Promises and contracts and jobs...

#1: I apologize for the lack of photos of the most beautiful little boy in the world.  My computer is on the fritz and we're going to have to buy another one; till then it's my sister's laptop that I'm using, and there's no pictures of the baby on here.
Except he's not a baby, he really is a full fledged toddler now.  Sigh.

#2:  Some people have asked why I don't just quit my job altogether, instead of trying to cut back on hours and rearrange schedules that never seem to work, and no matter what I do, I wind up working 40+ hours a week.  The answer is simple: I have a contract.  This contract states that I will work for the ambulance agency for a certain amount of time.  I signed this contract and it's notarized.  If I break it, I have to repay the several thousand dollars they paid for my critical care paramedic class.  And they sent me for specialized schooling under the assumption that I would work for them for x amount of time after getting those credentials.

And, no, I really have no say it how or when I'm scheduled.  In jobs like ours, the needs of the agency come long before our needs as individuals or families.  In fact, um, our needs really don't fit into the equation at all.  If they need 92 hours this week, 92 hours this week is what they get.  And I don't have a lot of say in that.

Could I look for something else?   Yeah, I've sent out resumes.  Gotten a few phone calls.
But at the end of the day, there is a piece of paper in my safe at home with my name on it and a promise I made in good faith.
It's only another year, and if all goes according to plan, my contract will be up about the time we have another baby, and then it will be time to ease out of my job completely.  I may stay on as a volunteer for 6 or 12 hours a month, but I have complete control over my schedule then.

So that is why I don't just quit.  Not because it's not an option--I could break it, after all--but because I made a promise to stay.