The Breadwinner

According to the 2009 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 4 of 10 working wives outearn their husbands. I am one of those four women.

I’m so happy to have been born into a generation of more equality for women than ever before. We are, obviously, far from reaching total equality, but I know I have opportunities that women before me were denied. I am proud to be a strong, working woman, and I know my husband is proud too; however, it can sometimes be complicated.

Our pay scales are different, as one would expect with jobs at a local, independent AM news radio station and a television network affiliate. Regardless of the rational and feminist feelings my husband has in regards to being the secondary earner, he still gets down on himself about it sometimes.  There’s still so much I have to learn about marriage and how to eventually raise our future children. I know one’s upbringing has so much to do with these ideas. I grew up with two working parents, with a female breadwinner, and my husband grew up with the exact opposite. I hope my children won’t have to grow up with the notion that to be a man you have to be the breadwinner.

To help ease my husbands worry, I printed out this Time article from March and highlighted my favorite parts. Luckily, I know he is a feminist and will move past some antiquated feelings of earning.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2109140,00.html

I Guess I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Technical Directing

This week kicked off a crazy Fall season full of work. In addition to my full time job, I work in freelance television and Fall is a big time for jobs. Sports, sports, and more sports. Somehow, even with a family that never watched sports unless mandatory at extended family functions, I ended up earning almost half of my living working in professional sports!

I’m happy for the work, don’t get me wrong, but it’s only been a week and I’m beat. So much in my business, or any business for that matter, depends upon your reputation and part of that means being available. I try to take on as much as I can, but sometimes that’s too much. I’m having a hard time with scheduling sleep, let alone fun time. The schedules are made through the fall, but it’s my goal to slow down come winter. What’s the point in earning money if you can’t even enjoy it? Or even stay healthy (I’m already feeling achy like a cold is coming)? This is advice I’ve heard over and over again, but I really need to take it this time. I need to remind myself that I can still be successful even if I don’t work every job.

Date Night in the Burgh

I love going on dates. My husband and I sometimes get into a rut of just staying at home, so this summer we’ve really worked on dating more…um, dating eachother, obviously. With all the events in Pittsburgh during the summer, we’ve been pretty busy! Last night we had an amazing time at the Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket concert at Stage AE. It was my first time at the venue, and I have to say it’s pretty fantastic. It was so open and intimate at the same time. The size really creates a great atmosphere. The music was fantastic, and people really lost themselves in it. My favorite thing to do at concerts is to people watch. It’s amazing that music (and the 40 oz. beers and certain herbal products not sold by Stage AE) can let people lose their inhibitions, allowing them to really feel and move to the music. I really admire that, and I truly believe that music is the best form of therapy. So our theraputic date was a success, and today will probably just be a dinner and jeopardy night (sometimes I love not dating, too).

Watching Someone Else Grow Up

How I’ll always see my sister!

Today, along with my parents, I moved my younger sister into her college dorm to start her sophomore year of college. With six years difference in age, I’ve been lucky enough to be able to watch her grow up. She is so independent and strong, plus she’s one of the smartest people I have ever known, only behind my Pap-pap. She’s fearless and full of life, too. And while I know all of this and am so happy about it, I’m also sad to see it happen so fast. It feels like yesterday that I was helping her do her hair or fighting with her while playing pretend school (yes, we played school in our free time with homework and all!). I imagine that this mixture of joy and sadness is only a fraction of what a parent feels as they watch their child grow up, and it’s so hard to process! With all that said, I can’t wait to see who she becomes and how she gets there. Check out her Lovely Travels blog to read about her amazing adventures and thoughtful insight!