Life is good...

Hard to believe that it has been over a month since I last blogged. I can't believe that the entire month of May has gone by and I haven't posted a single thing. Well, life has been busy, to say the least. Sorry for the inconsistency.

That's for those of you who are keeping score. I know you're out there.

How life has changed since that last post. The biggest change since then is that Dave and I have decided that I will not go back to teaching next year. Instead, I will stay home with Sparky during the days and attend classes at UMSL towards my master's in Counseling and Family Therapy during the evenings. When it came down to the few days I had to go back to work this school year, I just knew that I didn't want to go. So, we sat down and looked at our budget:

If you take the cost of daycare
+ Gas for me to drive to & from work
+ The money we'd save by selling my car
+ A few other ways to save here and there
= Breaking even.

It ended up being way more worth it for me to stay home and take care of our son instead of working full time.

However, it ended up being a rather bittersweet decision. As thrilled as I am at the prospect of being able to stay home with Sparky and accelerate my degree program, I was very sad to leave my job. The teaching position that I've held for the last two years has been the most fulfilling job that I've ever had. In addition to truly loving what I teach, I've had more fun with my co-workers than any other teaching position that I've ever held. They are truly dedicated to their jobs and I look up to each and every one of them as people who go the extra mile for their students. Our daily lunch conversations are freakin' hilarious and I will miss them. Luckily, I will have the opportunity to substitute teach and I know that I will make the effort to stay in touch with all of them. I sincerely hope that we don't lose touch.

It is weird to be on "summer vacation" while knowing that I don't have to go back to work this fall. Last summer was the first summer that I haven't worked full time at the pools as a lifeguard or manager since I was 16. This summer I'm not even helping to fill in.

If you would've told me two years ago that I would be taking time off working to stay home with a baby, I would've looked at you like you were crazy. And while I have loved every minute of my life up until this point, I wouldn't change a single thing.

As the title of this post says... Life is good. :o)

Edit: I just noticed that I ended my last post with the same three words. I guess it must be true.