Option A and I'm Done

At the end of 2014, Rich and I set our final financial goals into motion and I was looking at an early 2016 retirement date.  Because I had basically an entire year to really digest my future, I gave quite a bit of thought to alternatives.  I knew that if I walked into work and said, "Instead of resigning, I'd like Option B," they would most likely agree to Option B.

What does Option B look like?

Well, I attempted to create the ultimate, comfortable work situation.  Option B included a reduction of my work schedule to four days a week.  Two of those days would be at home.  I would be able to shift my day "off" as necessary to accommodate appointments and school activities.  The best of both worlds, right?  Unfortunately, I knew that it would never work.  First, I would have to demand that several responsibilities be removed from my role. Otherwise, I would be in the same boat as before, cramming 40+ hours into 4 days but only receiving 80% pay.  And, in the future, additional responsibilities would not be added to my role.  Hahaha

I tend to avoid working from home because I'm not as productive due to the fact that I'm working on a laptop and don't have paper files and my two monitor set-up like back at the office.  Last week was a taste of working from home and it solidified my decision to resign.  Grammy flew to Michigan on Sunday to assist and comfort her mom after Papaw's passing.  We have family members who can help out in a pinch but there's the issue of cathing Anna so I had no choice but to work from home until I traveled for the funeral.

I typically work at least eight hours a day.  May is a busy season for us and it's not unusual for me to work 10+ hours a day.  The girls are only in school for six hours and once you subtract out commuting time to drop them off and pick them up, I was left with about five and a half hours of time to work.  Unless I wanted to shower.  It's difficult to work when they are home in the afternoon because I basically have to tell them to pretend Mommy doesn't exist.  I also feel like I can't disconnect.  It's 8:30 at night and I'm still working.

My employer has a generous bereavement leave policy, allowing for up to five days off.  Technically, I could have been out of work for the entire week but who would do my work?  Someone did pick up some items that couldn't wait but the bulk of the work remained.  I spent this past weekend working from home in an attempt to catch up while still being around.  I had thought about going into the office but I knew someone would pitch a fit.  Plus, at least I can run laundry whilst working from home.  My current project consists of state flow-through filings, including composite and withholding returns.  When I'm in the office, here's what I use to review:

1. Last year's paper workpapers
2. Current year workpapers
3. Monitor A
4. Monitor B
5. Print outs

At home, my only review tool is my laptop.  By Sunday night, I was so frustrated because it was taking me twice as long to get through everything.  I eventually just had to shut down and walk away.

I was with a much smaller company before the girls were born and for the most part, I was able to work exclusively from home without issue.  Well, except for the belief that you aren't working unless you are at work.  It's too bad that my current role doesn't fit into the work from home model.  I'm done.

I'm so tired right now.  The earliest I've arrived home at night this week is 8:30.

It's almost over.