So, we had a baby.
He’s awesome, but oh boy did the gardens suffer. We’re down to bare minimum yard maintenance, doing only what’s absolutely necessary to keep the Homeowners Association* from writing us letters under some Adams Family Clause we missed in the by-laws. I’m sure if they didn’t see us out chasing Zane on his bike, the neighbors would think our house is abandoned.
Somehow we went from folks who thought they had no time, to actually not having any spare time. Last year we had more time then money. Time to garden, chop wood, make stuff. Now we’ve got more money, but no time. (And by more money, we’re not talking lottery winnings here. We’re still scraping the bottom of the peanut butter jar, but now it’s less compulsory.) It is the freelancer’s curse.
What would a normal couple do when they finally found themselves reasonably comfortable but with slightly less free time then they’d like? Probably not what we did. I left my top-secret government job - the one with the steady paycheck, gobs of paid vacation time and sick days, oh and HEALTH INSURANCE. That one. I left it.
Granted it was getting in the way of all my fun. Now I can do things like clean the house, work on the gardens, read books. And I can take on more freelance work! Yes, I have joined the ranks of the scantily employed.
So far it’s going well. I've got some clients, I’m networking and handing out my card like a crazy person, and I even have a website that’s 3/4ths finished. Go me!
If your life is feeling a bit stale, I highly recommend ditching all steady pay and benefits in favor of an exciting and terrifying life of adventure as a freelance graphic designer and photographer. It’s like being a pirate, only less boats and water and more legal.
Other things that have happened in the last two months: Kismet went to the giant meat castle in the sky, and I had a baby.
Poor Kismet. She developed a bump on her face which turned out to be cancer. It sucked. (It also sucked that we found out after we had the invisible fence put in.) The week before Ferris was born we said our goodbyes and sent her to a better place were she can eat out of the litterbox whenever she likes, roll in a large variety of dead things, and get on any couch she sees.
Then I had this critter.
He’s
awesome, did I mention that? Labor sucked, I accidentally had a
natural birth. I may fill you in on that later, but the short version
is: Don’t Go Into Labor Unprepared. (Like the Boy Scout motto, only with more ick and lady parts.)
That’s what we’ve been up to since February. I can’t wait to see what trouble we manage to get ourselves into in the next six months.
* Actually our Homeowners Association is a group of really lovely people, and we’ve never heard boo from them except when it’s time to vote for the new board members. And they take care of the neighborhood playground which is one of our favorite hangouts these days.
 |
| Ferris Alistair Bedell |
He’s awesome, but oh boy did the gardens suffer. We’re down to bare minimum yard maintenance, doing only what’s absolutely necessary to keep the Homeowners Association* from writing us letters under some Adams Family Clause we missed in the by-laws. I’m sure if they didn’t see us out chasing Zane on his bike, the neighbors would think our house is abandoned.
 |
| Gardens by Lurch (Yes, this is actually my yard.) |
 |
| Zoom. |
Somehow we went from folks who thought they had no time, to actually not having any spare time. Last year we had more time then money. Time to garden, chop wood, make stuff. Now we’ve got more money, but no time. (And by more money, we’re not talking lottery winnings here. We’re still scraping the bottom of the peanut butter jar, but now it’s less compulsory.) It is the freelancer’s curse.
What would a normal couple do when they finally found themselves reasonably comfortable but with slightly less free time then they’d like? Probably not what we did. I left my top-secret government job - the one with the steady paycheck, gobs of paid vacation time and sick days, oh and HEALTH INSURANCE. That one. I left it.
Granted it was getting in the way of all my fun. Now I can do things like clean the house, work on the gardens, read books. And I can take on more freelance work! Yes, I have joined the ranks of the scantily employed.
So far it’s going well. I've got some clients, I’m networking and handing out my card like a crazy person, and I even have a website that’s 3/4ths finished. Go me!
If your life is feeling a bit stale, I highly recommend ditching all steady pay and benefits in favor of an exciting and terrifying life of adventure as a freelance graphic designer and photographer. It’s like being a pirate, only less boats and water and more legal.
Other things that have happened in the last two months: Kismet went to the giant meat castle in the sky, and I had a baby.
Poor Kismet. She developed a bump on her face which turned out to be cancer. It sucked. (It also sucked that we found out after we had the invisible fence put in.) The week before Ferris was born we said our goodbyes and sent her to a better place were she can eat out of the litterbox whenever she likes, roll in a large variety of dead things, and get on any couch she sees.
 |
| Kismet - Putting the Funk on the Rainbow Bridge |
 |
| Mr. Awesome Baby |
That’s what we’ve been up to since February. I can’t wait to see what trouble we manage to get ourselves into in the next six months.
* Actually our Homeowners Association is a group of really lovely people, and we’ve never heard boo from them except when it’s time to vote for the new board members. And they take care of the neighborhood playground which is one of our favorite hangouts these days.