A couple weeks ago, as I was thinking about planning my son’s ninth birthday party, I came to the realization that another milestone was nearly upon me. Ten years ago, my husband (fiancé at the time) and I were busy packing our bags, cleaning out our one-bedroom apartment in Calgary, and heading back home after spending three years away.
At this time, 10 years ago, I would have been just finishing my last final exams in journalism school, and skipping out on my graduation to take on a position I had been offered after completing a two-week practicum just a couple months earlier.
And 10 years later, here I am. Although we’ve moved a few times since then, first into a house in town, then into my in-laws while we built our first home, then into my parents’ while we built our current home, some things have remained somewhat more constant.
“Somewhat,” being a key work. I believe my first day at the St. Paul Journal was May 2, 2006. The day sticks in my head because it also happens to be my nephew’s birthday, and being that it was a Tuesday (according to my Google search), it would have made sense.
I started here as a general news reporter, excited to have easily found a job in the exact line of work I had been aiming for. The job came rather easily, and it didn’t take long for things to feel like they were falling in place. That year was a busy one, with moving back home, buying a house, getting married, and then finding out I was pregnant, and due less than a year after starting at the Journal.
So, about 11 months in, I took my first break from the newspaper. But, it didn’t last a full year, since I slowly started covering events again about six months into my maternity leave.
My second phase at the Journal lasted a bit longer, and involved my first go at being editor, and possibly more sports than I ever thought I would cover. But, by fall of 2010, I would be off work again, taking time with my second son.
That time, I took an extra month off instead of coming back early, and when I did come back, the chaos of having two kids, and a growing business on the side, took its toll.
I lasted a few months, then took a gamble and tried my hand at a much different career, after taking on a job working in one of the schools. A day in, I knew it wasn’t right, and after taking a month to regroup, I returned to the Journal, three days a week, as I worked on learning how to juggle life with a growing family.
Somehow along the lines, after telling myself I wouldn’t take on the editor position again, I found myself back in the same desk and office, up to four days a week, for the past few years.
Life is still hard to juggle at times, but most weeks, it seems to be getting easier to manage. This week may be proving to be an exception to that rule, with an extra 20-page section to put together, and a busy week of meetings and events, but after 10 years, I know it’s where I belong – four days a week anyway.
