Day Job

2011 is already starting out as a year of big changes.  The biggest one is that, after 10 years of being a work-at-home mom, I’ve gotten a day job…and not just any day job, but one that matches what I’d described as my “best possible job” when I started looking.

I’d been plinking in resumes since just before the end of 2010, with no appreciable results.  Then after the first of the year, I ended up in two different interview loops, both for essentially the same position at rival companies.  Both extended me offers, and after a bit of negotiating back and forth, I landed at Amazon, where I’ll be a technical writer documenting Amazon Web Services.

(You might have to be a geek to understand why that excites me so.  Essentially, I’ll be getting paid to learn about a revolutionary new web technology that I want to learn anyway.)

My work on WeaveZine as a small-business web entrepreneur was, surprisingly to me, a bonus in interviews.  My guess is they were wading through reams of nearly identical technical writing samples and then hit mine, which included things like “Potholder Looms: Basics and Beyond” and thought “at least this candidate won’t be boring!”

So…instead of ending up in a dead-end, mommy-tracked, job as I’d feared, I’ll be walking into a great position.  It blows me away.  Eric says he never had any doubts, that I always underestimate myself.  I guess he was right!

So that’s great news for me.  What does it mean for the website?

It’s going back to its roots: a site run for fun, not profit.

The primary focus will be shifting to reflect that.  It’ll become my personal blog, with occasional podcast episodes.  I’d like to say that the podcast will come out on a monthly schedule, but since I’ve never done the podcast while working full time, all I can say is that there will be more episodes, done as time allows.

All the great WeaveZine and WeaveCast content that’s currently on the site will continue to be available as a permanent archive, and I’ll do my best to keep the URLs the same when I shift things around.

It may take a while for me to get to this, but I will be moving to a different server host, and re-branding the website so the new personal focus will be clear.

I’ve got some existing sponsorship and ad commitments, as those run out, the site will transition to ad-free and donation-free.

I may still sell the occasional pattern or kit in an online store or on Etsy, just for fun, but not in a “this has to support the server” way.

If you have questions or comments about what’s happening, please leave a comment below.

Many thanks for being the most important part of my website—the folks who enjoy it!

 

Syne with Pink Hair

Syne Mitchell

Programmer-Writer, Weaver, and Blogger

Please share your thoughts: I enjoy your comments and feedback!