Nothing progressed very far this week...not my knitting, not my quest for career fulfillment, and not very many of the other mundane things I need to get done. However, this week will be my last week working with our visiting students, and I only have them 3 afternoons, so I should have a LITTLE bit of time to get things done, and then next week things should go back to "normal."
I did make some knitting progress last weekend, I guess--both fronts of my Ivy, and both ties are done, leaving just the sleeves and the sewing up. The sleeves are going slower than I thought they would, though--still on the first one. And I know the sewing up will be tedious. But maybe I can finish by the end of next week?? It's still very much sweater weather here, and since it's cotton yarn anyway, I'll be able to wear it quite a bit when it's done, I think. I feel a bit disconnected from knitting--I haven't had time to read all the blogs I normally do, to browse the Angel Yarns forum, etc., so I'm not getting the usual inspiration I draw from my fellow knitters. Hopefully this week I can get back into that world and get re-inspired!
As far as the career changing stuff I blogged about before....I did think of one more rather unusual one to add to the list. Dog trainer! This was something that interested me a lot once upon a time, but I hadn't thought of it in ages. It does seem that the jobs that appeal to me the most (dog trainer, yarn shop owner, cafe owner, etc.) are all really forms of self-employment/small businesses. Obviously the idea of being your own boss sounds very appealing--but I am also a bit scared by the high risk factor of opening your own business, and the huge workload that would probably be involved up front. And right now I'm not financially in a position to pursue any of them--they would all have a good deal of start-up costs. But my mind tends to wander towards those as options for a few years from now. Once Stephen has an established practice, and maybe we have kids (still at least 1-2 years away from starting that project, I'd say) who are all old enough to go to daycare/school for a good portion of the day, maybe I can pursue one of those dreams.
Timing is a big question with any of these career changes, and why I'm trying to lots of thinking about it now. I'm probably not going to make any immediate radical changes--I want to make sure I choose carefully, and when I do change, I want to be able to stick with it for a while. Given the high probability of us moving in a little over a year (or maybe 18 months-2 years, depending on if Stephen does some extra training), it doesn't make much sense to start something now and then have to give it up when we move. And really, as much as I have moved in my life, my resume already reflects a bit badly on my stability, I think. Yes, I know that every job change was for a very good reason--but to a potential employer, it probably looks a bit scary. Better to stay where I am for another year, I think, assuming that is an option. Of course, if the absolutely perfect job opportunity came about, I would have to re-think this policy! :-) (so please don't remind me of this speech if I announce in a few months that I'm doing something totally different than what I said!).
And on other fronts....well, not much news. I've been doing a lot of planning of the garden, and started some seeds indoors for some herbs and veggies. The weather forecast is pretty questionable (yesterday they were saying the whole week would be nasty and cold and rainy, now they're saying after Monday it will be sunny and gradually warming up--fingers crossed!!), so who knows when I'll be able to do some actual outdoor gardening. The garden centers are starting to open all around town, though, so I'm hoping to get out and start shopping for plants soon. We also have tentative plans to put up a fence in the next month or so, and then after that we'll look into getting a new dog...I'm trying not to browse various animal shelter websites too much, I don't want to form an attachment to a dog that won't be available in a month! :-)
So that's things here....
I did make some knitting progress last weekend, I guess--both fronts of my Ivy, and both ties are done, leaving just the sleeves and the sewing up. The sleeves are going slower than I thought they would, though--still on the first one. And I know the sewing up will be tedious. But maybe I can finish by the end of next week?? It's still very much sweater weather here, and since it's cotton yarn anyway, I'll be able to wear it quite a bit when it's done, I think. I feel a bit disconnected from knitting--I haven't had time to read all the blogs I normally do, to browse the Angel Yarns forum, etc., so I'm not getting the usual inspiration I draw from my fellow knitters. Hopefully this week I can get back into that world and get re-inspired!
As far as the career changing stuff I blogged about before....I did think of one more rather unusual one to add to the list. Dog trainer! This was something that interested me a lot once upon a time, but I hadn't thought of it in ages. It does seem that the jobs that appeal to me the most (dog trainer, yarn shop owner, cafe owner, etc.) are all really forms of self-employment/small businesses. Obviously the idea of being your own boss sounds very appealing--but I am also a bit scared by the high risk factor of opening your own business, and the huge workload that would probably be involved up front. And right now I'm not financially in a position to pursue any of them--they would all have a good deal of start-up costs. But my mind tends to wander towards those as options for a few years from now. Once Stephen has an established practice, and maybe we have kids (still at least 1-2 years away from starting that project, I'd say) who are all old enough to go to daycare/school for a good portion of the day, maybe I can pursue one of those dreams.
Timing is a big question with any of these career changes, and why I'm trying to lots of thinking about it now. I'm probably not going to make any immediate radical changes--I want to make sure I choose carefully, and when I do change, I want to be able to stick with it for a while. Given the high probability of us moving in a little over a year (or maybe 18 months-2 years, depending on if Stephen does some extra training), it doesn't make much sense to start something now and then have to give it up when we move. And really, as much as I have moved in my life, my resume already reflects a bit badly on my stability, I think. Yes, I know that every job change was for a very good reason--but to a potential employer, it probably looks a bit scary. Better to stay where I am for another year, I think, assuming that is an option. Of course, if the absolutely perfect job opportunity came about, I would have to re-think this policy! :-) (so please don't remind me of this speech if I announce in a few months that I'm doing something totally different than what I said!).
And on other fronts....well, not much news. I've been doing a lot of planning of the garden, and started some seeds indoors for some herbs and veggies. The weather forecast is pretty questionable (yesterday they were saying the whole week would be nasty and cold and rainy, now they're saying after Monday it will be sunny and gradually warming up--fingers crossed!!), so who knows when I'll be able to do some actual outdoor gardening. The garden centers are starting to open all around town, though, so I'm hoping to get out and start shopping for plants soon. We also have tentative plans to put up a fence in the next month or so, and then after that we'll look into getting a new dog...I'm trying not to browse various animal shelter websites too much, I don't want to form an attachment to a dog that won't be available in a month! :-)
So that's things here....
Comments
*hugs*
Can't wait to see the finished Ivy! :)
looking forward to seeing your ivy too!