end of an era
Hello invisible fans.
So we're home from Vegas, and have been since Sunday night. Monday was a day of laundry, unpacking and trying to find my way back into normal, Tuesday was a day spent on the phone. Wednesday I worked on budget and back-taxes. Thursday I put together the scrap-book for the Vegas trip, and today I'm finally writing to you. So I'm not a slacker. No, really, I've been busy. Really.
Las Vegas was wonderful. Chad and I found the trick of attending Time Share presentations, saying no to everything they offer you, then getting a bunch of free tickets to shows you could never have afforded otherwise. Hey, it's their system. I didn't make the rules, I'm just exploiting them. Anyway, we got to see Lance Burton--see something else--the Comedy Club at the Riviera--very fun and cool--and Mac King, comedy magician--easily the most fun show there. We got in to Lance Burton for free, paid for one of the two tickets to the comedy club, and paid the one-drink minimum for Mac King. Pretty cheap for Vegas shows.
The sights were great, the shows were fun, we walked our tushies off, ate everything in sight and had a blast, but the best part of the trip was the time we spent with the people we care about. Our friends were celebrating their bachelor/bachelorette party the same time we were there for our anniversary, and we were able to meet their other friends. There are people in this world that you can meet for the first time and feel as though you've always known them, and that's how every one of us felt. So here's a shout-out to everyone we partied with--you are all very much my friends and I loved every conversation, every joke, every story, every minute. We are scattered across the map, so I know it will be hard to "hang out" again, but at least you know I would like to. Thanks for everything--you guys rock.
And a special shout-out to the bride and groom, who were cool enough to put the whole thing together so we could have these great memories. You make us feel wonderful and welcome every time we see you.
And a last and least shout-out to the screaming crowd at Coyote Ugly. Hey, girls who dance on the bar get free drinks. If I'm willing to do a time-share thing for two hours or more to get free stuff, what's a song or two on a bar? But they should really post the rules more clearly. They say they want sexy and raunchy, but when you give them what they ask for they ask you to leave. Sheesh. Too much skin. Like there is such a thing.
But now we're back to real life.
Today is not the last day of my life as a stay-at-home Mom, but it feels like it. This weekend would be the same if I was working, and Monday is a holiday, and Tuesday we're doing sort of a "practice run" to figure out exactly how early we will need to get up and get the kids up in order to be out the door and through morning traffic in time. Today is the last day that I will live the schedule I currently have. I start work on Wednesday.
It's scary, I won't kid you. I'm scared that the childcare thing won't work out and that after a few weeks it will become clear that I need the sort of professional childcare that's open no matter what--private family care means that whenever someone's sick or there's a problem in the family, the childcare center is closed and no one can go to work. If I have to use a daycare center, I may as well quit now--they can charge, for my two kids, over $1000 a month, and I'll be lucky to bring home $1200, which is not reasonable math.
I'm also afraid that it will work. With no excuses I will have no choice but to stay there. Have I mentioned that I'm heinously underemployed? I will be working in a call center, hoping that after my six months are up I can be promoted to a "decent" job, meaning reasonably compensated low-level secretary. Making the jump from call center to executive is rather far-fetched, and I'm trying to be realistic here. I'm afraid that the process of "working my way up the corporate ladder" will mean that I'm underemployed for several years, slowly proving myself on each rung until they finally see fit to grant me a job that doesn't suck.
But then a lot of people go to jobs that suck every day. It's called life.
So basically I'm being forced into life. I've been living in the fantasy world where I was measuring my days in coffee spoons until my kids could be in school full time, then I would have been free for six hours a day to pursue happiness and fortune. I guess it's time to wake up. My "calling" can leave a message on my voice mail. It will have to wait. How long remains to be seen. Maybe childcare won't work out. Maybe it will. Maybe I'll climb the corporate ladder quickly. Maybe I'll scrape and claw the tedious path for years and years and tears and tears.
Maybe I should play the lotto more. Hey, I've got to find hope somewhere.
So if I may, let's raise our glasses and toast. Here's to good friends and the memories we share with them. Here's to dreams and they way they make the waking moments more livable. Here's to life and the challenges it brings. May all three find a way to be together every day, that we way love, dream, and still survive another day together.
And to all a good night,
Kimberly
So we're home from Vegas, and have been since Sunday night. Monday was a day of laundry, unpacking and trying to find my way back into normal, Tuesday was a day spent on the phone. Wednesday I worked on budget and back-taxes. Thursday I put together the scrap-book for the Vegas trip, and today I'm finally writing to you. So I'm not a slacker. No, really, I've been busy. Really.
Las Vegas was wonderful. Chad and I found the trick of attending Time Share presentations, saying no to everything they offer you, then getting a bunch of free tickets to shows you could never have afforded otherwise. Hey, it's their system. I didn't make the rules, I'm just exploiting them. Anyway, we got to see Lance Burton--see something else--the Comedy Club at the Riviera--very fun and cool--and Mac King, comedy magician--easily the most fun show there. We got in to Lance Burton for free, paid for one of the two tickets to the comedy club, and paid the one-drink minimum for Mac King. Pretty cheap for Vegas shows.
The sights were great, the shows were fun, we walked our tushies off, ate everything in sight and had a blast, but the best part of the trip was the time we spent with the people we care about. Our friends were celebrating their bachelor/bachelorette party the same time we were there for our anniversary, and we were able to meet their other friends. There are people in this world that you can meet for the first time and feel as though you've always known them, and that's how every one of us felt. So here's a shout-out to everyone we partied with--you are all very much my friends and I loved every conversation, every joke, every story, every minute. We are scattered across the map, so I know it will be hard to "hang out" again, but at least you know I would like to. Thanks for everything--you guys rock.
And a special shout-out to the bride and groom, who were cool enough to put the whole thing together so we could have these great memories. You make us feel wonderful and welcome every time we see you.
And a last and least shout-out to the screaming crowd at Coyote Ugly. Hey, girls who dance on the bar get free drinks. If I'm willing to do a time-share thing for two hours or more to get free stuff, what's a song or two on a bar? But they should really post the rules more clearly. They say they want sexy and raunchy, but when you give them what they ask for they ask you to leave. Sheesh. Too much skin. Like there is such a thing.
But now we're back to real life.
Today is not the last day of my life as a stay-at-home Mom, but it feels like it. This weekend would be the same if I was working, and Monday is a holiday, and Tuesday we're doing sort of a "practice run" to figure out exactly how early we will need to get up and get the kids up in order to be out the door and through morning traffic in time. Today is the last day that I will live the schedule I currently have. I start work on Wednesday.
It's scary, I won't kid you. I'm scared that the childcare thing won't work out and that after a few weeks it will become clear that I need the sort of professional childcare that's open no matter what--private family care means that whenever someone's sick or there's a problem in the family, the childcare center is closed and no one can go to work. If I have to use a daycare center, I may as well quit now--they can charge, for my two kids, over $1000 a month, and I'll be lucky to bring home $1200, which is not reasonable math.
I'm also afraid that it will work. With no excuses I will have no choice but to stay there. Have I mentioned that I'm heinously underemployed? I will be working in a call center, hoping that after my six months are up I can be promoted to a "decent" job, meaning reasonably compensated low-level secretary. Making the jump from call center to executive is rather far-fetched, and I'm trying to be realistic here. I'm afraid that the process of "working my way up the corporate ladder" will mean that I'm underemployed for several years, slowly proving myself on each rung until they finally see fit to grant me a job that doesn't suck.
But then a lot of people go to jobs that suck every day. It's called life.
So basically I'm being forced into life. I've been living in the fantasy world where I was measuring my days in coffee spoons until my kids could be in school full time, then I would have been free for six hours a day to pursue happiness and fortune. I guess it's time to wake up. My "calling" can leave a message on my voice mail. It will have to wait. How long remains to be seen. Maybe childcare won't work out. Maybe it will. Maybe I'll climb the corporate ladder quickly. Maybe I'll scrape and claw the tedious path for years and years and tears and tears.
Maybe I should play the lotto more. Hey, I've got to find hope somewhere.
So if I may, let's raise our glasses and toast. Here's to good friends and the memories we share with them. Here's to dreams and they way they make the waking moments more livable. Here's to life and the challenges it brings. May all three find a way to be together every day, that we way love, dream, and still survive another day together.
And to all a good night,
Kimberly