It's Off to Work I Go

I have been mainly a stay at home mom to H and B since they were born. There was a brief stretch of a few weeks when they were around 6 months old when I had to work in order to train a new employee. Some days they came to work with me, and other days they stayed home with Grandma. I've worked a few sporadic days since then, but usually when I go to work it's only for about 30 minutes, and they come with. Things are about to change. 

One of my employees put in her notice that she would be leaving. I have been very lucky to have found really great employees almost everytime I've interviewed. 4/5 is pretty good. Even with a good track record, I hate the hiring process. Instead of hiring someone new right now, I'm going to go back to work a few afternoons a week.  

Two of my new year's resolutions were to save money and get all of the financial paperwork in order for the daycare. You know the old two birds one stone saying, well that applies here. Plus, I really love seeing the dogs and owners on a regular basis. 

As of right now, the plan is to work until mid May.  I have a great seasonal employee who will be coming back to work around that time. Then I'll have the summer free for zoo trips, park trips, and of course lake trips. I won't have to hire anyone new until August, which I like the sound of. Of course all of this is dependent on how two little kiddos handle the new arrangement, and the availability of my amazing mother to watch them. Paying for daycare for H and B is far too expensive to justify the income I would be making from working.  

I won't get home until around 6 on nights I work, and H and B eat dinner around 6. That means my crockpot will be getting lots of use, and I have to start meal planning. Usually the kids and I will make a run to the store in the morning if we need things for dinner, but we won't have the time to do that very often anymore. On the menu this week: Vegetarian Sheperds Pie, Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles, Ranch Chicken Enchiladas, and Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup. Three of the four recipes are new, and I hope they turn out well. If not, we may wind up eating the same thing every week.  If anyone has good crock pot or freezer recipes, PLEASE SHARE! Or even make ahead and pop in the oven recipes. 

I am really looking forward to this week and seeing how things go. I am optimistic that this will be good for all of us. And if it's not, I'll be browsing resumes sooner than expected.  

I can feel the Nyquil starting to take effect, so it's off to snoozeville I go.  I hope you all had a great weekend and are surviving the cold.