So excited!!!!!

Today I got a phone call from one of the anaesthetists who works for the gastros that I type for (and for whom I still don't have a contract!!!! grrrrrrrrr but I'll sort that out later). He also does dermatology private practice as well and asked if I could do his typing for him!!!! This is my first "real" client that I have had approach me. Apparently he got some good feedback from the doctors I type for now so gave me a call. I must say I'm a little unprepared because although the intention was to always start getting new clients I had not thought they would come to me but that I'd have to go looking for them when I was ready to!!! lol Oh well thanks to the Big Guy upstairs for fixing my small procrastination issue!!!!

The big bonus too is that they don't know a lot about computers and also have some personal networking issues at home they need help with and I was able to recommend my lovely Dougie who is a genius with computers and networking and all that stuff but unfortunately doesn't have any paper qualifications to show what he can do so it is almost impossible for him to get a job doing what he enjoys so much and is so good at. To be honest it would be nice if we were able to help out a few people and he could get some word of mouth advertising for what he can do because right now he does lots of stuff for people at work but all he usually gets with regard to payment is "what do you drink?" and I think I've mentioned before that while it's nice to receive a good bottle of red, it doesn't help pay the bills!!!

So now I have to do some really quick research today and put together an IT plan for them as to how I can make it all work plus a pricing schedule as well. It's not a lot of work but it's still work and he's a very well known doctor as well so maybe if he's happy with the service he'll tell other doctors.

Cass is at the shop today, working on a class sample for a Mother's Day class. It's the first time she's had to do the whole "get everybody ready for school and kindy as well as herself" routine in I don't know how long. I can absolutely say I wouldn't trade working in an office again for anything!!!! I did it for years with Blayd and Lachie and then when I had James luckily I found my typing work which had fairly good hours even though it was at someone else's home. Now I work from home I can't even put a price on being physically here all day - it's little things like the load of washing I can throw on in between jobs, or the quick bathroom swish and swipe, or the fifteen minutes of decluttering or picking up here and there when I can. I am in awe of you girls who get up every day, get everybody and yourself ready, do the taxi service, try to fit in some housework in the mornings and THEN have to go to a job. Honestly you girls are just amazing and it must take a helluvalotta organisation to be able to do it, or you've learned to accept a lesser degree of tidiness at home. I know that's what I used to do - just accept that the house would never be as tidy as before and that I'd never be completely caught up on any of the chores. Ha ha I can laugh because even though I'm at home, with four kids I'm still never caught up on the chores and my house still isn't as clean as I'd like!!!! Mind you it's beautifully tidy for a couple of pristine hours before they all get home from school!!! Maybe there's a layout there - before and about an hour after they get home!!!! I will give a big shout out to you girls who do the whole SAHM thing too because the trade off is more often than not that you have to do virtually EVERYTHING at home if your other half goes out and works, or at least that was the impression I got when it came up on Scrapbook City the other day. It's funny, Cass bought a great book called "Wifework" and it talks about how all the feminism in the world hasn't really changed things that much for women. Women still do most of the housework, kid and baby wranging, shopping, the "emotional work" of caring for everybody and organising a household so everything runs smoothly and that's regardless of whether a woman works out of the home, for how many hours, or even if she stays at home and her partner works. I know there are some girls who have those more traditional values and are happy to shoulder the load at home while their partners work which is fine but I know that sometimes working away from home can be easier than being at home looking after a house and kids. I've done it all kinds of ways myself, from working full time, to part time, to working at home like I do now to being a full time mum and not working an actual "job" (crickey that sounds bad I'm trying not to make it sound like being a mum full time isn't as hard as working - I swear I know most of the time it's harder!!!!). It would be nice to see all those things shared more equally iykwim? I can talk though cos I think I have one of the best examples of "the perfect husband" that you are ever gonna find! He's the one who works a full time job and when he gets home he insists on helping out, whether it's with doing laundry, looking after kids, the kindy pick ups and drop offs, making dinner, you name it Dougie does it, with a smile on his face and without the least hint of feeling put upon. All because his Dad was exactly the same, worked a full time job and shared all the house stuff with his wife when he got home. And his father did it too - almost unheard of a working class suburb in Scotland in the forties and fifties. Isn't it funny how upbringing shapes a man? I hope now that my kids see Doug doing so much around the house that used to be and sometimes still is classified as "women's work" that they will consider it the norm, not the exception to do the same when they grow up. I've tried to instill in my sons that a man who will don an apron and wield a toilet brush is worth his weight in gold to a girl. It's also partly a survival thing too - I figure if I teach them to cook for themselves AND be able to clean up after then there's less chance they'll accidentally kill themselves with food poisoning when they move out of home!!!!

Have a lovely day