My Gift to Me

Some of you are probably familiar with my tradition - starting on my 30th birthday - of giving myself a birthday gift each year.

It isn't anything tangible, more something that I give myself "freedom" from that helps make my life more enjoyable.

It started when I was about to turn 30 and I read somewhere that the 30s is your decade of self discovery.  I laughed, because I foolishly thought that at 29 I had myself all figured out, but decided that in an effort to kick off my 30s I would come up with things that I wanted to change.

Some of my gifts over the past years have been:

Freedom from "downer" friendships
Freedom from camping with little children
Freedom from singing solos
Freedom from crafts - ick!

All these things have made my life more enjoyable and helped me realize that, indeed, I am free to choose the things that will make ME happy and not try to fulfill a list given to me by the outside world, or even given to me by preconceived notions of how I thought my life would go.  It's been lovely.  I always encourage my friends to do this and it's kind of a joke now.... what do we want to be free of in the future.

Well, this year I shocked even myself with the direction my gift took our family.... in fact, I didn't see it coming until about two weeks before my birthday.

This year I'm giving myself the gift of freedom from debt.

I'm the money handler in our house and so I get the pleasant task of working the finances.  It's such a bummer job. Anyhow, I started looking over student loans, surprises that have come up {all new HVAC} etc. and realized that if I just keep trucking along doing minimum payments we won't be done paying off all our debt (obviously some things aren't included in that) for about 6 more years.  Eliana would be going on 17 and Jasec 8.

Say WHAT??!!

Then I began thinking back on my childhood - all those family trips taken as a teenager that cemented my bond with my family.  Braces, my first car, dances, music, sports....And I realized that I'd miss out on all that as a mom if we remained in the trenches of debt payments.

It really hit me that we are coming up to some pretty crucial years in the lives of our children.  Years where we want to be "free" to go and do and see and experience before we send them off to create families of their own.

So, after much pondering on my role as a mom, and crossing illegal options off the list, I went out and got me a job.  I will now be the newest employee at....

Drum Roll....

Target in Centerville.  (It was that or McDonalds - I think you see that my choice was made for me!)

I'll be working part time nights and weekends doing sales floor stuff and some cashiering starting the first week of August.

So, if you're out shopping and you see me, come say hi.....

And don't forget to wish me "happy birthday" and "good luck" with this year's gift :)

{Also, wish Steve luck as he'll be taking on Daddy duties those nights and weekends!  It seems I may have given myself TWO gifts this year.....}