We owe it all to our boy!
Many people have been asking me "Whats next?" "What law firm will Doug be working at?" "Where will you be living in Seattle?"
I feel like I have answered questions like these a bunch of times in the past month or so. Here I am to answer them.
As everyone now knows, we are moving back to Seattle next week! I can hardly believe it!! We will be staying with Doug's Dad, Bob until we buy a home.
Actually, I found a job first and will be working in another Newborn ICU in the Seattle area. The hospital was so gracious as to pay for our move, and we are very thankful for that. Being a nurse pays off again! I am looking forward to new challenges.
As for Doug... the answer is, he will NOT be working for a law firm and he will NOT be taking the Washington State Bar Exam. What? You are saying. Law school and no fancy law job. Nope! And we couldn't be happier. And I couldn't be prouder of my husband. If you want the whole story, here it goes. Last summer Doug had a great internship at a big firm making very good money. He worked long hours and got a taste of what a big time firm is all about. My usually sarcastic, fun loving, energetic, full of life husband, turned into a quiet, stressed guy who we both didn't enjoy being around (by both I mean Doug or I, he noticed too). Having Cooper while Doug was in law school allowed him to spend lots of time with him and not miss a thing. Working the hours of a busy attorney last summer gave us a taste of what it would be like as a new lawyer and we weren't too happy about it. He decided at that point that he would be most interested in criminal defense because it was much more interesting to him and the hours wouldn't be quite as brutal. Stay tuned...there is much more...
We talked long and in depth about what was important to us. Was it money? A big house? A nice car? NO! These things would have come with a big firm job, that's for sure, but at what cost? I actually like my husband, thank you very much, and married him to have a companion not a money maker. We talked about how short life is, about how precious time is, and we have our wonderful boy to thank for making this all very clear. Since having Cooper we realized that what is important is whats going on in our home, it is the every day experiences of a family that are important to us. Don't get me wrong, we both enjoy lots of luxuries, but we realized that we had to prioritize and that we had to make some big choices. We decided that all we have is the now and that we had to forget the Joneses! We decided that we would be happy in a small house, with our sensible car. We decided that we both like to indulge in a fancy dinner and a lovely vacation but that we didn't need to do this every week or every month. We decided that we both want to raise our son and any other children that we bring into this world and that we both don't want to miss a thing because it is going by faster than either of us could have ever imagined.
So Doug mentioned that he has always thought that it would be great to be an Athletic Director of a middle school/high school. He missed working with kids and teaching. You need an advanced degree for a position like this, which he now has. He got online and browsed passively for positions in this area. Fate would have it, he found a full time PE teacher position available in the grater Seattle area. As he looked more into it, this PE position had a strong potential for promotion to AD in the near future. It was like it was made for him. He applied, we held our breath, and he was hired. I have to say, he never seemed the smallest bit as excited about any potential law jobs as he if for this position. So, come fall, Doug will be a full time PE teacher and hopefully be the AD soon!
This job allows him to work full time during the year and be off during the summer. Our hope is that I can work part time during the school year and possibly up my hours during the summer while he is off. We feel very lucky and are so excited.
Life is short and we want to enjoy every moment of it, together. We want jobs that fulfill us but that allow us to focus on what is truly important, our family. I am full of joy and peace! We feel really happy about our life ahead. I can't help but wonder how different our choices may have been if we didn't have Cooper.
Have a lovely weekend and I hope this answers all of your questions.
