It
occurs to me, after receiving two phone calls from concerned
friends last night, that I haven't really explained what's
going on here. Sorry about being so vague about my work-life.
:)
The
scoop is this: I've been laid off and tomorrow is my last
day here at the office. After five-point-five years of web
design and development, the well has dried up and there isn't
enough work to keep me here full-time. This is the reality
of the situation.
I
am ok. Everything is ok. Life is ok. There are plans hatching,
and ideas brewing on the burner.
Really,
this has been a pretty positive experience. Doors may close,
but others do open. I truly believe that.
a
p.s.
Cindy, don't forget the Ode to Stay-Ups. :)
<wednesday
june 11, 2003 - 12:15 p.m.>
Today's
dollar store purchases:
A red umbrella for Sarah. It is red with little teddy bears.
She will be thrilled to bits. Rain is one of two Major Points
of Excitement with this girl. The other is transportation.
Whenever we drive somewhere she points out every single bus
and truck along the way. It wouldn't be so bad, but we are
forced to acknowledge every sighting.
"MUMMY! TRUCK!"
<ignore the outburst, continue with adult conversation>
"MUMMY! TRUCK! MUMMY! TRUCK!"
<attempts to ignore are failing>
"MUMMY! TRUCK!"
"YES SARAH, THAT WAS A GREAT TRUCK!"
Ponytail holders; one bundle of 24 in various shades of blue
plus another bunch of pink ones with opaque beads. I have
a problem buying hair accessories. I buy them on the pretense
they are for the girls, yet I will only buys ones that I myself
like to use. Mark already thinks we have too many. I can't
stop myself.
Hair bands - a pink Barbie one for Emma, and a pack of three
multicoloured ones (see explanation above)
A small container of fushia crafter's paint. This is furthering
my quest to add to the family art box.
Hammermill paper - a very nice linen stock, ideal for resume
writing/cover letters
A ring with faux fushia diamonds all around - good n' stretchy,
I can even wear it on my thumb, although now it is on my pointer.
Perhaps this is too dressy for work?
a
<sunday
june 8, 2003 - 6:15 p.m.>
BTW,
the face cream I alluded to in my last post is called Visibly
Even by Neutrogena, and Leah's cosmetics bible gives it
a thumbs up. I have decided that I can live with the scent.
-
So,
this will be my last week at the office. My last day is the
13th.
It's
pretty much official. After that I will be a stay-at-home
mom for the summer, maybe longer. Who knows what the future
has in store.
I
am trying to be positive about this huge (and rather unexpected)
change. But my fears, nonetheless, are these:
That
I will turn into a lazy track-suited mom, gain 100 lbs. and
feed my children Beefaroni while we're all camped out in front
of the television.
That
we will run out of things to do.
That
I will lose what's left of my patience.
That
it's going to rain every day.
That
my children will miss their friends and teachers at daycare.
That
I won't be a good mom.
That
I will be sucked into the vortex of motherhood and won't have
any opportunity to do my own things and as a result lose my
sense of self.
And
if I did have the chance to do my own thing that I would be
too tired to do it.
That
I will be a playground mommy with nothing interesting to say.
My mind having turned into gunk.
That
I will lose my edge in the world of work.
But
that's not going to happen, right?
Every
once in awhile there comes along a Really Good Day. These
are the kind of days that leave you pleasantly tired and excited
about life, the kind of days when your heart and your brain
cells all sigh a happy and collective, ahhhhhh.
I
left the house around 11:30. My destination was the Glebe.
This is a more affluent part of Ottawa, where there happened
to be an "Art in the Park" community arts festival.
Other
than an encounter with very bad traffic karma, both there
and back, everything else was peachy.
When
I first entered the park I was taken aback by the amount of
Birkenstock-wearers, and the number of older women with very
long free-flowing gray (and sometimes braided) hair. There
was also a large ratio of unconfined flowy clothing (capes,
muumuus, tie-dye,and the like), as well as tattoos and crazy
hair colours. Also observed: a middle-aged belly-dancer and
a tap dancer who was well into her golden years... but I got
over all of this soon enough.
The
park was full of original artwork, some bad, some weird, some
of it very good. There were a lot of paintings for sale, some
ceramics and glass, jewelry, photos... a lot of different
media but mostly paint on canvas.
I
took a long time wandering around. I got stuck at one booth
and agonized over a possible purchase of a small painting.
I actually left without buying it, walked all the way back
to the car and then changed my mind and went back to buy it.
I
couldn't leave it there, so I
bought it. The artist's name is Kathrin Von Dehn.
I
wish it was bigger. It's too small to make much of an impact.
Actually, I wish I could afford to buy one of the other larger
pieces. Some of them were really interesting.
I
spent a lot of time talking to various artists, also harvesting
some ideas for my own projects.
Next
crafty: the decoupage of a box. The seeds of an idea have
already been planted.
The
rest of my day was spent wandering, looking and trying to
keep my wallet in my purse. The Glebe caters to people like
myself. The Glebe is home to many many stores that are right
up my alley; The Papery (stationary, cards, lovely papers),
Sassy Bead Co. (beads, jewelry making things), Wallacks (art
supplies, more paper products), The Glebe Emporium (kitchen
trinkets, glassware etc) the Body Shop (soaps and other smellies),
Arbour (environmentally friendly goods)... I could go on.
Suffice it to say that this was my own shopping heaven.
Life
is good.
