Archives for October 2006

Got a sample of Downy Simple Pleasures Vanilla & Lavender free a week ago and decided that I would use it to wash up all the girls’ winter weather wear that I had to pull out of storage the other day. Can I just say this? This stuff? It stinks. The scent is migraine-inducing, and it’s STRONG. I had to toss everything back down into the laundry room to be re-washed.

Ick.

That’s what it says on The Princess’s Wednesday day-of-the-week undies: Wishful Wednesday.

Today, I wish I didn’t have seven loads of laundry to do. I’ve finally made a routine of my laundry, though – and stopped washing things whenever they pile up. Wednesday is my marathon laundry day. Today – there were SEVEN loads. Usually there is only six, but since Stepson was here for a week, I had all of his clothes to launder on top of the usual.

I wish someone else was making dinner tonight. I am so over cooking right now. Pumpkin was up at five a.m. and it was all I could do to heat a can of soup for lunch. So, tonight, we’re having waffles and hash browns and fruit. Because it’s easy. (Oh, and I wish Pumpkin would quit waking up at five in the morning!).

I wish I could’ve snuck more than 20 minutes of a nap in while Pumpkin slept this afternoon. It’s this nagging guilt thing – hard to sit still when there is a load of laundry needing to go into the dryer and there is a layer of Cheerios three inches deep on the kitchen floor. Sometimes, I really wish that I didn’t feel so darn guilty or concerned with “productivity”. I’m not expecting dinner guests, and The Princess and Hubby don’t seem to care if the counter is sticky (if they did, one of THEM would clean it!).

I wish so many of my colleagues weren’t losing their jobs. A friend of mine just had a baby and will return to work on the 30th… for four more weeks until the layoff takes effect. I did find out that my job is safe and that the letter I received was one massive “whoops” – but I know that my friend will be struggling – and that stinks.

But you know, for all my complaining, things aren’t so bad today. I’m tired, and it’s raining, and my sinuses feel like maybe a porcupine quill is stabbing them repeatedly – but hey, today, my problems aren’t so big. And I wish I could be content with my glass half-full, rather than looking at it half-empty.

Less than a week until my birthday!

(And the countdown begins!)

Tonight, I had to get out of the house. I had to get outside in the fresh air and the sunshine and go for a walk. Never mind that the Michigan/Michigan State game was on (Go Blue) – I wanted out. I walked, and I walked. On my second lap through the neighborhood, about a half mile from home, I just wanted to quit. I wanted to stop walking, sit on the curb and just wait. Wait to see if Hubby would realize I was taking too long and come get me.

I am exhausted. Not even so much physically, as Pumpkin’s fourth tooth has poked through and she is sleeping a bit better at night these days. Emotionally though? I feel like I’ve been put through the wringer.

I’ve been working from home since Pumpkin was born and while it has been a fantastic arrangement for me, it has also been a huge benefit to my employer. My employer announced in July that they would be closing our office, but I have been told from that point, the closure would not affect me. Informational meetings were held – I was told that as I was keeping my job, there was no need for me to attend. Employment agencies came in – again, I was told there was no need. Meetings were held for each employee and human resources to discuss severance – no meeting was ever scheduled for me.

On Wednesday, my colleagues received 60-day notice of the closure, and thus, 60-days notice of losing their jobs. While I was sad for them, I admit, I was relieved that I hadn’t received one. Hubby and I had postponed our closing on the financing for an addition on our home – and we rescheduled for Friday. Yesterday, we signed all the paper work. Construction starts next Wednesday.

Today, in the mail, I received my 60-day notice.

Instantly in a tailspin, I wrote to the man who signed the letter – a man whose name I have never heard and who probably doesn’t know me from any other person in the company. To find out I could be losing my job from a no-frills form letter that arrives on a Saturday (when you can’t reach the corporate office by phone, of course!) was just so typical. After emailing Mr. Labor Relations, I called the two closest people I have to supervisors – both of whom feel I received the letter in error. That’s a big freakin’ “oops”, people! Both women will be investigating this on Monday, but both reassured me that they need me on-board, know of no plans to let me go, and “take a deep breath, Sarah”.

I honestly don’t know what to believe. Come Monday, I may or may not like what I hear. And come December 4, I may or may not be out of a job.

Riding on the heels of a week with Stepson in our house, as his mom is out of state (and I’m not entirely sure I believe her story about where she is, but that is because I never believe her, because she’s usually lying), I have just about had all I can take. Stepson’s been here since Tuesday and will be here at least until Wednesday morning. Having one more person in the house is a tough adjustment – one more mouth to feed, and more difficult: one more person to clean up after. By Thursday, he’d adjusted to being here, and his attitude had lessened somewhat. Slow to adapt, usually the first 48 hours of his presence are the hardest – for us and probably for him. Though The Princess can throw a mean tantrum, I’m not used to back talk. And I don’t like it.

My in-laws have Stepson overnight tonight (see, I guess they are good for something), but I am so drained for the layoff notice that I’m too worn out to care. And I’m looking forward to Monday.

I love watching musicals. Could watch “Grease” a bazillion times (and not just for the John Travolta factor). The one thing that has always struck me as odd about musicals is how people will be carrying on a conversation, and then break into song for no apparent reason. Stuff like that never happens in real life. Or does it?

Tuesday, I took the girls to Target and as The Princess was a well-behaved little princess, I let her pick a toy from the Dollar Spot. She picked a pom-pom looking magic wand with sparkly streamers. She broke it in the car on the way home.

Later, as I was helping to twirl the streamers back around the stick to restore its magic and luster, The Princess, like any good musical star, broke into song:

My toy is broken already
It only cost a dollar
It was made out of plastic and paper
Oh, I should have picked something made of metal
Ohhhhhhhh, I should.
Haaaaaaaaaaave.
Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiicked.
Soooooooooooomething.
Made of metaaaaaaaaaaal!

Spoken (sung?) like a true Drama Queen.