Gratitude Day #1: My Job Edition

In an effort to pull myself up by my bootstraps, I am going to embark on a 30-day Gratitude Journey. Each day I'll write about something in my life that makes me happy and thankful.

I am grateful for my job.

Being a landscape designer allows me to live the way I am happiest living. I am so lucky to be able to work from my home, part-time.

This job's flexibility allows me to be present for Theo and Ben in ways that I wouldn't be if I was doing something else. I am here for my kids before school and after school, can take them to appointments, can volunteer in their classrooms, can allow them to take sick days, and can accomodate 90% of their needs without batting an eye and without worrying about my job security. Even though I work a lot during the summer, I can pick them up in the middle of the day and take them places, I can take a day off each week, and I can usually deal with the unexpected things in their lives.

Because most of my work is done locally, I feel comfortable knowing that if there is an emergency I am always only ten minutes from them.

This job has given my kids and me a feeling of security and togetherness that has been priceless.

I am grateful to have found employers who value my parenting, and would never ask me to compromise it. They are extrememly supportive and that is so rare!

I am also grateful to work in a field that requires creativity, mathematical precision, intuition, environmental awareness, people skills, marital counseling skills (aka Designing for the Sexes)physical activity, and love of the outdoors. It is always a challenge, and nothing feels better than solving someone's dilemma in a way they never dreamed possible. I am never bored with this.

I am also so happy to frequently find myself in the position of educating people about ecology, energy, water usage, horticulture...on and on. I love to open peoples' eyes to the incredible opportunity they have to make a difference to their lives by how they use their yards.

I am so grateful for this job.

I know that the luxury of working like this probably won't last forever, and that makes me even more grateful for the window of time I've been given.

Thank you, job, thank you!