job update: major dilemma approaching

Reading about the trials and tribulations of my job search must be getting pretty boring. But I've learned to stop apologizing for the content of my posts. I finally got it that if you don't want to read it, you'll just skip this one.

Tomorrow I have an interview with a Large Financial Firm for a full-time document production position. It's normal Monday-Friday daytime hours. I've already done a phone interview, and I'm reasonably certain I'll get an offer. The question is, do I want the job?

Advantages:

Good, steady money and other benefits like paid sick and vacation days. Easier living, which we had before I quit my job at Really Crappy Firm. The end of our financial worries for a while.

It's not a law firm, so if a Fri/Sat/Sun law firm job becomes available, I could bolt with no negative consequences.

I don't think leaving Really Crappy Firm after only 3 weeks on the job will reflect badly on me, but doing that twice in a row would not be good. Even if I don't put these jobs on my resume, the Toronto corporate legal world is pretty small, the HR managers all know each other, and I can't make a habit of taking jobs and leaving. LFF would presumably be outside that loop, so if a weekend spot came up somewhere else, I would just leave.

Since Allan and I wouldn't be working the same hours, we wouldn't need dog-walking services, which is a major expense. I'd be able to begin paying back the money we've borrowing from our savings right away.

Daytime hours would mean I would still be home for grilling in the backyard and baseball with my sweetie four nights a week, which is tremendously important to me right now. It might just be the nicest summer we've ever had, and I'm incredibly reluctant to see it end.

Disadvantages:

Conventional hours feels a bit like going to prison. I haven't worked Monday-Friday hours in more than 15 years. I took a Mon-Fri job briefly last year, but that had the possibility of changing to three 12-hour days, and it did. This job would have no possibility of that, as LFF does not have weekend or evening shifts.

Working conventional hours means no writing. I did it when I was younger - waking up at 5:00 a.m. to crank out pages on my novel before going to work as a secretary - but I don't have the energy or motivation for that anymore. It basically means a life of work for money (with no other incentive), watching baseball, staying home on weekends (Allan will have the car) and waiting for a better job to come along.

What happens if I don't take the job:

We can manage the way we have been through the summer. Money is tight but doable, and we are using money from our moving-to-Canada savings. In August I'll apply for the notetaking work, and presumably start that in September. In between terms, I'll fill in with copyediting and other work, and sweat.

Notetaking may lead to more work, as I'll be on college campuses, and will look for international students in need of an editor. I've also been picking up work from my Craigslist ad.

Of course those are not guaranteed salaries. Freelance work is always variable and less secure.

So. Money and security, now, with the end of freedom, relaxation and writing time? Or very tight finances, with more time and freedom?

One moment the choice seems clear: if I'm offered the job, I must take it. The next moment it seems equally clear in the other direction.