That 9-to-5 Thing...

Anyone who reads this blog knows how much I love my job at The Extraordinary Baby Shoppe -- I get to talk about things I love and am passionate about, I am free to bring my baby to work with me, and I'm blessed to be surrounded by smart, confident, caring co-workers. It's a bit of a home away from home, and I deeply appreciate the connections I've made there. My husband has been less satisfied with his choice of employment over the past few years --  high tech no longer meets his needs or gives him job satisfaction, and we've spent many hours over a number of years trying to figure out how to get him into something else. Serendipity being what it is, he was terminated from his last high tech job last June -- shortly after our 3rd boy was born, allowing him to take EI parental leave and think about what he wanted to do, what work he was passionate about.

The significantly reduced income gave us a wonderful opportunity to see where we could scale back, what we could cut, and observe what we've been doing right all along. It was surprising to see how easily we were getting by with the new status quo, opening up more employment options.

In January, he signed on at a local operation as an apprentice butcher.  What a difference! He comes home excited about his job, he loves what he does, and our home is a lighter, happier place because of it.

Being a butcher isn't as lucrative as one would imagine, though, so we pushed  ahead with a business idea we'd been toying with for awhile -- opening a home-based coffee roasting business: Bytown Beanery. He's passionate about meat, I'm passionate about natural parenting, but we're both passionate about coffee! ;) You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter.

For the most part, we custom roast on demand -- you place your order, we roast your beans, and ideally they're in your hands (or your mug!) within 24hrs. Thanks to my very generous friend and boss, you can also pick up pre-roasted beans on the shelf at The Extraordinary Baby Shoppe. One of the regular beans is naturally 30% lower in caffeine than other coffees  -- a great option if you're looking to cut-back or reduce caffeine consumption!

So, big changes around our house but good changes. Honestly? Life sucks if you can't love your job. :)