Tackling Life

Disclaimer: This is another one of those soul seeking posts. Not sure where it's headed...

I was reading the little local paper this morning and saw a job ad that caught my eye. With Aaron going to Young Fives every afternoon, I will have a few free hours each day to fill. As finances are so far down in the dumps at the moment, I am constantly trying to figure out ways to increase our income, even within the limited time frame I have available.

I USED to be a teacher. I taught music in the public schools for six years. I was good at it...sort of. Content teaching and classroom management were always strengths for me, as well as putting together AWESOME programs for large numbers of kids. But I was also a very temperamental teacher, and got frustrated with misbehavior way too easily. So when my teaching license expired, and I didn't have the money to return to school to earn the required credits to continue, it was a mixed blessing. School teaching just wasn't for me.

Had I known this when I went to college, I may have selected another route to study, but I'm not sure. Music is the only thing I have ever been good at. I have no other talent in any other area, which made music seem like the only choice when I was 17 and trying to escape my life and running away to college.

Which brings us to the present. I have been working for churches ever since college, with my current position being pretty extensive, directing three ensembles and filling in as organist/ pianist several times a year. I also teach piano in the evenings, which doesn't bring in piles of cash, but it makes it so I don't have to pay a babysitter the same amount I would be making at a job in this area. Steve just got a raise, but we still aren't making it. Our problem is not debt...we have no credit cards and we are not spenders. But our income just doesn't cover our monthly expenditures, no matter how hard we try to stretch. It's starting to take a toll on everyone in our house.

And then Hubby came home yesterday and announces that his truck (that incidentally was generously GIVEN to us by a family member a few years ago) is no longer functional. So now, on top of the regular expenses, we are also facing the challenge of once again trying to live as a one car family.

I was offered a choir director position a couple of weeks ago, but the schedule would have been impossible with church commitments, and it wouldn't be any MORE money, just replacing one job with another. Not really a smart move.

So back to the newspaper.

I saw an ad for a position that I could probably fit into our schedule. It would play to the strengths I have, and also is related to my former teaching field.

The problem:

I have to write a cover letter and resume. I haven't had one in almost a decade and I don't know quite how to sell myself anymore. I used to be so confident in my abilities and strengths. But it seems that over the last few years, my strengths seem to be further away and it seems harder to find them. How do I sell myself on paper when I can't even sell myself TO myself.

So, among dealing with Aaron throwing fits about everything and making messes in everything, Noah battling what I think may be Fifth Disease, trying to find a couple more hundred dollars to pay the August mortgage and the never ending task of cleaning the house again, I need to figure out a time to make myself look awesome on paper.

So that is what I will be tackling today.

Wish Me Luck!!!