If you know me outside the context of this blog you may already know this but I have a love/hate relationship with my job. On the one hand, I make crappy money for an attorney who is six years out of law school. I also don't feel like the work challenges my abilities most of the time. Yet I have been reluctant to look elsewhere because it seemed like the perfect job to have while raising a family.
Recently I got a $2500 cost of living adjustment that made me pretty happy. In nearly four years it was only my second COLA. The first one happened as soon as I started and kicked in six months after I had been there so there's been no more moola since October 2009. Sadly, the news came just as the payroll tax cut expired, meaning DH and I are on the hook for an additional $3400 a year. I know we are eligible for some of the $1000 per child tax credit but will have to look up what the 2013 phase out amount is for our income. Also some of our income will be exempt but I'm not sure how much that will matter because we both withhold a ton of taxes in our paychecks and still end up owing more money the past two years of marriage. I guess I shouldn't complain about DH getting more raises but I'm worried 2013 will be a owe money year again though DH thinks we'll be okay. Stay tuned.Anyway back to my job....what it lacks in actual monetary compensation it makes up for in spades with benefits. It wasn't until late this year that I realized I had amassed 45 vacation days and would only be allowed to carry over 30 of them into 2013. Thus began the mad dash to take time off before I lost it, resulting in the solo trip to Florida as well as an extended Christmas and New Year's vacation. Throw in two and a half unexpected sick days I was able to use up all but six days of my excess vacation. If only I had a time machine I would get in it and spend a week of the summer sitting on my ass. C'est le vie!
I'm excited what Gizmo is due in June for several reasons:
1. I work for the state legislature and we adjourn in June. In fact the last day of the scheduled legislative session is only three days past my due date. I'm hoping to work right up until the bitter end.
2. I will have exactly half the year to save and then exactly another half of the year to use my amassed paid time off.
3. Hello time off in the summer!
Here is my current everything goes according to plan ideal maternity leave schedule:
Thursday, June 20th - three days past due date. End work.
Friday, June 21 - Thursday, August 1 - 6 weeks sick leave after vaginal delivery
Friday, August 2 - Thursday, September 12 - 6 weeks paid maternity leave
Friday, September 13 - Wednesday, October 23 - 5.7 vacation weeks carried over into 2013
So, as of today, I need to do nothing other than pop out a baby in June and I will be paid until late October. But I will also accrue 5 weeks of vacation by the end of 2013 and someone told me you still accrue them even when you're on leave. I need to find out if this is true. Let's assume it's not true. By June I will still have an additional 2 weeks of vacation so no work until at least Election Day.
By then I may be itching to come back. Work starts to pick up right around Election Day not surprisingly since our members have to make sure they're coming back to the legislature before they can start telling us what to do. All these calculations don't take into account the amount of comp time I will also accrue between now and June.
Comp time is time off we get for working late. Last session I was expected to work late one or two days a week. Some nights when I'm on the calendar and not needed I can head straight home. Other nights I've plugged away at my desk until 2 or 3 in the morning. It may sound awful but there's no better feeling at midnight of knowing you have secured yourself a free day off in the future. This year our team of 12 attorneys has suddenly dwindled to eight so I'm scheduled to work at least two late nights a week. At this rate I won't have to return to work after Gizmo is born for the rest of 2013.
Wow!
Of course every day after 12 weeks of FMLA is subject to approval by the powers that be. I'm sure my boss will grant me whatever I want so long as I'm back in time for session in 2014 but I'm going to wait a few more months to actually hammer out the details with him.
P.S. Writing this down is now, of course, making me really anxious and paranoid. I have a friend who is going out on bed rest at 28 weeks. I know anything can happen during the course of my pregnancy. It's hard being a planner in an unplannable world. That is also why infertility sucked so much.
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