On Why I’ve Been MIA

Well, it has been…awhile. The last time I blogged, I was getting ready to start a new job at a law firm. I was excited to be out of education, to try something new. But things didn’t turn out how I thought they would.

If you were following my blog last year, you know that I taught, and you know that I was incredibly frustrated with education. I was tired of the extra hours I put in, I was tired of the low pay, I was tired of the poor working conditions, and I was tired of the disrespect from politicians, parents, and students. So when my husband accepted a position in another state, I decided it was the perfect time to change professions.

It took awhile, but I finally accepted a position with a law firm. This was perfect because before I decided to go into education, I had considered law. I thought I would love this job. I could leave my work at work, it would be challenging, and it would be different. I thought I would be happy.

But I hated it. I hated sitting at a desk and looking at a computer all day. I hated my boss (more on that later—it’s actually all ridiculous). I hated the work. And all of this bled into my every day life.

During the duration of my employment (September to January), I didn’t read a single book (and since I ran a book blog, I wasn’t blogging either). I know that might seem trivial, but for me, it was a big red flag. Simply put, when I’m happy, I read. When I’m not, I don’t. And for comparison, when I taught, I read every day. The last time I didn’t read regularly was in grad school, and that was simply because I didn’t have the time.

But it wasn’t just that. I didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to hike, go to the beach, go to events. I drank more than I usually did. Nothing crazy, but I definitely had a glass of wine more often than I used to. And I complained. A lot. Ultimately, this all blew up in early January when my husband confronted me about how much I complained, something that never happened when I taught.

So I quit my job. Because ultimately, this wasn’t worth my marriage or my happiness. Luckily, I had a backup plan. Literally within a month of working at this firm, I had another job lined up as a visiting teacher for one of the school district. Really, this is just a fancy term for a sub, but it was a process because in order to be a sub, I had to have my full credentials (the district hires its permanent teachers from the sub pool).

Simply put, I know I was MIA for awhile, so I wanted to explain why. Here’s to reading and blogging again. Let me know if you’ve gone through a long term “slump” like this in the comments below :).