Monthly Archive: October 2004

The weather is glorious, biting autumn cold, but sunny…one of those edgy, orange/red/yellow leaf days where the clouds seem to stand still in the sky and the shadows are so crisp they could cut you. A group of parents has had the unenviable project the past few months of transforming the school yard from a sea of concrete to a green and inviting playground. They’ve put out calls for volunteers and materials and spent several weekend working, and several days worth of time calling the county and wheedling their way into approvals for this and that. Today we were there...

If someone had told me 8 years ago that I would one day eat pea soup with relish gusto*, I would have laughed them out of the room. As a child, I once threw up pea soup AT THE TABLE as revenge on my father for making me eat it in the first place. This was before I met Swedish pea soup, where the peas are not green and slimey. I’ve had varying degrees of acceptance with the Swedish pea soups over the past 8 years, but the one I had on Thursday was by far the best yet. Swedes...

Karin just came over to me after the last strains of Everybody Wants To Be A Cat faded away and stuck her mouth in my face and said, “Mama, is there a hole here?” and pointed at her face. I looked at her teeth and said, “Well, there seems to be a bigger gap here than I remember…” I stuck out my finger and touched her bottom teeth one by one and sure enough, the front right tooth moved back and forth under my finger. “Whoa,” I said, “You’re going to lose a tooth.” Her face lit up like a...

Yesterday was a horrible day. Instead of listening to my heart and head, I let my boss freak me out and convince me to hold out for more money and my stomach was tied up in knots for hours because of it. However, all’s well that ends well, assuming the contract arrives any minute, which I’m expecting… I’ve taken the job with Company A, the permanent position, the one that I’ve been leaning toward the whole time.* And I’m happy and relieved and sad and resigned and too many damned emotions all tied up at once, what with having the...

Can’t get ahold of the Company T boss, but their HR told me it’s definitely a project job and they can’t change it at this point. Called Company A and pushed for a higher salary. She’s talking to her HR and is calling me back. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH.

I’m so revved up my hair is frizzing, my brain is shooting out little sparks and the vertebrae at the base of my spine are clicking and clacking with every spastic movement. I sent emails to both Company A and Company T yesterday telling them that 1 p.m. today is my decision deadline. In addition, I told Company T that a permanent position was a requirement. They have not yet responded…making me wonder if they got the email. Do I dare call? FREEEEEEEEAAAAAAKKK OUT! *wibble* Nice Night 1 5 women, candlelight, homemade scones with berries and chocolate, a little boy...

My head is saying “fool, forget him,” my heart is saying “don’t let go.” Grease lyrics aside, luxury decisions are still decisions. And just because having a choice of jobs is a “nice” position to be in, that doesn’t make the decision any easier. I am completely stumped at the moment. I don’t know what to do or which job to take. I really don’t want to be in the position 3 months from now of thinking, “Damn, I should have picked the other one.” Fuck.

2nd interview and test went well, I thought. They gave me 3 tasks to do and 45 minutes to do them in. I did them all without much problem, although of course I could have done better with more time. 😀 They have promised to let me know today whether they have succeeded in extending the job from a temporary one to a permanent one. I am not holding out much hope at this point, but at least now I have a contact at Company T and that could lead to something good in the future. 🙂 Now I am...

That’s me today. Or at least what I feel like. I stayed in bed until the last possible second before having to go to choir practice. I now know that I can shower, make up and dress in 17 minutes when necessary. Can’t stop coughing and feel as though I have bruises under my eyes…several choir members asked me if I was “fat in the throat”* which made me laugh, and then cough. I ended up making it through about 2.5 hours before deciding it wasn’t worth it, and went home where I slept for FOUR hours. Had chicken soup...

I do not want to know how many trees the children of the world are responsible for in and of themselves when it comes to drawings, paintings, cut out bits of artwork, lessons, homework, etc., ad nauseum. The amount of paper in our art bench alone must account for at least 2 birches and an old oak tree. And I’m only a third of the way through it. The capacity of my children for squiggly lines and scribbles is ENORMOUS. Karin and I cleaned out all of her clothes, ridding her drawers and closet of all things too small and...