It’s been a while since I reported on my employment situation. For a few months now, I have been working part-time while continuing to plug away at freelancing. I’ve had some clients come and go and still haven’t quite settled into a routine. It doesn’t help that my work load at the part-time job is rather sporadic and that the job itself is still technically temporary. It all leaves me feeling kind of up in the air: not quite freelancing, not quite employed. I am trying to just stay in the moment and work with it and not worry about it too much.

Today, though, I had a freelance client tell me that he wanted to bring me on staff full-time as soon as their budget allows, which is super exciting for a number of reasons:

• The work that I do for them is managing content for a web site that is related to health and wellness, which is a huge interest area for me, and I’ve been enjoying it immensely
• The company is a very cool and creative Internet marketing firm in a very cool part of town, and my commute would only be 15 minutes
• I’d be working with an awesome friend of mine, who is responsible for getting me the freelance gig in the first place
• The boss is super nice and really good about giving positive feedback. The other people that I’ve met on my visits to the office have been super nice as well. And oh yeah, they keep beer in the office and get Friday afternoons off during the summer. What?

It’s not a done deal so I don’t want to get my hopes up too much, but it sounds like a dream gig. So what about freelancing? Well, it has its advantages, but it also has it disadvantages, as I’ve been discovering lately. Like no vacation pay, which is troublesome with my wedding and honeymoon quickly approaching. Or no sick pay, which was an issue a couple of weeks ago when the entire household came down with a nasty cold. And it’s really hard for me to work from home and stay focused and productive all day and make what I need to make. It’s working out okay for now, but I’m still putting in long hours. I’m glad to have the work — I could probably put in 60 hours a week if I wanted — but I’m still trying to maintain balance and not get back into the situation where I was before, where work was overtaking my private life and I wasn’t getting enough sleep.

So that’s where I am currently. I’ve been debating the whole freelancing vs. employment issue for a while now and keeping my eyes out for interesting jobs. The fact that I’m so excited over this job prospect just kinds of confirms that I’m ready to get back into an office. I think the structure and social aspects of employment are good for me. Plus, this firm would be a great chance to grow and expand my skills, which is difficult to do in a freelance environment when you are already putting in long hours just to meet your income goals. And I like the idea of keeping my writing as a side gig so that it can continue to be enjoyable and not become drudgery. Spending so many hours at my desk working has kind of gotten in the way of my passion projects, like blogging (obviously), although I did spend several hours this weekend updating my Web site, which was time well spent.

So I’m starting to accept the thought that I’m not cut out for freelancing. That’s okay; Not everyone is. At least I had the opportunity to try something I really wanted to do, and I know it’s always an option should I need it again. And it’s opened up some great opportunities for me. Hopefully it will continue to do so, whether this job opportunity works out or not.