Extremely loud and incredibly close

I realize it's been ages since I've written a blog. That's because the point in me writing this blog in the first place was so that I could keep a record of what I was thinking/feeling/experiencing while I was traveling as an LC. Now that I'm finished with that I've stopped writing. I've decided that I am going to start writing again and share my experiences about my next chapter in life.

Last week I accepted a job as a full-time live-in nanny in the The Woodlands, Texas that starts July 1st. The Woodlands is a really nice part of Texas like 30 minutes outside of Houston. I am very excited about this and very nervous also. I am nervous because I am going to be living with a family that's not mine for the next year (maybe more). I am going to be the outsider trying to fit in. I'm nervous about little things like what it's going to be like at dinner time (will I eat with them, will I eat on my own, what kind of foods do they eat, will I need to start eating meat again, will I still be able to eat healthy?), what it's going to be like in the evenings when I'm off (does the gym in the area have the classes I like to take, if I stay in and hang out at the house will I need to stay in my wing of the house or will the family and I get along well enough for me to hang out with them some, will they be offended if I spend time alone in my room?).

Also, the family is British and has only lived in America for two years. This is exciting for me and a little scary. They do things differently than Americans do and they also treat/view their nannies differently than Americans do. Americans tend to offer more benefits/take care of their nannies a bit more and treat them like a part of the family while Europeans tend to view it more as a service to the family like a housekeeper. This is just what I've observed from talking to families in Europe when I was thinking of being an Au Pair and from interviewing with families in America. I am excited that they're not American because Europeans seem to have higher standards for their children. This excites me because the children are much more well behaved than most American children and also because their parenting style is different than what I'm used to and I LOVE to observe different parenting styles. I feel like the more parenting styles I observe and learn from before I have kids, the better chance I have at being a great mom when the time comes. Hopefully that proves to be right.

I guess the only things I'm nervous about are living with another family (I like them so far and think I'm going to like it, but there's no way of knowing for sure until I move in) and whether or not I'm going to be able to afford all that I need to based on what they're paying me. I broke down what all of my expenses are each month and what my pay is going to be and it looks like I'm going to have about $40 spending money each week. That's not really a lot. I could easily going out with friends for dinner and drinks one night and spend that, so I guess I'll have to be careful not to, or at least not to do it often. I'm trying to seriously save money so that I can get a new car in October. Mine broke again yesterday. The car runs just fine (no engine problems or anything like that) it's just crazy little things that keep breaking. One of the bolts that holds my front tire to the axle came off yesterday so my front tire just about fell off my car while I was driving. Not cool and not safe. I don't know how much it's going to be to fix it yet but I'm seriously tired of spending money to fix this damn car. I also need to start paying back some of my student loans because at this point it's predicted that it's going to take me so long to pay back my loans for one company alone (I have loans through three different companies) that after I pay back the $22,000 I own them I will have paid $26,000 on top of that in interest. That's effing ridiculous. And that's IF I start paying the recommended amount right now, which I can't afford. And, like I said, that's just for one of the three companies I have loans through. It looks like I'm going to be broke forever :(

Hopefully I will meet some other families in the area that I can babysit for on weekends or evenings and make some extra money. Babysitting might be the last thing that I want to do after working as a nanny 40+ hours a week but I'll have to just suck it up. I really don't think I'd mind though. Different family, different kids. I could handle that. Domi (the British mom I'll be working for) said that there's also some nanny groups in the neighborhood that she's going to get me hooked up with so that I can make friends with other nannies in the area. I'm excited about that because it's good contacts for me to make and also because the only person I know in the area is Emily. I love Emily tons and I'm excited to get to hang out with her lots but it would be nice to make more friends in the area, especially because homegirl wants to get a house in Houston.

So those are the things that I'm nervous about concerning the job (money, friends, living situation) but there's lots that I'm excited about too! I am excited that I get to move out of my parents house and still not have to pay rent. I'm really looking forward to being on my own and having a place of my own one day but for now I'm excited to not be living with them (I think they're excited too, and it's nothing personal for either of us) and still being living for "free". This will allow me to focus what money I have coming in on buying a car and paying loans and not have to worry about rent, groceries, utilities, etc. They're also going to fill up my gas tank for me for the driving that I do while I'm working so I only have to buy gas if I go somewhere. I'm also excited to be living in another city. I LOVE Austin and I am pretty sure that I will never want to live in the Houston area but I'm still excited to get to experience another area for a while. And The Woodlands is a really nice area to get to experience :)

I am also excited about the family that I'm going to be working for. Like I said, they're British, which is really exciting for me because I will be getting to experience another culture while staying in America, which is fantastic. They have 3 kids right now (a boy who's 19 and living at home for now, and then two girls who are 11 and 9) and Domi's pregnant with triplets that are due in September (one has a genetic disease though and so they're expecting that it will just be twins and won't be born until October). I start July 1st so the first three months I will be helping to take care of the girls, run them to their summer activities, etc. and just get used to the family and get comfortable with them before the babies come. Domi is a stay at home mom so we'll be working together on everything and her husband works from home. She is very involved with her kids and wants to stay that way but doesn't feel like that will be possible on her own when the babies come. Once the babies arrive the older girls will be back in school so the babies will be my main responsibility. My room is right next the nursery upstairs and the two rooms are kind of in their own wing of the house (the house is HUGE). Domi is planning on getting a night nanny for the first six weeks so that none of us have to get up with the babies at night so that we have enough energy to devote to them during the day. I won't have to do any housework or anything besides the babies laundry/dishes because she's also got a housekeeper. I am excited about getting to watch these babies grow up! At first I though "Wow, me and two infants together all day, everyday for a year. What fun". But then I thought about it as me getting to help and watch them grow throughout the first year of their lives. I like that. Domi also said that she's willing to pay for me to take an infant care class and will probably take it with me. We both have experience with infants (obviously she does) but could both use a good refresher!


The part of this job that I am the MOST excited about is the travel opportunities with the family. They're from England and have only lived here about two years so at Christmas they're going back for like 10 days and I'm going with them! The family would like me to go with them any time they travel, which from the sounds of it is fairly often (at least compared to most families in America). I believe she's already started booking our flights for Christmas so I'm going to be gone from around December 19 through New Years. I'm so excited! I am a bit sad that I won't be with my family for Christmas, especially since this should be a fun one for Jacob and Ryan, but there are many more Christmas's to come that I can spend with them. This family also has a house in the Bahamas and we might be going there in October. It's not like a vacation house that they sometimes go to either but rather another house that they sometimes live in. Right now that's where their dogs are and two of their cars (they haven't decided if they're going to leave those cars there and buy new ones for here or get them shipped over). When I was interviewing with them, Tony (the dad) said that sometimes they'll just decide to pick up and go somewhere fun for the weekend so it's very important that if I work for them that I have a passport and like to travel. I DO!!

This family clearly has a lot of money. The house that they live in right now is enormous and is in a gated community. When I showed up for my interview I had to tell the security guard my name and who I was there to see. He said "Yeah, you're on the list but I still need to call the family and verify. We're very tight with security around here". When I pulled up in front of the house the two houses across the street had big, fancy fountains in the front yard and there were about eight men working on the front yard of the family's house. When she was giving me a tour of the house she said "Now, this is your wing of the house. Here's your room (it's huge with my own bathroom, walk in closet and flat screen TV) and it's right next to the nursery which is actually supposed to be a game room (so it's also huge with it's own little kitchen/bar area for us to make bottles) and outside your room and the nursery is your own little living room (also with a huge flat screen TV). The kids all have TVs in their rooms and we have a family living room that we all watch movies in together so no one should ever be up here really so this is your area to just unwind and relax".

I will have off every morning from like 10:30-12:30, which will be nice and hopefully I'll get to go to the gym then, and then I should be done in the evenings by 7:30 or so. I also get every Sunday off. I don't know what my Saturday's are supposed to look like yet, but when I asked she did assure me that I would get the occasional full weekend off. That's good since Austin is 3 hours and 45 minutes from their house and that's not really a trip I want to make there and back in a day to go home and visit. I also earn two weeks paid vacation. I don't know how quickly I earn it yet but I know I'm not going to want to use it all at once anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I am also a little bummed because John and Kristi are both moving to Austin in August and I'm not going to be around to play with them. Cafe Monet is also opening a second location sometime late summer/early fall and I really wish I was going to get to be a part of that. However, I am still very happy with the choice that I made and feel like the experiences I'll gain through this job will definitely make up for the little bummers that come with it.

This job is a one year commitment so I still need to figure out what I am going to do afterwards. I believe that if the family and I get on well enough together and are both interested then I could work for them longer than one year. As long as I like the kids, the travel is still great and they increase my pay, I think I'd be completely fine with that. The little ones will be older then and my favorite age for kids is between 1 and 4 years anyway. Other options are The Peace Corps (I still love the idea of it but don't love the 27 month commitment of it. That's a long time.), being a YAV, being an Au Pair or doing something completely different that I haven't thought of yet (we all know I change my mind and come up with new ideas more often than some people change their underwear). I feel like I have plenty of time to think it over and weigh my options before making a decision (hell, it took me long enough to make this decision, I definitely need some time before making another). My hope is to do something next year that will give me unique life experiences and not just get a job and apartment. However, there is a part of me that likes routine and being settled. I hope I can keep pushing that part of me aside for a while though.

As for my distant future, I think I like the idea of opening my own daycare. That isn't something great that's going to change the world like I was hoping to do, but it's the first career idea that I've had in a really long time that actually appeals to me. I thought about it a few years back when Nick and I were dating but then kind of dismissed it and never thought of it again. Lisa and I were talking the other day and she mentioned her and Danny joking about opening a day care, which made me think that it sounded like a great idea! I won't go in to details now about the ideas I have for it because it's all surely going to change before it ever really happens, so for now I'll just leave it at this: I really like the idea of one day opening my own daycare. We'll see what happens from here.

So this is the update/introduction on what is to be my life come July 1st. I don't know that I'll write anything between now and then but once I start the job I'll try and write more and keep people updated on what it's like being a nanny in real life.