Happiness and Powerpoint?!

According to Forbes.com, I live in the richest county in the US -- Loudoun County, Virginia (population: 277,433; median household income: $110,643.00). Ooooh.... big deal, eh?

Not really. More like the opposite. All the research done over the years on money and happines showed that while money is a factor when it comes to happiness, it is also a factor when it comes to unhappiness... Funny how that works.

To make more you have to work more. More hours away from home and family. More hours on the phone with people you don't care about. More hours wasted on commute. More hours staring at the computer screen, stressing about deadlines, agonizing over office politics, or worrying about job safety - you get my point. Gradually, your job becomes your life vs. an earned paycheck, and the tiny bit of time you actually do spend with your family becomes more of a facade and a check box (I did it!) vs. being an essential part of your life.

People think I am a natural workaholic because I like to work and I work a lot. The truth is, I am not... I am just responsible and laser-focused on getting stuff done, and I want to get it all done between the hours of 9 and 5. I can't work after 5 because I have a child who needs me. I don't want to work after 5 because I want to relax, have a glass of wine, flip through magazines, and make a delicious dinner for the people I love. I also love to read... I need books in my life... Sometimes I go months without reading for pleasure and it starts to slowly suffocate me. I also love to write, and I really haven't been blogging as much as I would like to. I also love photography.... and gardening, cooking, travelling, and spending time with my son and helping him overcome obstacles one little step at a time.

Life is too short to spend all of it on power point presentations. So, do I work after 5pm? No, I don't. But I do get back on my computer at 8pm, when my son goes to bed, and work for hours until I can no longer keep my eyes open.

Does living in the richest county in the US make me proud? Hell no -- it makes me question why we live here. It makes me want to move as the pressure of having to work more hours will continue to rise.

When it snows, it blizzards.

You think I'm talking about the 75 inches of snow that we got in Northern Virginia in the last few weeks? Well, while it certainly has something to do with the post, it isn't the main reason for it, so keep on reading.

2010 came into my life with a blizzard of changes:

1. January 11, 2010: Will's new nanny start date. As you can imagine, a new caregiver for your kid means LOTS of changes and adjustments, even if the nanny is good (which she is).

2. January 13, 2010: I got laid off from AOL. In the 10 years of my professional career, I got laid off for the first time ever, after having worked for AOL for almost 6 years. I didn't see it coming, but came and hit me in the face.

3. Losing my job would not have been as traumatic if it hadn't been for the Autism Insurance benefit that Time Warner/AOL started to provide last January. Since only a handful of companies in the US offer Autism Insurance, being laid off from AOL also meant that Will's daily ABA therapy would have to be discontinued -- there is just no way I can afford to pay $3,200 per month to cover the cost of the therapy. So after some back and forth with the AOL HR and COBRA people, I got really great news that AOL COBRA actually covers the Autism benefit for the maximum of 15 months! Moreover, since I got laid off, it would only cost me $288 per month to have medical insurance for both of us, Autism benefits included. You can imagine how happy I am about that.

4. January 27, 2010: My first day at a small business company as a director of client services. Basically, I got a new job 2 weeks after getting laid off from AOL, and now I work exclusively from home. It's a big change from working for large corporations during the last 8 years of my career... Although it's been super stressful and insanely fast-paced, I have to give it more time for things to sink in and for me to adjust to a different work style before I can decide if it's the right fit for me long-term.

5. February 1 - 11, 2010: two blizzards in a row (now I am talking about the snow).. record snow fall since 1800s? A $600 investment into a monster snow blower? Are you kidding me? Now couple THAT with closed schools, canceled therapy, nanny unable to drive due to the snow and yours truly still having to do work because I work from home. Yeah, I am complaining.

6. Last but not least, I met someone special a few months ago, who has become a big part of my life in a very short amount of time. It feels wonderful, exciting, scary, overwhelming, different, too good to be true, and really confusing all at the same time. Makes sense, right? :-) Either way, I would not change one thing and I hope for the best.

Life is truly an amazing and unpredictable thing no matter how you look at it. And it's true -- if it doesn't break you, it makes you stronger. So here's to being strong!

First Day of Snow

First Day of Snow
Originally uploaded by marina.tuttle

I hope my rose bushes survive the heavy snow and ice we got yesterday. Some of the branches were completely frozen and stuck to the ground, and a few of them weren't able to handle the weight of the ice and broke. Boo hoo. :-(