3 years...

I just realized it has been three years since I quit my office job and took a leap of faith into full-time photography. I'm often asked, "How do you know when you're ready to quit?" I knew when I had no other choice. I was working two full-time jobs and life was so crazy I wanted to rip my hair out every day. I was working at the office all day and then editing photos until 3 am only to have to wake up at 6 am and start all over again. Owen was going into Kindergarten and I had no idea how the school year was going to work and how we were going to get him to the bus stop and back.

I decided to take a 12 week leave of absence in August of 2007 knowing that if we couldn't make it work I would still have a job to come back to. Halfway into the leave, there was just no way I could go back. I was able to walk Owen to the bus and be there when he got home, sometimes with a fresh batch of cookies. I loved being that work from home mom and don't regret it for a second. I truly believe God had this all planned out for me and things were just meant to be.

Now that I am as swamped as I am and feel like I want to rip my hair out yet again, I am reminded that I made this choice and how happy it has made me. Maybe it's the constant lack of sleep that has me all woozy and reminiscent but one of my goals is to get back to a single tasking lifestyle. In this hectic multi-tasking world where we are used to doing two or three things at once, I am going to work on giving each thing my undivided attention. This couldn't be more true with my children. We have a few more days left of summer vacation before I hand them over to their teachers for the year. Since I work most weekends, I am really feeling the loss here. I just feel like things are going to change so much and change is always scary. I would love to hear from other moms that are tearfully sending their little ones off to school next week! Maybe we should start a support group?