The End of My Life as a Work at Home Mom
Recently, I went on my first job interview in over 2 years. I had applied for a position with Montgomery County Public Schools, a district I had worked for as a middle-school English teacher 5 years ago. When I left the interview, I thought for sure I had bombed it. Not only did I have to write my first official lesson plan in over 3 years, but I also had to answer a set of questions with only 30 minutes to do so. Needless to say, I left the interview embarrassed and longing to run home to my kids and play trains.
Well, as it turns out, the panel picked me. I still am not completely certain why. I guess after taking a slight detour from my career in education, it turns out working in the web industry simply gave me more options to expand my life's goals. The experiences I've gained over the last 3 years have been invaluable, and I cannot wait to see how I can apply all of my knowledge of the web to my first passion, teaching. I always knew I would get back there, but I just wasn't sure how I would do it. Turns out I did know deep down; it can't be a complete fluke that I was hired to be the Instructional Specialist for e-Learning.
I am excited to see how I can help MCPS expand what is already a successful e-Learning program. I hope the faith my new colleagues have place in me will not only help me be successful in this new role but also serve the needs of the children I will touch with my work.
Posted by Jen on 07/29 at 08:22 AM
jQuery and Web Video
Recently I was tasked by my fearless leader (boss), Ian, with forcing a Flash video to play within a jQuery lightbox. Needless to say, something that was supposed to be easy was not. Though I finally got the video to play nice with the lightbox, Ian introduced me to another tidy little plugin, jQuery Media Plugin.
This little plugin can dynamically create a variety of media, from Flash video to MP3 and embed it into a web page. Now if I could only get it to play nicely with lightbox plugin, sigh... I guess I know what I'll be working on this weekend.
Posted by Jen on 04/10 at 08:04 AM
The Quest Continues
Four applications - that's how many I've put out this week. That's two more than last week.
I'm not certain why I'm on this quest to find a full-time job. I have a really great gig with my current situation: part-time with Pitney Bowes and all the freelance work I can handle with Grace Communications. I get to be at home with my kids, and they don't have to spend all day in child care, although I do love my son's school, The Learning Bee.
But I am struggling to maintain my independence and mental stimulation working at home. I long to work in a collaborative environment, where I can apply my knowledge and skills. Being a working and stay-at-home mom certainly requires knowledge and skill; it's not everyone that has to find my son's rubber fish, diaper the baby and hack their CSS for IE6 simultaneously.
Everyone says enjoy these years, and I am, to a degree. I also want to enjoy myself and get back to my career. It is a well-established fact that I am a mom, and I think a good one. But I have only begun to realize my potential in the design industry. And I am chomping at the bit to get back to it completely.
Posted by Jen on 04/01 at 08:51 AM
Because I Have the Time
So for some reason today I got up the motivation to add something new to my Experiments - blogging.
Truthfully, I don't feel I have all that much to say, but at some point I hope that I do.
I don't mean to downgrade my work for my current employer or my other job, full-time momma. But I'm sort of in a holding pattern of life. I've got one foot in the work world and my whole body, soul and mind in the mom world, which sometimes can lead to a bit of the doldrums.
My desire to keep connected to the outside world has manifested itself into an addiction - my Twitter account. Right now, my following is a mere 68, right on the cusp of my most favorite number (he, he 69).
So I figure all of the information that is streaming into me daily might actually find its way into this blog or at least into my brain. My writing about what I am learning as web designer and momma might actually do someone else some good. Time will tell.
Posted by Jen on 03/04 at 10:15 AM