#firstsevenjobs

This topic has been in my inspirational blog writing queue since about August, when I read this interesting article on LinkedIn.  The focus of the article is how the majority of us evolved our careers from the ground up, with a path that was often shaped by higher education and privilege.   This also made me look back on my own career path, which I thought I'd share here, with some highlights about what I learned.

----MIDDLE SCHOOL ----
1. babysitter, $5/hr - definitely made me realize that I didn't want kids in my teens and that as hard as the job is to do when getting paid, parents don't GET PAID.  So if you have great parents, show them you appreciate them!

----HIGH SCHOOL -----
2. Cutco knife sales rep, % of sale - yes, the scissors can actually cut a penny (and skin, so be careful!)  I'm also not "cut" out for direct sales... Just feels too pushy to me.  While I did great in the 2 months I did it, I also have a large family.  Once I had to go outside of that group, I just couldn't do the cold-calls.

3. Pizza Hut waitress, minimum wage ~3/hr + tips - There is an actual science to loading/unloading a tray of drinks.  Wish I'd seen this video before I started?  One very large and embarrassing mess later, I decided this was NOT the job for me.

4. Hyvee (bakery in HS/floral in college), ~$5-7/hr - Taught me that you should be careful using the sprayer to clean items when you are wearing an all white uniform...  This job also made me realize I didn't want a job where I had to stand on concrete 8+ hour shifts.  But the perks of being the closer?  All the left-over donuts you wanted, although my dad and brother probably reaped more of this benefit than I did.

---COLLEGE--------
5. US Postal Service encoder, $12/hr - fancy words for data entry for the post office.  I drove to DSM a few times a week to get paid $12/hour deciphering people's terrible handwriting on the front of envelopes.  Was a great job as I got to sit at a desk and mindlessly type while I listened to books on tape!!  They actually teach you to only read the first 3 letters of any word, I blame this job for my bad habit of skimming and "interpreting" words in lieu of actually reading them??

6. Engineering Intern (Texas Instruments) $16/hr - Dallas, Tx is an AWESOME place to turn 21...  At least the parts I remember?  And TI's profit sharing benefit extended to interns!   Glad '98 was a stellar year, it covered half my fall semester tuition!  However, testing operational amplifiers and updating the software for the Y2K epidemic was a pretty lackluster actual job.   However I'd go back, as its really the location and the things in the area that attract employees.

7. Engineering Intern (Intel) $18/hr - Sacramento, CA is really close to a LOT of cool places (not to mention a cute little casino wedding chapel in Lake Tahoe!)   Perl scripting was a step above previous job, but this internship was cut short by a pleasant surprise (Isaac).  I learned that pregnant women should not be on their own 8 states away from their loved ones.

----GRADUATE -----------
8. Rockwell Collins, Systems Engineer $52,000/yr ~$25/hr - Engineering has been a great career for supporting my family well.  I have had an employer that has provided me remarkable flexibility, making it ideal for a mom with young kids.  I've worked half time, telecommuted, took a year sabbatical in pursuit of my MBA while staying at home full time with my 2nd child.   It allows me to use my problem solving skills EVERY DAY and we make some seriously cool shit, like the F-35 helmet. 

It is so interesting to see my life journey along this career path and how interwoven work and life really are.   I love the random stuff you find out about people when reading their lists.  I'd love to see some comments on your first seven jobs (or maybe your oddest 1 or 2??)

Oh, and GUESS WHAT?!?  Isaac got HIS first job yesterday!  He is working at the 5 Guys by Lindale, which opens MONDAY!!!!  Stop in and say hi and welcome him on his first step of a lifelong career journey.

Home, sweet (tiny) home!

Well, its been about a month now and I'm mostly settled into the new place.  So glad to be able to say there is no buyers remorse yet!!!  It was a frantic week from Christmas to New Year as I moved and decided to bite off a lot of fix-it-the-minute-you-move-in projects.  Luckily I had a slew of fantastic helpers!  A big shout out to my family moving crew,  to my great friends Erin/Adam for their weekend of service to the cause, and big thanks to my parents who have come over darn near every weekend in Jan to start/finish another of my "projects".  I know my dad thought my list would never end???

Here's a virtual walkthrough of my home.  The before shots can be seen here.

The living room required minimal adjustments.  I bought a rug, a cool coffee table, curtains, and the entertainment stand.  The previous owner left me the couch and the green chair as part of our closing deal, yay for moving less furniture! :)

I got to spend a lot of time thinking about what I wanted to take/keep that I loved from my old house.  This sign made the keep list and was repurposed with some hooks to operate as my coat hanger behind the door!

The dining room/music area also got very little updates.  Bought curtains and a set of 4 chairs to go with the table I already had.

The main floor bath was already pretty amazing (damn I love this big tub!), but changing the dark red paint to a beautiful tropical blue and swapping out all the fixtures from silver to bronze?  Now its JUST right!

Bella took advantage of mom's make-it-perfect plan and put in a request for a new bed for her new room...  Some fun lights and a new wall hanging and she is all set. Sadly, she loves it so much, I never see her leave it??  Freakin teenagers.

Isaac's room is still minimalist.   I really want to decorate it, but still waiting to coordinate with him on what that looks like.  Which means this will probably be green walls with no wallhangings till he moves out in 2018...   I DID install an air freshener after first week though as its incredible how far eau-de-teenage-boy smell can travel in a small house??

Ahh, the kitchen.  :o)  The most unplanned but loved work happened here for sure!  Gone is the hideous 1990s wallpaper, replaced with a clean slate painting of a light grey to compliment the existing white woodwork.   Swapped out all the hardware for cool bronze stuff and painted base cabinets beautiful blue/grey tone.

Gone are the upper cabinets that came down to 8 inches above counter top, leaving NO useable counter space.  My dad did some excellent carpentry and left the top row of uppers and then installed some great open shelves (which are actually $10 pine stair treads from menards!) 

I admit, I loved my sink faucet at ashford so much, I "moved" it with me :o)  Don't you think it looks great?

Dad also kindly installed all the new appliances I got at Lowes on black Friday :o)  This drawer dishwasher is THE bomb, works very well for my small family and small space.   While I am still getting used to a gas range/oven (convection no less!), I'm enjoying cooking at home again. 

Let me just pause here for a minute to admire some more of my dad's awesome handiwork.  I should have taken a picture under the sink as it was a disaster of drainwork what-not-to-do before.  He worked his magic and I now have dishwasher/garbage disposal/drains all fixed with a sweet little switch on top of sink to power disposal!  He also salvaged the little remaining space to the left to house pans and a small drawer for spatulas!  I'm behind in the finish work here as I need some touch up paint on drawer and trim work.  This doesn't detract from the fact that my dad is a freakin genius at DIY and my HERO!

And last but not least?  My glorious basement master bedroom with ensuite bath AND laundry room AND work out room AND shoe closet ;o)

Adam hates me for this project, and I hate myself a little bit after way too many hours spent in the plumbing section of multiple home improvement stores.  I got ambitious and decided the basement bath needed an update to install a flat quartz countertop (mostly, so I could put my antique hutch on top).  Much swearing and 2 weekends/5+ menards trips later, the plumbing underneath is all reconnected and working great!

Adam also built me this great open closet space across from my laundry area.  There is no need to even throw it in the basket!

HOORAY, i still have a FUNGEON workout room! LOL Probably can't use the fact that I'm working on projects anymore as excuse for why I'm not working out?

I love how my jewelry organizer setup worked out.  Very pretty and girly :o)

And of course, the best project???  I devoted 1 of my kitchen counters to being a BEVERAGE station!  Coffee and tea abounds, I'm in heaven!!

There are much bigger projects on the horizon, but I'm taking a short interlude as I wait for the Ashford home to sell.  Then it will be time to hit the attic space for DIY master suite creation, tear down my 1 stall garage and build a 2 stall, and revamp the entire yard into a cottage garden.  I'm sure I'll have all that done by June (2020?)   Don't worry, I'll be sure to post when they happen, stay tuned!