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It’s Been A While…

It’s Been A While…

It’s been two years since I last posted here. I can’t believe it. In the past few years, I’ve been challenging myself to get back into things that are important to me. However, I’m trying to remember how I fell off the wagon in the first place.

HOA Board Member

In March 2022, I joined my community’s HOA board. My main goal was to see about getting a canopy over the tot playground, in addition to holding the developer accountable to any outstanding or bad work in the community. As a construction professional, I thought I was a perfect fit for this volunteer job. My two-year term on the board became nearly a full-time job (and consumed my life). A neighbor dispute (between the HOA and the community member), resulted in engaging counsel, mediation and finally, arbitration. I did not know much about HOAs until I moved to Florida, but perhaps in the near future I can generally talk about what it means and what’s involved.

Anxiety, Depression and Priorities

Working a full-time job in construction procurement, having a family with two kids and being a board member overflowed my plate. I was used to being efficient and getting a lot done. However, the aftermath of COVID left me feeling like there was more to life than just work. I wanted to stop feeling torn between my profession and family and my HOA board role. While being involved in the HOA is important, it was taking more time away from what little I had for my husband and kids. 

And I worried. I mean, I still do, but this was next level. I worried about getting things right with the HOA, living up to expectations at my job and being the mom that I wanted to be to my children. It literally kept me up at night. I wasn’t sleeping well, crying a lot and things felt out of control. It was a bumpy ride getting my mind back in order.

It was clear that I wasn’t living the life I wanted or being the person I wanted to be. I had to let some things go so I could focus on the true love of my life: my family.

To Homeschool or Not to Homeschool

As usual, some serendipitous events occurred that led to our exploring the possibility of homeschooling. In the wake of book bans, micro-aggressions and the education system demonstrating how it will ostracize people with different views, Chad and I started talking about homeschooling. A Facebook post popped up on my feed about a neighbor’s whose son graduated high school at 16. I reached out and met with her to talk about her experience and why. She recommended that we attend a conference happening in a few weeks in Orlando. It sealed our commitment to homeschool and I’ll have more on that. 

Quitting/Resigning

The most difficult thing for me to wrap my head around was leaving my job to homeschool. I’ve changed industries twice and had four different positions – journalist, public relations specialist, corporate communications manager and then construction professional. I had concerns when changing roles as to whether it would be the right fit. I could always assure myself I could go back to an old role if I wanted to. Transitioning to a homeschool mom just seems more finite. I would be ending my proverbial career. If I did want to go back, would it be harder as things change so rapidly over time? When I told my boss that I planned to leave at the end of the year, she asked me if I wanted more time to think about it. I’m not sure if my delivery of the news reflected my hesitation, but suddenly, I was more firm in my choice. Why would I bring it up if I wasn’t serious about it? My company did not try to make me an offer to try to keep me.  What could it, anyhow? It was not about money or prestige. I was trading my salary for the gift of time. 

What about the Real Estate Stuff

Chad and I still have our single family homes in Oklahoma City, but have not had much success adding anything else to our portfolio. We looked at purchasing a townhome in our current community, a resort condo and several other properties in OKC. The conclusions were all the same – the numbers didn’t make sense and we passed on them. The next entry will focus on our decision-making process for turning down those “deals.”

The Future

For now, I’m going to be a little less ambitious and work on this monthly. As I work on healthy balance, I am constantly re-defining my boundaries and reminding myself of the things that are most important. This blog is extremely important to me and I want to be able to put out quality content. 

Thank you for reading and I look forward to sharing more with you next month!

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