Work Space

Finally! I got a gig! Ok, it's a small gig blogging for my awesome friends over at Extanz. And one blog a week hardly translates into retiring from Helix, BUT it's a small, meaningful (!) step toward uniting my interests and forging a new work path. Got to start somewhere...


To be clear, I did discuss the gig with my husband before committing. Of course, Pat proclaimed excitement, even used the work "relief" to describe his feelings--relief that he doesn't have to watch his wife mope around Helix and home now that she'll have something else to think about. And while his support was comforting, part of me remains suspicious.

The exact time frames escape me, but there have been several points within the past 2 years that I accepted then reneged on working for Extanz. Each time, I signed up with Pat's support, but as soon as Helix had a new crisis, I was sucked back into property preservation nether land. Of course, now we have staff, and operations are relatively stable so there should be no more excuses why I can't devote a few hours a week to something else. I'm simply not needed like I was before. Or am I?

Working space may provide some answers. I'm currently writing from my home office--a renovated bedroom closet. This "room" has had many iterations--from a 'nursery' to both our kids--to a 'craft' room when I had aspirations of becoming Martha Stewart--to a 'sanctuary' where I could hide out and read--to a 'home office' where I could work at home with my husband, but in a different room. The first 6 months of Helix, Pat and I shared the main level home office uneasily. His talking otp constantly distracted me or face-to-face with subs who’d show up at our home/office. More importantly, I started to own, literally feel, his stress so much so that as soon as he'd get into a heated conversation otp, I'd feel ill. So I moved upstairs. We could work together, but not in the same room I surmised.

Fast forward to today, Helix now rents office space downtown. We GO to work, as does our staff. I even have the "executive" suite which features wood flooring (not carpet), curtains (not blinds), and French office furniture (thanks craigslist.org!). It's by far the most calming and inviting workspace in our 1,000 square feet. So, naturally Pat has encouraged me to 'come to the office' to write this blog and do the blogging gig and otherwise be available to field Helix questions and emergencies on an as needed basis. The best of both worlds, no? After all, he remarked, "if you hull up in that closet at home, I'll never see you."

While the comment is clearly an exaggeration--we do see each other every morning and every night--the subtext remains: my husband prefers working together to working apart. And what wife is going to complain about her husbands' desire to be close? Surely not I. Yet…