Sunday, July 31, 2005

Weekend of fun

Well, this last week was a toughy. I have been doing a lot of thinking about my current employment situation and I have come to the conclusion that I need a change. I like my job but I do not like the work that I have sort of fallen into in the recent months. I love the people but this is just not me and does not come naturally to me. I prefer the insurance defense end. Some people find summarizing meds and depos incredibly boring but I happen to normally like it. You can find out some odd shit on people. Case in point - a girl that was, shall we say, impaled by a bar stool leg while in the course and scope of her employment as a "dancer." She fell off the stage because of her giant FMPs. Is that not some funny shit? Luckily she was not critically injuried but how many jobs does a person have where they can find that shit out????

Anyways, I have taken the very first tentative steps and seeing what is out there. I believe I have stated this before but I would love to work from home. LOVE IT. I am not one of those undisciplined people that can not sit and work for a few hours on end. I tend to work well like that. I can sit and work and then get up for a bit and do something else for a little while and come right back. I know what works well for me. I know how long I can sit and work and some days it is a long while whereas other days, I am more easily distracted. A formal work environment is not condusive to me getting up and folding laundry when I need a mind break. LOLOLOL. I doubt that will ever happen but I guess you never know, right?

Well, the week was long but the weekend was great. Friday was a trip of a day. I got to work a cool two hours late due to some accident on the bridge. (Yet another example of why I would kill to work at home.) So by 5 I was ready to hit the road. Got home, changed quickly and went down to Lafitte to pick up the nieces, C & D. They are 12 and 10 respectively. Very sweet girls and we always have a nice time with them. That night, the husband was at the station so the girls and I hit Walmart to do some major grocery shopping for the BBQ which was to take place on Saturday. After I dropped a large portion of my OT from the weekend I worked a while back, we came home, unloaded the stuff and it was fairly late. We sorta hung out for a little bit but then Old Mawmaw that I am had to hit the hay. The girls stayed up to watch a DVD and fell asleep a bit later. Saturday was one of those days that is effortless and fun and RARE. We had some friends come over, K&L with their kids, J, their 12 yr old daughter and K&J, their 9 yr old twin boys. The nieces and J hit if off almost instantly. We got to sit, hang with friends, eat great food (very little, if any, of it prepared by yours truly) and let the kids swim and play and generally be loud and you know, kids. Step-daughter, her boyfriend and best friend came over for a bit, but SD was not feeling well so she made it an early night. Everyone hung out well into the evening and by the time everyone left and we cleaned up a tad, it was bed time for me again. LOLOL. The husband went back to the station today to work an OT shift so the girls and I got up to the rain storm from hell. I had a couple errands to run which I planned to do prior to taking them home. No such luck. We ended up just grabbing a quick bite to eat and visiting their uncle at the station before making our way back to their house. I visited with the MIL and FIL for a bit and then headed home. I just finished doing some work and now am getting ready to chill out with the job listings and a magazine that I picked up at Target. It sounds like my weekend was jam packed but it was fun busy so that's always nice. Next weekend will be filled with work unfortunately so I tried to enjoy this time as much as I could, ya know?

Side note: It is more and more clear to me every day the damage that we can do to young people, specifically young girls, in saying random things to them. Let me illustrate. C is 12. Of course she is changing physically. She is fairly tall with beautiful reddish brown, loooooooooooong hair and the cutest sprinkling of freckles over her nose. She also has one incredibly deep dimple on her left cheek. In a word, CUTE. However, due to her age, she is getting a little bit more weight around her hips. IT'S NORMAL. IT HAPPENS. She is by no means even close to overweight. I have heard her mother on more than one occasion refer to her as fat and having a fat butt, etc. It makes me cringe. Now, D is tiny. Recently though, she has sorta gotten this little Pygmie type gut. No biggie. It can be she was just more lazy this summer or it could be her body beginning to change as well. However, again - not even close to overweight. She tells me that her dad (who is in jail - please don't even get me started on that shit) called her fat. I went "Darlin, I am sure he was joking because you are no where approaching fat. You look just the way a 10 yr old girl should look." Luckily D has a little more confidence than C so I think it rolled off her, but STILL. C really believes this stuff. It breaks my heart. I remember the things my well meaning family said to me and I was convinced that I was huge. Even being overly concerned with your own body as an adult sends a message to kids. Please realize that. I am not saying to indulge in 4000 calories a day and have your kids do the same, but please realize that a child at the age of 10 should not be concerned if a food is fat free. I just know how that made me feel. And here is the killer part - I look back at pics of myself at the ages when I felt the most huge - I WAS A REGULAR SIZED GIRL. I developed early and therefore thought I was huge. Hearing that your thighs rub together "just like all the women in the family" does irreparable harm to a young girl's psyche. Just bite your tongue. If your child is unhealthy and overweight, by all means, promote a healthy lifestyle but make your child feel beautiful. They look to you for validation. For the love of God, GIVE IT TO THEM.

Stepping off soap box and going to bed. Night night!!!!!

Elizabeth at 9:32 PM

5comments

5 Comments

at 6:18 AM Danielle said...: I am there with you regarding the job, I left early friday and spent time looking for new jobs, this place is driving me nuts. I am glad you had a nice weekend, always need that before "doing time" =work starts back up lol and you know adults shouldt say that about children, childnre usually dont even think about thre weigh like that. Till this day when I put on a few pounds ole grandma makes sure she lets me know.
at 8:10 AM Anonymous said...: Well said sista! So many young girls think their 'fat' and they are NORMAL!
at 11:07 AM Weetzie said...: glad you had a nice weekend. I agree with you about the girls and fat-I could climb on the soapbox too!
at 11:07 AM Annejelynn said...: AMEN!
at 3:55 PM racingpartsales.com said...: I wish adults would remember back to that age before they make a flippent or off hand remark. I can remember how one of my dads friends was drunk one time and called me an asshole and a couple other choice words. I had asked them to come and pick me up from basketball practice. It got moved from the middle school to the elementary a block away at the last minute. They had to leave the bar to come and get me. My dad who was also drunk said and did nothing. I lost respect for each of them that day. Dad has since redeemed himself in many ways, but I hated that other guy everyday until the day he died after that remark. He may not have even remembered it, but I did to this day almost 28 years later.