The Secret is Eggs

Image credit: www.frugal-cafe.com

Yesterday we had our last class with ReacHIRE. Technically we still have "Dress for Success" at Lord & Taylor on Friday, and final presentations and graduation on Tuesday, but the program is essentially done. Next week I'll sum up my takeaways on the program as well as any heretofore unspoken catty comments about its participants. I am just kidding, folks!! Give this mother-of-twins re-entering the workforce a break!! Okay, the twins are not re-entering-- nine-year old boys have a truly terrible work ethic.  Today one completed a homework assignment with "Na Na". When I asked, he said "it's tuna, get it?" What this had to do with math, I cannot say. Oh, two. Hunh.

Anyway, yesterday. Yesterday we spent quite some time with LinkedIn. The class was billed as social media but it was heavily concentrated on LinkedIn. I had been hoping to learn how to tweet all my incredibly earth-shattering comments on snapchat or instagram (okay, I get that tweeting goes with the bird) but no. Instead, I learned to stalk my old corporate buddies. No, stalk is the wrong word. There is no single word--it was a walk down memory lane as I looked through the pages of some of my former colleagues and what they are doing today. 

We covered many valuable insights about networking and posting and being involved. I won't be a walking ad campaign for Linked In but I will say that it has gotten much more powerful since I left the workforce nine years ago. Also more expensive. Yeah, everything is. I enjoyed the class and wrote down a to-do list about forty items long,  Then it was time for Nuts & Bolts--a summary of what was next for us as we continued on the ReacHIRE path.

What's next is a project assignment. ReacHIRE works with its hiring partners to find us short-term projects that may or may not turn into full-time or permanent roles. It's the part of the dance where we line up on one wall and the dance partners on the other, hoping to find the partner who is neither too short nor too tall, and won't step on your feet. I cannot spill what is ReacHIRE's "special sauce", as they put it, but I definitely feel like there is quite a team working with me as I step onto that dance floor. Bring on the Dancing Queen!

This morning I went for a walk in the conservation woods as I do every day with my dog Coal. For the first time, one of my neighbors decided to join me on the three-mile loop. She is a working mom who I see mostly at the bus stop with her third grade and first grade kids. We chatted about all kinds of things, including town meetings (do NOT get me started), historic homes (hers) and many other topics. Then we started talking about how I was going back to work.

I was just telling my neighbor about how I was interviewing a new babysitter today and I was excited and nervous about re-entering the workforce and making the rest of my life work. Such as helping kids with homework Na Nas, commuting to wherever, and still making dinner that is edible. And she looked at me and said "you can do it. We can all do it. The secret is eggs." I laughed and said "what???" (oh, all right I admit that I questioned her sanity for just one second...just one...)

And she explained that eggs were the root of successful women everywhere. Eggs. Why? Eggs can be dinner. If you're working late and can't think of what's for dinner, there are so many ways to make eggs. Eggs with broccoli. Egg sandwich. Omelettes, frittatas, whatever. It's protein and your kids will eat them. Well, mine eat them. Mine eat everything. 

Okay, don't expect this, kids! image credit: www.fitnessrepublic.com

And I admit that I got home from the walk and thought "whhhaaaaaaat? All these years there has been a secret to making career and family work and no one told me?"  Eggs. Hunh.