A good place to be

I was chatting with the Baby Whisperer yesterday about random nothings and in true Allison fashion, I got on a tangent. Luckily the Baby Whisperer either likes my tangents or she also gets on tangents herself because she came right along with me on this ride.  I was telling her about the music class, which led into a discussion about preschool, which led into a conversation about where I am in my life. You can see how that would naturally flow, right? Lol. Let me try to explain a little.

The music class is offered weekday mornings at either 9:30am, 10:30am or 11:30am - at the same time lots of the neighborhood kids will be in preschool.  Several are attending Hawthorne Lane, which starts next week and means they'll be at school M-F from 9:00am - 1pm and not able to do music class. One mom, the leader of the Chantilly MeetUp group, is trying to see if Music Together would consider doing a 4pm weekday class so these little guys can join in the fun.  As I've said before, there are 1 million kids in our neighborhood now. And they all seem to be the perfect Music Together age, or at least the majority of them. Coincidentally they are all starting preschool next week (aside from Eloise - discussion on this in a pinch) and so honestly, I believe that Chantilly alone could fill a Music Together class, no problem. Probably a few Music Together classes so hopefully the teachers will consider the late day option.

Tangent continues........so the same Chantilly MeetUp mom who is organizing the 4pm class is now also starting a new career. Wow. She was telling me all about it...she's going to be a preschool teacher at where?? Hawthorne Lane of course.  She's 30 years old (I'm truly an old hen around these parts) and she's always wanted to do something like this so with her son at preschool age, it really seems like the perfect time to give it a whirl. I think that's really cool!  She clearly loves kids. She's amazing at organizing really fun activities for our group as it's not uncommon for Eloise and I to now have 2-3 outings a week thanks to all of her hard work.  Oh and a fun plus....she's really nice! Like we'd be friends if we didn't have kids kind of nice.

Tangent continues.....so it dawns on me as I'm running through this story (while I'm cleaning the house and the Baby Whisperer is making the Monkey a grilled cheese)....I'm in a really good place right now.  I'm 35. I have no desire to expand upon my career further than I am.  And I don't want to find a new one. I climbed that corporate ladder. I topped myself off (which wasn't very high but I'm A-OK with that). I got great experience along the way and I'm pleased as punch with where I am.  I love PR. I could do it full-time some day if I wanted and I have no aspirations to figure out what I want to do when I "grow up". I've figured it out. And for the time being, I love nothing more than being at home with the Monkey and contributing the very little that I do to the public relations field each week.  There you have it. I'm in a good place.  So I thought I'd share.  I think it's pretty rare to find myself in a place where I don't feel like I need to have more, do more, dream bigger, reach higher. But as far as my career goes and being a full-time Mom, I'm in a good place.  A really good place.

Of course, there are lots of "good places" I'd like to be right now so this is just one of them. I'd also like to be antique shopping (my new hankering), at a wine bar, enjoying a cup of joe with my besties, or maybe even on a family vacation but for now, I feel really good about finding my little place that happens to be a good one.  What a cool feeling. I've never really had this before and I feel proud of it.

Does this sound ridiculous? Probably.  But in general, I'm pretty hard on myself. I'm one of those "you're your own worse enemy" types. So to have come to this realization feels so totally grown up to me.  It's like when you were in a job interview and they say, "where do you picture yourself 5 years from now? Or 1 or 2 or 3 years?"  I always hated that question. What's the "right" answer (i.e., "what does this hiring manager want to hear" would always run through my head).  But now I really feel like I have a solid answer that I truly believe in.  In 1, 2, 3 even 5 years from now, I hope to be doing exactly what I'm doing right now. (with maybe another baby in the mix....did Mike just read that?? Lol.)  I want to be with my kids and I want to dabble with some PR from time to time. I don't want a commute. I don't want a big corporate job with lots of responsibilites. I don't want some fancy title that may sound good but in all honestly, is a daily headache that keeps me from my family. I want my responsibilites to include.....is there whole milk in the refridgerator?  Is the Monkey nearing a tripping zone that will surely cut open a lip?  Is there a foreign object in her mouth? Is she eating enough?

So there you have it.  I've shared with you my "good" place.  I, Allison Vail, am in a good place. And I'm proud to realize it and I'm proud to say it. Friday's updates coming later today (after I visit some of the other "not so good" places on my to-do list....i.e. grocery store, post office and UPS store.)