My brother, TommyMac, has inspired me to try this. I, like my talented sibling, am unemployed, by choice. I was unhappy in my job at a long term care facility. I am an RN, and I left my true love, labor and delivery 4 years ago to find a day position, as I was a single mom, trying to live a normal life for me and my then 7 year old daughter. Now, I am re-married, with a ten month old daughter, my 11 year old, and a 12 year old stepson, looking to get back to moms and babes.
I've looking for a job for a month now. I did have a phone interview scheduled, they did not call at the agreed time. We've been e-mailing back and forth, playing telephone tag. I think I've been blown off. For the first time in my life, I'm worried about not being hired. I'm now 40. Maybe being a nurse for 18 years is not a help, but a handicap, when new grads can be hired for a lot less. What is in the cards for me?
Until I find my new job, I'm enjoying my Full time jobs of wife, mother, and stepmother. Being a mother is fun, easier the first time around, but just as satisfying 10 years later. Elizabeth ("Lizzie") is much more active then her older sister was at ten months, or, maybe, God gives us amnesia in order to make us go through childbirth, babyproofing, toddling, and toilet training all over again! Lizzie can find any foreign object within hundreds of carpet fibers, despite daily vacuuming and sweeping. Then, said foreign object is in the mouth in milliseconds, and depending on the object (usually paper, her preferred pica object), my sweet daughter promptly vomits the object and the previous meal on the freshly cleansed floor. And then she smiles, a sweet toothless grin that makes me laugh and forget the bodily fluids I need to clean up, before she eats it! Trouble, trouble , trouble, that's her name!
Then there's Erin. My 11 year old, who, I know adores me, but these days, she doesn't say it daily, and quite frankly, thinks I'm every bit as weird as I was convinced my Mom was when I was 11. Erin is beautiful, funny, smart, and, unlike me, very popular and always receiving phone calls from her friends within minutes of getting off the bus. She adores her sister (she christened her Lizzie; my choice of Libby was "too old lady" her Miss Erin), and thank god for me Erin took the Red Cross Babysitting course! Now I know ALL the wrong things I do with the baby (funny, I let Erin sleep on her Boppy pillow until age 4, yet she did not die of SIDS!) She may be going through the rocky changes of adolescence, but I am proud of the person she is. She volunteers at her Dad's food pantry twice a month, always looks to help the less fortunate. She is one of my favorite people.
My favorite person, is my Neil. We married a year ago; yes, a Shot Gun Wedding!) Neil and I met while he was still married, to someone who treated him like dirt. The past year has been a whirlwind, and every day, I am grateful for my husband and the life we now have together. I also have my stepson Leo, age 12. Leo has had a difficult life, and he continues to have conflict and unhappiness. His mom is not happy with Leo's being part of a new family, and she is trying to limit our time with him. I am hoping that his being in a family with a mom and dad who work together, and not against each other will give him even a little bit of stability and security. Our struggles with Leo's conflict of loyalities would take up pages and pages. Some other day, not today.
Back to Neil. Neil cooks, fixes cars, is actually handy (he's an electrical engineer; I call him "Sparky"), nurses orchids back to health, treats me like a queen. He proposed the day after Valentine's Day, just to see how pissed I would be NOT to get a ring after cooking Penne ala Vodka on the Feast Day of St. Hallmark. That Febuary 15th ended a sad two weeks when I suffered a miscarriage. Then, a few weeks later, Elizabeth was conceived! A greater gift than any aquamarine engagement ring could be (did I mention, he REMEMBERED my moths of saying "no diamond, I want my birthstone!") He has turned me into a Kitchen Aid addict.
He treats Erin like his own, even when her father is unable to do so himself. He is amused by her, sometimes to her horror. He is a provider, a support when any of us are sick or hurt, and a great guy. As much as I dislike his ex, I am grateful she is how she is, otherwise, I would have missed out on this gem!
Okay, that's me and my family. Immediate family. My extended family could fill twenty blogs! But, alas, it is past my bedtime. I will try this again tomorrow, or the next day, we'll see!
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