My name is Kellie, and I am a stay-at-home mom. Well, I was until just 5 days ago, when I snagged a job as a virtual assistant, with some pretty interesting responsibilities. I will be working as an assistant to a small-business owner who lives fairly nearby - about 30 minutes away from my house. He and his wife operate a small painting business, but they need help coordinating their schedules and those of their workers, most of whom are sub-contractors. I will also be handling most of their internet marketing, books and general liaison work between clients and potential clients with my employers.

I have to say, I'm thrilled with the hours. I will be working 10 to 15 hours a week, and I don't have an office to report to - largely because they work from home and simply don't have one. Once a week for the first month, I'll meet up with my employer or his wife and we'll talk about anything that needs to be changed, added or removed from my responsibilities. I specifically requested this because I want to be sure that they are happy and that I'm clear about what kind of job I'm doing and that I'm doing it well.

Furthermore, because I get to work from home, I'll easily be able to keep an eye on my 2-year-old and be around when my 7-year-old gets home from school. I'm thrilled about this because I thought that working again would mean that I had to miss that special time where I got to hear about the day's events from Addie and that I might have to put my younger child, Jake, in a daycare where someone else would be enjoying him instead of me.

I'll be keeping this journal to help me chronicle my progress as I do this job and to let you know about the different things that I learn during the course of this job. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have a job and stay at home at the same time with my kids. This is going to be fun!