About Me
I would say I’m your typical frazzled mom of three. Often late or cutting it super close, running on fumes and coca cola, and perpetually battling the hydra of to-do lists. When I recently became a stay at home mom, I was actually surprised that instead of gaining tons of time to clean and prettify my house pinterest-style, my calendar started to fill up and it took a concerted effort just to keep up with the daily basics let alone add any additional projects to my plate. It took some serious getting used to when my new house didn’t come together right away (still hasn’t really) but I believe I’ve come to terms with it enough to accept it; for now anyway, after all I do have a toddler and all mothers know that they are the destroyers of order and nice things.
My addictions include craft supplies, makeup, new recipes, office supplies, independent learning, and the acquisition of projects ideas in any and all of the mentioned areas. I actually have to avoid pinterest because after the initial euphoria of possibility wears off, the crashing low of reality can be harsh. 1.2k pins was my breaking point lol.
About Winging it Chronicles
To put it very simply, Winging it Chronicles was created to document a midlife crisis.
In September of 2014, I turned 37. That’s maybe a bit on the young side to have a midlife crisis but it had actually been well into motion by 35, 37 was just when it all came to a head.
Milestone-wise, I was in a great place. Finally married (to my soulmate no less), finally a home-owner, and working mother of 3 still somehow holding it all together. But emotionally, I was shattered. I was making what I thought was decent money, but I loathed my job. And not because it was a terrible place to work (although the necessity to work overtime to meet deadlines was excessive at best, my husband was not a fan), but because I’ve never had a job I was passionate about in my entire 20 year career. Two decades of essentially shuffling papers from one side of a desk to another is enough to squash any soul.
On top of the general misery of it all, leaving my children behind all day in order to go to work was becoming increasingly intolerable with each new child. At one point, my husband had to start working nights which robbed me of what little time I could spend with him as well. That was my emotional breaking point because we’re one of those odd couples that are extremely attached to one another and genuinely hate being apart.
Each new day became more agonizing than the last. I spent a lot of time dissolving into tears when the kids weren’t looking, and my depression was so intense that my husband began to blame and doubt himself, finally falling into depression as well. Then one day out of the blue, we received a postcard about a job opportunity for my husband that could potentially be game changing for us financially.
Game changing it was most definitely, but not in a way we expected. While we were both pulling in a nice bit of coin, it was cancelled out by the daycare bill. No longer being able to choose his hours to save money on daycare, he was gone all the same days I worked and then some. Which ended up very nearly offsetting my income entirely. I was taking home less than minimum wage for a job that kept me away from home 45+ hours a week, and wreaked havoc on my nerves with the relentless pressure of deadlines and HQ shenanigans.
Once this realization took hold, the next logical step was to quit my job. Once that seed took root in my head, it was hard to shake but I couldn’t get over the fear of actually going through with it and having it blow up in my face. But sometimes fate steps in, in the guise of an unpleasant meeting at work that pushed me right over the edge. That night we pooled our resources and moral support, 2 months later I put in notice and the misery finally ended 1 month after that.
I took a few weeks off to enjoy my new freedom and to become acclimated to actually being home. Then I began really working on the business I had begun to create in early 2014 in earnest. Right as I was on the verge of going live with it, we were hit with a couple setbacks that left us reeling and floundering. We managed to hold it together long enough to get through it but no sooner did the dust settle from those catastrophes, a wholly different one blindsided us. One that required me to put my business plans on hold, and personally give my undivided attention. I do not want to go into it more than that, but I will say that being home has been PARAMOUNT to dealing with and resolving the situation.
At this time of this writing, while still not completely resolved, we’ve finally been able to fall into a somewhat predictable routine that is slowly allowing me to shift some focus back to the home business. Though the original goal was to be fully operational by Summer 2015, life happened and we’re rolling with it. And while this blog began as a way to cope with and escape my midlife crisis, it quickly evolved into documenting my journey to entrepreneurship. Not only for myself, but to build something that will grow so I can rescue my husband from his own passionless employment misery as well.
It has been a bumpy ride so far with many more twists and turns in store I’m sure, but I am far from discouraged or defeated. I’ve got a long way to go still and I hope that one day I can use what I have and will learn along the way, to help others embarking on similar journeys. In the meantime, I hope that you will come along for the ride!
