The Day Job

I have read that 90% of authors do not write full time.  I am one of that 90%, although, if you have read previous blogs, you will know that I could actually retire any day now, but with the financial obligation to keep my youngest daughter in school, I’ll be hanging in at the day job for nearly two years yet.

That having been said, I do have the luxury of having adult children who live on their own, so I have no mommy duties, except for paying the bills.

I have to admit, though, that there are still not enough hours in the day!  I don’t know how you writers who are the parents of small children do it!  Do you not sleep at all?  Wow, I bow down to you, that’s for sure.

Well, I am just finishing up my fourth Christian children’s book and that will be it for a while, because as all authors know, the big job is marketing.  If I do a good job at it, and there is enough interest, I will write some more in that series.  If not, well, I’ll have to think about what comes next.

That doesn’t mean that I will stop writing.  I think that most, if not all, authors are driven to write and if God believes that this is what our gift is, then things will work out and we will write and the sales will happen.

This falls under the category of ‘do what you love, love what you do’ which is what I taught my daughters and every Junior Achievement student I ever had. If you align yourself with that, I believe that it is God’s purpose for you, while you are here in this life.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone was happy to get out of bed in the morning because they loved what they did?  We all would be so much more relaxed and happy.

I did love the IT world, and it allowed me, even as a single parent, to give my kids the necessities.  But now, I grow weary of it and since I am involved with computer software and device vulnerabilities, I worry that the bad guys are winning.

It’s time for someone else to do that stuff and let me just write.  At least, it’s almost time...

Work Milestone

Earlier this month, I hit a significant milestone at work!  Imagine, thirty years with the same company!

When I graduated from college in Ottawa, I had three job offers.  It was the early eighties and there were quite a few jobs for Information Technology folks.  I actually chose consulting, hoping to see a variety of different workplaces. In the almost three years I was with Ultracom Consulting (I don’t know what happened to them), I mostly worked for the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Commerce.

During that time, rather than programming, which is what I was trained to do, I learned to be an ADABAS DBA, on the job.  ADABAS is pretty much gone, I‘m afraid.  But, while in Ottawa, and through user groups, I met Ted Hillis.  Ted worked for Consumers Gas in Toronto, and they were known for the most efficiently run ADABAS database in the world.  I decided to go there, learn from Ted and return to Ottawa in two years.

Well, Consumers Gas turned out to be a great place to work.  I met my husband to be, who moved into the townhouse next to me, and after marriage, two lovely daughters, divorce and a myriad of other things in my life, I am still here

I have worked with a lot of great folks over the years.  I have also worked with a few not so great people in that time.  But I’m still here and as I write this, I could even retire in 13 days.  Mind you, as I pointed out in the last blog, one of those lovely daughters still has another year of university left and then two or three more credits to pick up.

I’m okay with staying for a while yet.  Oddly enough, for the first time in my working career, I seem to be relatively indispensable.  This is not a good thing and never should have happened, but I will work on fixing that over the next year or so.

So, I have unfinished business I guess, but then I shall look forward to sleeping in every day, reading, writing and relaxing!

My Fondest Dream

Dreams change over time, but right now, my fondest dream is to retire.

I have worked at the same company for 30 years. Now, I do like the people, and I do like what I do, but I am so ready for a change!  Since last August, I have been working on writing in my spare time.  I now have two Christian children’s books out, another with the illustrator and one just itching to work its way from my brain to the computer.

After over 30 years in the IT business, I’m ready to have a little rest and relaxation and focus more on the writing.  It should be noted that for the last 20 years of my life, I have been living with multiple sclerosis.  At least it was just over 20 years ago I got my diagnosis.

Add to all that fun stuff, that I became a single mother about a year before the diagnosis of MS!  So, life has not been without its challenges.  Please don’t take that as whining.  God does not give us more than we can handle and so far, I have been able to handle it all.

This week, while I was away in Calgary for business, I received an e-mail from my ex-husband to remind me that support for our youngest daughter ends when she turns 22 in June.  Kaitlyn still has another year of university.  But then there is the right thing to do and then there is that.  I’m afraid that many ex-husbands are not known for doing the right thing.  Now, I will point out that he has been paying child support all along, although the amount never changed.

So, will we manage?  Of course!  God will find a way and once my lovely daughter has finished university, I will be able to afford to retire!  Did I mention that I am actually eligible to retire in 19 days?  But who’s counting? 

My gift to God is my writing and I will get some more done before I retire and then focus more on it when I do retire!

Great Folks in My Life

I thought my blog should speak to all of the great people in my life.  All have been great blessings to me in one way or another.

I was adopted.  I have always known that, and my family is very near and dear to my heart.  I am the second oldest of eight kids in this family and six of us are adopted.  My parents adopted three of us, had two of their own and then adopted three more.  All of us who were adopted, were six months or younger when we came to be Warrens.

We are all proud to be Warrens and even though our numbers have started to diminish, we still get together when we can.  We lost our mother to cancer in 2005 and we miss her dearly.  We lost our oldest brother also to cancer.

Also part of the Warrens, although they carry their father’s name, are my two daughters.  I have raised them on my own since their father left when my youngest was four months old.  We are very close and although they both live on their own now, we talk all the time and get together often.

In my list of good folks, of course, I must include my life partner Cavan.  I have actually known him for almost 30 years.  He moved into the townhouse next door to me back then, but unfortunately for both of us, I married his roommate, so our life together was delayed for almost 20 years!

Some of the other good folks in life include my good friend Iris, who I have known since I was in grade 11, 40 years ago!  She hasn’t changed a bit and even though she lives across the country, we still have a great time when we get together.

Another great friend is Viv.  Viv is my favorite bibliophile.  I have known Viv for almost 30 years, and although she is more than 30 years my senior, she is one of my dearest friends.  Two years ago, I moved about an hour outside of Toronto, but Viv and I still get together almost every week.

There are also, of course, my colleagues and co-workers, who are great.  I especially want to point out my boss, who, although he is in a different city, is one of the best bosses I have ever had.  Yesterday, I was sick and he called to tell me to shut down the laptop and take the day to get well.

I am so very blessed to have so many great people in my life!