Personally:
We'll always have Paris is a line I think about frequently.
If you haven't seen the movie I won't spoil it for you
however to give it some context it's a man speaking to a woman about a
time that he remembers fondly. A couple of weekends ago my mother-in-law
invited my immediate family up to Green Bay for the weekend. Driving up
my husband and I got into a fight. Like most fights what we were
arguing about was a superficial triviality that didn't address the real
underlying issues. By the time we got to Green Bay I was emotionally
exausted and ill prepared to spend the rest of the weekend at the indoor
waterpark my mother-in-law decided my children would like.
My mother-in-law rocks:
Spending the weekend with my mother-in-law went much better than I
had anticipated since her goal was to spend time hanging out with her
grandchildren. She paid for everything explaining that this was our
family Christmas gift. Since technically I am legally separated from her
son I thought it would be awkward however she was very gracious the
entire time. One of the things I really like about her is that she
realizes no one is perfect, not even her only son. She took us out to
some great restaurants and the indoor waterpark was a blast. The girls
loved it especially when Grandma bought them new swimsuits at the hotel
gift shop. Spending time playing in the
water with my children was one of the best things we've done as a family
in a long time. Hopefully they'll always look back on that weekend as a
good one.
D I V O R C E is a seven letter word:
Earlier I spoke with my sister about over making the transition from
legally separated to divorced. Some part of me is reluctant to drive to
the courthouse by myself. My youngest sister said that she would go with
me which I really appreciate. She also found some apartments that she
thought might work for me. Moving out is a big step. It's not one I'm
sure I'm really prepared for but I think this is kind of like the
decision to have children: there's no good way to prepare for the
unexpected and regardless of how well prepared you think you are until
the baby is actually there all the current parents know more about how
to raise a child than you do.
Professionally:
Recently my district manager asked if I would be interested in moving
to another store. It's a smaller store in terms of square footage but
it's been an established shoe store for twenty years and our sister
store sells about ten percent more than the store I work at does. While
this move would be nice because it does move me slightly closer to home I
am apprehensive about it because I don't know the people who work there
well and what I do know of them I'm not sure I like. Recently my boss
made one of our part time holiday people a permanent member of our sales
team. He's come a long way since he first started as I'm sure I have.
Back to personal goals:
Recently I made a list of things I want out of life. It's been
gratifying to cross a couple things off that list. I've made some
changes and taken some small steps towards a better, healthier more
independent me. Every job has had something to teach me. Working at a
shoe store may not have been my ideal job when I took the position but
I've learned a lot about myself. The journey towards self fulfillment is
a long one. Being a parent is much harder than making sure you pull
good numbers down at work. Frustrations build up and I'm left with
figuring out mature ways to deal with people and situations that aren't
going away.
Reflecting on the past 23 months:
To digress slightly it's been almost two years since I joined this
website. During that time I've accumulated over 10,000 XP. I have about
that many private messages. Ten percent of them are from a
fled noder whose friendship I cherished. Sadly now I know that
internet friends come and go. The other day someone asked me to think
back on the day I joined E2. This person asked if I would still join
knowing what I know now about this website. In all honesty I don't know
what I would do. All any of us can do is try to make informed decisions
based on the information we have now. Today, tomorrow, yesterday, if you
are my friend and we met via this website I'd like to thank you for
being you. You are who you do best which is why I still love Everything2.