Weekend Ramblings

This week my company laid off a bunch of people. They laid off managers so I wasn’t worried. Brian is a manager and he is OK. There will be more cutbacks in the next couple of months. I’m not really worried. Even if I am laid off, I am not worried. I would get another job somewhere as a project manager. I think… could I stay home with my kids? My grandmother, who was born in the early 20’s in Austria, had my mom at the age of 18. At that time she lived in southern California. She was a beauty and was feisty and independent. By the time she passed away, she had been married 7 times. It seems she went through the first few husbands rather quickly and managed to have two kids per husband for 4 out of the first 5. Yes, she had 8 kids. I am not sure of the exact year, probably in the 50’s, she became a welder and that was her profession until her death at the age of 74. When I asked her how she became a welder, she said she always wanted to be able to support her kids herself and knew she couldn’t do it as a waitress. See this way, she could kick the men out of her life and continue to support her family. A few of the husbands she said she got rid of because she didn’t like the way they treated her kids. She was quite progressive for the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s and so on (although she ended up with an abuser in the 70’s but that’s a whole other story). I inherited a few of my grandmother’s traits including the desire to be independent… particularly financially. This line of thinking is completely independent of the longevity of my marriage or Brian’s willingness and/or ability to support our family. That’s not relevant to me but is normally the biggest factor in families deciding that one parent should stay home. I feel a little like a freak in that way. Now working part-time would be the best case scenario of all, and I hope to do that when Jack goes to kindergarten.

We were scolded by Jack’s preschool director for putting him in pull-ups. Brian was a little put off by this but I was glad for it because sometimes we need a push. Jack goes on the potty 100% of the time without being prompted or asked when he is bottomless which is why most people are greeted with a naked boy when they come to our house. When he wears underwear, all bets are off. So this weekend we sucked it up and have only been using underwear, even though we have gone out for hours at a time. I am so proud of Jack—he is doing great and is telling us that he needs to go and he has only had a couple accidents.

I am still going through my post-partum self-loathing phase. I went to the Nordstrom Anniversary sale and tried on lots to clothes and bought nothing. Is it just me or does every single top out there accentuate belly fat? I made myself feel better by buying clothes for Jack and Ty. I used to wonder why my sister would buy so many clothes for her kids but none for her self and this is why.

We went to Tatum’s birthday party which was quite the extravaganza. There was a pina colada machine and lots of yummy food. Kim was there on her holiday from China so it was great to catch up, even though we had to talk in the pool with a bunch of kids splashing and playing all around us. Annette tried to talk me out of plastic surgery and we had a debate on who had the worst post-partum look—a debate that will have to be resolved by flashing each other, something that Tracy was strongly encouraging us to accomplish before the night was over. Annette has a perfectly flat stomach which I am jealous of—otherwise we have similar builds. Pam was there with her soon to be fiancé Murray who blessed us with his in tune rendition of “Sweet Caroline” on the Karaoke machine. Nancy and Robert were there. Nancy is awesome is that she will do things here and there with the kids. For example, Jack said he wanted more lemonade and she took him over to the lemonade and showed him how dispense it. A few minutes later I saw him walk over there and help himself which was very cute. Robert was laid back and funny as usual. The kids had a great time and Brian looked after the kids while I got a chance to gab. I had to stop mid-sentence the four times that Jack announced that he had to go potty. A mad dash to the toilet would follow and we always made it, so I was really proud of Jack. Brian volunteered to take the boys home so I could stay and socialize, so I did for a while and Robert and Nancy took me home. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to chat with the hostess much but that is the downside of being the hostess… you get to say “hi” to everyone but not have a conversation of any length. Great party, Jill!