|
My Profile
Retro-retrospection - 2008-10-06
|
8:05 a.m. - 2005-06-15
I woke up at 5:30 and just knew it was going to be a good day. It's an hour later and so far I've been proved right. Firstly, I'm not manic, but I am at the high end of normal. That leaden, draggy footed, oppressed feeling is off making someone else's world a dull sad place. I feel light. Light of spirit. Light of heart. And light of weight. I haven't lost anything recently, except those distorting lenses which make my reflection in the mirror into a bloated monster. The rest of my house would make the FlyLady proud, but the master bedroom is an unholy mess. Yet, this morning I unearthed the jeans I've been searching for, a clean pair of yoga shorts, and my favorite 'I (heart) NY' t-shirt. Surely signs of good things to come. If I had my druthers it would be a couple weeks in mania. I'm owed a nice long manic phase. Be handy too. With the party coming up and much to prepare being Zippy the Wonder Girl would be excellent. But I'll take what I can get and for right now not struggling through the dense murk of depression is pretty fine. The corn is up! Houston, we have corn. I'm stunned. Looks like every kernel sprouted. Now of course I have to go out there and yank most of them up. But I have corn! I knew going in that pollination would be an issue. I'm planning on pollinating by hand if possible. Did it on the apple tree and it worked. No reason why I can't fertilize corn. Yesterday brought 3 'Sorry, we can't make the party' RSVPs. All for the same reason, they are leaving on vacation. Jeeze. I was so stoked because Wolf's party is the day after school closes! Lunacy. Utter lunacy. The kid sheds his bookbag and in less than 12 hours he's bundled off into the back of the car for a road trip? These are the same kids who just got released from Little League, Scouts, travel soccer, gymnastics, tae kwon do, music lessons, and Sylvan Learning Center. Yo! These are children not performing poodles! Would the world end if they were allowed to veg out for a couple weeks? You know, run around the yard with bare feet? Ride their bikes? Chase cloud shadows? Watch cartoons? Climb a tree? The poor kids are being 'advantaged' right out of their childhoods. And for those who've been wondering, the NY state school year is the longest in the country. 180 days minimum. The kids start on the Wed after Labor Day and go until the end of June. Just another reason I pity Wolf's overscheduled classmates. Their school year is almost as long as most adults' work year. In a weird tangent I am reminded of the argument I had with the 2 German exchange students. Righteously convinced that Germans are the hardest working people on the planet, I rolled on the floor laughing. Even the lowliest German retail clerks begin their employ with 3-6 weeks paid vacation. Maternity leave is upwards of a year. Germany has about 80 holidays and the entire country packs up and goes to Majorca for the month of August. When I told them that most minimum wage jobs don't come with automatic vacation time, but if you stick it out for a couple years you might get a vacation day they gawped. Maternity leave (if granted at all, it's not guaranteed) is 6 weeks with no pay. Mid-level management positions get a week's paid time off, but only after you've worked for the company for the required minimum of months/years. Both of them were stupefied. Jan started stuttering with disbelief when I told him I got fired from one job for calling in sick. Not malingering for weeks on end, I got fired for taking ONE sick day. I'd had a miscarriage that morning and really wasn't up for a day of slaving over the grill at the Trendy Café. Fired my ass on the spot. Welcome to the USA, boys. Give us a thought during Fashing, won't you? Now I must make my hay while my mood shines. I might not be on top of the world, but it sure as hell beats my long tenancy in Death Valley. Perky, ~LA
|
