I'm leaving work tonight with a small load of guilt. Sunday we fly out to Minnesota for two weeks of training/orientation with the Sauerkrauts. (What, exactly, we'll be learning, I have yet to discover.) My coworkers, on the other hand, will be staying put and dealing with a big load of work. Normally, that wouldn't phase me--I developed the philosophy back when I was working at Portillo's that even if people are working while I'm having fun, the time will come when they get to rest and I'll be laboring. This time around, however, I've had multiple days off in the past month and have another block of days scheduled for July. It still shouldn't bother me, I know, but it does.

As I've wrestled with this idea over the past weeks, I realize my dilemma is that I want to do a good job at Bloatmeal and I want to do my best with my China preparations. (not to mention my other roles as father, neighbor, parishoner, blogger, etc.) The line "you can't serve two masters" has been in my thoughts quite often. The thing is, right now I have to serve two masters. I have to prepare for our new life, yet I can't afford to give up the paycheck and insurance that I'm currently earning. Of course, since Bloatmeal is the job I'm leaving, they're going to get stuck with the short end of the stick. When I resolved that in my mind, the phrase "It's just business" popped into my head. "It's just business." I usually hear that line when layoffs are being announced. I didn't like it then, nor do I like saying it myself.

A perfect world would be better scheduled....