeaning, just truly curious, this is how. Time management and daycare. AND crate training my children. Just kidding. Or am I? I am.

Happier days ahead, loyal reader!