Ultimate luxury & recipe for a new job

My favorite inexpensive luxury is getting a pedicure, but I have a new one that's got that beat. It's when I wake up before Ava, and get to lie in bed and wake up slowly in the silence. This morning I woke at 6:15, heard Ava make one short AGH sort of noise, but she's not awake yet. I waited as long as I could in bed to go to the bathroom, and didn't flush on the chance I might wake her.

Precious moments, sandwiched between time when things are demanded of me. Now Unagi is staring at me, wondering about breakfast, but at least she's not making all kinds of noise yet either.

I'm facing a dilemma currently. I work in a job that I sort-of like that is about 30 miles away. I hate the commute, now that I think about it, I really hate driving to work. I'm a public transit girl and love taking BART or MUNI to get places when I can. I have been at this job for 3 months now, it's my first "real" job since I had Ava and even that it's only 3 days a week. When friends ask me how the job is going, I can't find much good to say about it. I don't hate the job, really, and we have a great team of techies. I just don't love my job. I'm spoiled too, because for three years starting in 1998 I did love my job (it was a company that built dot-coms and I was one of the last on the boat to get laid off out of 1000 people).

I don't have hopes that a new job would top the job I had in 1998, but when I got this job I have currently, I really doubted myself. I had been out of the industry for a year while I was taking care of my newborn. My confidence was shot.

Not to blow my own horn, because heaven forbid the deities of humility would have me hunted and shot, but I am valuable. I'm really good at what I do. I don't know everything when it comes to computers, but after 10 years of doing internal IT, managing WANs for the State, designing & implementing the infrastructure for seven start-up web businesses in the last six years, and now back in the world of outsourced IT, what I don't know, I can figure out.

So I'm starting a slow search for a job I either love, or like a whole lot better. Here's the list of what I want in this new job:

> My new job is in San Francisco. I can take BART or MUNI to work.
> I work with a great, energetic team
> It is either an IT Manager role or there is a clear path to being an IT Manager/CTO
> It is part time, 24 to 30 hours a week. I have one or two weekdays off with Ava.
> I work from home some days or afternoons.
> I am paid a salary and it is direct deposited into my bank account.
> My annual salary is $X5 for 24 hours/week, $Y5 for 30 hours/week
> Management is open and communicative. I know what is going on with the company. I trust upper management.
> I start with 3 weeks vacation a year. I get health, dental, and vision benefits paid for me, affordable for my family.
> I can wear jeans to work.
> I do all my work for the same company that employs me.
(I'm tired of the consulting stuff where I work on five customer networks in the same day.)
> Ideally for a web business startup with about 20 employees
> Anything else fabulous that I would love

> I am willing to do this kind of work:
> IT Operations: Windows 2003/2000 server support, Exchange 2003 support, Desktop/Laptop support (Win XP, Mac if needed), Phones if I can be taught by someone else first, cabling as needed.
> Web Business infrastructure support: work in co-location facility, design and implement highly available infrastructure using Unix (pref Linux, FreeBSD, or Solaris), or Windows if we must
> Monitoring and management of web infrastructure
> I make a great interpreter to translate technical jargon to management, and also between the world of Unix and Windows.
> Work with applications architect to implement applications on web infrastructure
> Anything better or more amenable that I haven't thought of yet!

Whew! Part of me thinks I'm asking too much. The other part of me is telling that part to shut up and wait and see and enjoy these last few moments before Ava wakes up.