What's in a Job?

Okay....I've been twiddling my thumbs trying to find a damn job. I have received several thanks but no thanks letters alluding to the fact that I'm overqualified therefore I won't stay. It annoys me to no end that they don't even ask me if it is something I might want to do or why I would want to do it if I am so "overqualified". So, I've been getting frustrated. Then this opportunity that I mentioned before just fell in my lap so to speak. I have spent a great deal of time there this week getting a good feel for the place, the job and the people I would be supervising. I've been trying to be guardedly optimistic. I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch since it hasn't even been officially opened as of yet. So yesterday, I was thrown a curve ball. A different job that I applied for several weeks ago (talk about a slow HR department) called. When I applied for this job, out of all the previous ones I had applied for...this one was at the top of the list for jobs I actually wanted. It is working at a museum...being the executive assistant to the VP of Exhibitions and Programs. It is a pretty cool looking job on paper. Anyway...they called and want an interview. Being the mental chess player that I am and you adore....I have been trying to run all the scenarios.
There are pros and cons to both jobs. The biggest con to the library is it is a huge pay cut. But, at the library I am close to the kids, have a more flexible schedule and am the boss which I'm really good at (or so the people I used to work with keep telling me). The museum is just way cool! Think that job would be ever changing. But, it has cons as well. It is downtown and a very nasty traffic area. It won't have the flexibility that the library has, I won't be close to the kids, and I will be dealing more with adults....which I'm not exactly fond of. So....I am finding myself asking...what's in a job? When I think back to a lifetime far away...when I was first considering careers my Junior year in high school...I had it all planned out. I wanted to be a child advocate....I wanted to do some type of social service with kids. So off to college I went and got two freaking degrees that would allow me to do that but, I'm not doing it. Somewhere along the way, I got sidetracked. I didn't realize until recently just how trapped I felt in my old job. I lost the opportunities to do the things I really like to do. As much as I profess to hate people, I am still a caregiver and THAT'S the kind of job I want. For me, it isn't about the title or the money. Yes, I realize I sound like a Pollyanna. So many people see a job as a means to an end....I just can't wrap my head around that. If I'm going to be spending 8-10+ hours a day doing something, it better have a positive outcome for someone somewhere.
I guess what I'm getting at here is both of these jobs could in their own way give me that. Yes, I know neither one has been offered yet but, I don't want to look at the chess board and find I'm in a checkmate position! Guess I'm a lot like Heart and want my road map or at least the two final destinations programmed in to my GPS.

Looking for my own Garman....

Pandora