Welcome! If you are reading this I give you fair warning that this is my very first attempt at a blog. The purpose of this site is to document my journey on a major life change, which I will describe in further detail below. I will be writing about my vision, purpose, goals, achievements and failures. I must admit that it is a bit nerve-wracking to be putting all of this out in a public forum, but nothing gets accomplished without an element of risk, right?
A little bit about myself: I am a middle-aged woman with two boys , 9 and 6, a husband, a dog, and a cat. I have a master’s degree in archaeology, and work full-time as a consultant archaeologist. More than full-time, actually, which is one of the reasons I am embarking on this journey. Well, that and there is small chance I may be having a midlife crisis (half-joking!).
Archaeology is really my first love. Not in the sense that I love it more than my wonderful family, but in the sense that I found archaeology before I met the man who would become my husband. I tailored my entire life around this semi-nomadic profession, and committed myself to if fully. Archaeology will always be a part of my life, no matter where the rest of my life takes me.
But here is the rub – I currently work two jobs. One was full time until a few months ago. I work for an international engineering and design firm, and was happy as a clam in this job for years. Then things changed abruptly and work really slowed down. I was demoted to part time status. This is a problem for a family of four living in California! I was very fortunate in that I immediately began picking up other work with a very small local company. My new boss is amazing, I love the work I am doing there, while the first job has become a soul-crushing experience. And the result of having two part-time jobs is that I am working far more than 40 hours per week. This is not sustainable. For my health, my sanity, and for my family. Unfortunately, the new job is a very small company, and cannot yet have me on full time – though this is the ultimate goal.
My goal: to start my own home-crafting business to replace the income I would lose by quitting Job #1, while allowing me to keep working for Job #2. Is this plausible? I have no idea. I have some great role models within my circle of friends who have home-based businesses and blogs, so I know it is possible. The question is: do I have what it takes? I guess we will find out.