Yes, I am no longer venturing out on the road for work. Do I miss it?? You bet your butt I do!! The money was great and I didn't have to clean up after myself or my kids. But, life being what it is, I realized that my kids needed me at home more than I needed my sanity.
I did find a job here in this small town I now live in. At a pharmacy, delivering and clerking. Yup, I hated it. I loved the people I worked with and for, but I'm just not cut out for retail. I wanted to strangle too many people on a daily basis. Oh, I did get my jollies now and then. Like the time a young man came in to buy the "morning after pill". For a "friend". It's also known as the "Plan B" pill. As he was leaving, I couldn't help but tell him that next time he should probably try "Plan A"....we sell condoms too!
So I only lasted in that job for about 6 months or so. No, I didn't get fired. I quit before I let my mouth get me in trouble. Now I am among the unemployed. Yes, I am trying to find a job and I have high hopes of landing one more appropriate to my mental state. I also have a "plan B", which is to attend school so I can go back to working in the nuclear power field with a better job. Although, I would rather get the job I'm hoping for here close to home because it has benefits and retirement. Really gotta have those these days.
So my life has become rather mundane. I love being with my kids. I love that they are active in school and have many friends here that keep them busy. It keeps me busy too.......the cooking, cleaning, laundry, pets, and yard. Not to mention the hubby coming home now and then to visit and get his laundry done. Yep, my life is ordinary.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Living on the Road
I am now officially a "road whore". OMG.....does that sound bad or what?? What I mean by that is, I now have a job that forces me to travel. A lot. And I love it.
It all started when my husband came home and told me that a guy at work was starting a school for Radiation Protection Technicians. I would learn the job, get a job, and be able to travel with him for the Nuclear Power Plant outages. I jumped at the chance. Where else could I go to school for two months and have a job that makes enough money in the spring and fall of each year that I would be able to take off work and spend summers and the holidays with the kids??
My first job was at the power plant in Nebraska. The one my husband had been working in since September of last year. I learned a lot at that job but I wanted to learn more at other plants. So I accepted a job in New Jersey. Different place altogether.....and not just the difference in the way these power plants operate.
Most of my life, I've lived in the south, worked in the south, and have become accustomed to hearing southern accents. In Nebraska, there is a large amount of southerners working at the power plant. In New Jersey, however, I feel like I have been thrown into an episode of "The Sopranos". "Yo, where you from?"
OK....so it's not really that bad.....there is one girl here from south Georgia. And I'm not really sure if her accent is really that thick, or if I've become unused to hearing it. Whatever the case may be, she sure does stick out in a conversation. And I used to think my slight southern twang was bad.
I hope I can get my husband to come up here in the fall to work.......his accent would be noticed. LOL
Well......I'm looking forward to being home for the summer.....and can't wait to see what lies ahead for the fall. Us "Road Whores" will be back on the road again.
It all started when my husband came home and told me that a guy at work was starting a school for Radiation Protection Technicians. I would learn the job, get a job, and be able to travel with him for the Nuclear Power Plant outages. I jumped at the chance. Where else could I go to school for two months and have a job that makes enough money in the spring and fall of each year that I would be able to take off work and spend summers and the holidays with the kids??
My first job was at the power plant in Nebraska. The one my husband had been working in since September of last year. I learned a lot at that job but I wanted to learn more at other plants. So I accepted a job in New Jersey. Different place altogether.....and not just the difference in the way these power plants operate.
Most of my life, I've lived in the south, worked in the south, and have become accustomed to hearing southern accents. In Nebraska, there is a large amount of southerners working at the power plant. In New Jersey, however, I feel like I have been thrown into an episode of "The Sopranos". "Yo, where you from?"
OK....so it's not really that bad.....there is one girl here from south Georgia. And I'm not really sure if her accent is really that thick, or if I've become unused to hearing it. Whatever the case may be, she sure does stick out in a conversation. And I used to think my slight southern twang was bad.
I hope I can get my husband to come up here in the fall to work.......his accent would be noticed. LOL
Well......I'm looking forward to being home for the summer.....and can't wait to see what lies ahead for the fall. Us "Road Whores" will be back on the road again.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
music and me
There are so many songs in my life that tell my life. I look them up on youtube to remind me of my life. It's kind of weird to think of my life in music...or song....but when you think about it, how many of us don't do that?
There are songs that remind us of our youth.....what we consider the "classics". Yet our elders may consider these same songs as songs of their "coming of age".
I was born in the early 60's, so I consider the songs of my youth as those of the 70's, the songs of my "coming of age" as those of the 80's, and the songs of my growing up years as those of the 90's.
I haven't been able to accomodate the songs of the 2000's yet. I like a lot of them, but just don't know how to "label" them.
When I was a young girl, I believed the words the songs told me. I belived I would find true love, I belived I could win when the world was against me. I believed that love would overcome the tyranny of government rule.
When I was coming of age, I believed that I could make a difference in this world by spitting on my former "love conquers all" beliefs. I still belived it, but the "hippies" let me down. They began selling out. I still wanted to believe that love would make this world a better place. I became antagonistic towards the "love" they were selling.
I became sarcastic. An unbeliever. Anarchist. Love doesn't mean shit unless you can put a slap behind it. Fuck the government, censorship is for assholes, and we don't need you to tell us how to behave.
It got old. It's too hard to be hateful, despised, wrong. The government is made up of it's people. I am one of it's people. I may not agree with it, but I have to work within it.
I sometimes wonder now if I am missing the beat of the people. I don't have the time to listen to music as often as I did. When I do, I feel out of place. I long for a simpler, easier time. I long for my youth.
I long for a time when we can all understand, love without guilt or remorse, be who we are without hesitation, and give to each other without holding back.
Maybe that's what I saw in those songs of so long ago.
There are songs that remind us of our youth.....what we consider the "classics". Yet our elders may consider these same songs as songs of their "coming of age".
I was born in the early 60's, so I consider the songs of my youth as those of the 70's, the songs of my "coming of age" as those of the 80's, and the songs of my growing up years as those of the 90's.
I haven't been able to accomodate the songs of the 2000's yet. I like a lot of them, but just don't know how to "label" them.
When I was a young girl, I believed the words the songs told me. I belived I would find true love, I belived I could win when the world was against me. I believed that love would overcome the tyranny of government rule.
When I was coming of age, I believed that I could make a difference in this world by spitting on my former "love conquers all" beliefs. I still belived it, but the "hippies" let me down. They began selling out. I still wanted to believe that love would make this world a better place. I became antagonistic towards the "love" they were selling.
I became sarcastic. An unbeliever. Anarchist. Love doesn't mean shit unless you can put a slap behind it. Fuck the government, censorship is for assholes, and we don't need you to tell us how to behave.
It got old. It's too hard to be hateful, despised, wrong. The government is made up of it's people. I am one of it's people. I may not agree with it, but I have to work within it.
I sometimes wonder now if I am missing the beat of the people. I don't have the time to listen to music as often as I did. When I do, I feel out of place. I long for a simpler, easier time. I long for my youth.
I long for a time when we can all understand, love without guilt or remorse, be who we are without hesitation, and give to each other without holding back.
Maybe that's what I saw in those songs of so long ago.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas in the Park
Christmas in the Park. Ah, the wonderful images that provokes when one hears those words. But, my friends, I must dispel any quaint images of snow covered pines and gingerbread houses. My park is full of trailers and RV's. Oh, yes.....our Christmas was endured in a 27 (Oh, excuse me.....my husband's ego gets fully bruised here)....I mean, 28, foot travel trailer.
We have been living in it since early August. And not for the first time. It is our home when my husband is working. And since we really haven't had any place to call "home" in quite some time, it's the only home we have.
My two youngest sons have come to stay with us for the holidays. Living in a small confined space with two teenage boys is a lesson in tolerance. There is no "hiding away in the bedroom", no "go to your room" when you're mad at them, and no "both of you separate and leave each other alone". Especially when it's cold enough to freeze a wooly mammoth's balls off outside. You just gotta learn to bite your tongue, count to 50, and hope one of them gets invited to a friends house.
My husband and I finally got tired of them asking if they could open their gifts "today", so we let them open them a couple of days before Christmas. The gifts were not out in the open, there was no tree in which they sat beneath beckoning to them. They were in the trunk of my car. It was the only place I could put them so that we would have room for everyone to move around in the "house".
The gifts got opened, the new laptops got booted up, the new airsoft guns got tried out.....and then the boredom set in. One day. ONE day. That's all it took. Teenagers. Gotta love 'em.
As for me......Christmas in the Park was kinda nice. My pesky neighbor was gone for the holiday and I got to be a Mom again for a while. My kids might get on my nerves, but I sure do miss them when they're gone.
We have been living in it since early August. And not for the first time. It is our home when my husband is working. And since we really haven't had any place to call "home" in quite some time, it's the only home we have.
My two youngest sons have come to stay with us for the holidays. Living in a small confined space with two teenage boys is a lesson in tolerance. There is no "hiding away in the bedroom", no "go to your room" when you're mad at them, and no "both of you separate and leave each other alone". Especially when it's cold enough to freeze a wooly mammoth's balls off outside. You just gotta learn to bite your tongue, count to 50, and hope one of them gets invited to a friends house.
My husband and I finally got tired of them asking if they could open their gifts "today", so we let them open them a couple of days before Christmas. The gifts were not out in the open, there was no tree in which they sat beneath beckoning to them. They were in the trunk of my car. It was the only place I could put them so that we would have room for everyone to move around in the "house".
The gifts got opened, the new laptops got booted up, the new airsoft guns got tried out.....and then the boredom set in. One day. ONE day. That's all it took. Teenagers. Gotta love 'em.
As for me......Christmas in the Park was kinda nice. My pesky neighbor was gone for the holiday and I got to be a Mom again for a while. My kids might get on my nerves, but I sure do miss them when they're gone.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Regular Shopping During Christmas
So I needed to pick up a few things and decided to go to Wal-Mart. This is kind of a big deal since the closest Wal-Mart is 20 miles away. The drive is nice, listening to music, just chilling. Get to Wal-Mart and the parking lot is jammed up with cars.....so I park sort of far out in the parking lot. No problem, I could use the excersize. I step over the nasty gum and even nastier wad of chewing tobacco that some dorkhead thought everybody would love to see and head toward the doors.
Enter the door and have to wait about 30 seconds on people standing around talking so I could get to the carts. I grab a cart and (of course) have to wriggle and wrangle it out of the one it seems to be mating with. Take off with my pissed off cart (they get like that when you iterrupt mating season) and the wheels start wobbling and squeaking. Say hello to the door greeter who seems to have nodded at me but I'm not sure if it was in greeting or just because she was falling asleep. I head toward the grocery section having to detour around people standing staring at the products on the shelves (wondering to myself if they are planning to buy or merely in a trance) or standing around talking to other people. I get to the aisle for the item I need only to see that there is a couple (both with carts) having a very long conversation centered in front of the item needed. I waited for a few minutes before saying, "Excuse me", where they promptly crab-walked their carts to the side of the aisle directly in front of the item. I then give them that look. You know, the one that says "Really? Like you can't take this outside?". I once again repeat my aforementioned plea of "Escuse me", where they part like the red sea leaving me about 6 inches of space to bend down too close to areas I don't want to touch must less think about to retrieve my item.
I head off to go find the next item I need. Get to that aisle and ....aarrgh!! It looks like I stumbled into "HoverRounds on Parade". I wheel my cart through the mass of people who are free to see the world, wishing they had decided to see another part of the world before seeing Wal-Mart, and was lucky enough to find the item I needed was free and clear of loiterers.
By now, I had just about decided to abandon any hope of tackling the search for one more item but I decided, what the heck. So I head off toward the electronics section......OMG!!! Don't EVER go there near Christmas time. I thought I was in the middle of Times Square on New Years Eve all done up redneck like!! I abandoned all hope. I forced my squeaking wobbly wheeled buggy towards the exit to find 50 people in line for the only 3 cashiers available.
I finally was able to pay for my less than happy purchase and head out the door. I got back to my vehicle where I noticed my shoe seemed to be sticking to the ground. Yup, I did. I stepped in the darn gum.
Enter the door and have to wait about 30 seconds on people standing around talking so I could get to the carts. I grab a cart and (of course) have to wriggle and wrangle it out of the one it seems to be mating with. Take off with my pissed off cart (they get like that when you iterrupt mating season) and the wheels start wobbling and squeaking. Say hello to the door greeter who seems to have nodded at me but I'm not sure if it was in greeting or just because she was falling asleep. I head toward the grocery section having to detour around people standing staring at the products on the shelves (wondering to myself if they are planning to buy or merely in a trance) or standing around talking to other people. I get to the aisle for the item I need only to see that there is a couple (both with carts) having a very long conversation centered in front of the item needed. I waited for a few minutes before saying, "Excuse me", where they promptly crab-walked their carts to the side of the aisle directly in front of the item. I then give them that look. You know, the one that says "Really? Like you can't take this outside?". I once again repeat my aforementioned plea of "Escuse me", where they part like the red sea leaving me about 6 inches of space to bend down too close to areas I don't want to touch must less think about to retrieve my item.
I head off to go find the next item I need. Get to that aisle and ....aarrgh!! It looks like I stumbled into "HoverRounds on Parade". I wheel my cart through the mass of people who are free to see the world, wishing they had decided to see another part of the world before seeing Wal-Mart, and was lucky enough to find the item I needed was free and clear of loiterers.
By now, I had just about decided to abandon any hope of tackling the search for one more item but I decided, what the heck. So I head off toward the electronics section......OMG!!! Don't EVER go there near Christmas time. I thought I was in the middle of Times Square on New Years Eve all done up redneck like!! I abandoned all hope. I forced my squeaking wobbly wheeled buggy towards the exit to find 50 people in line for the only 3 cashiers available.
I finally was able to pay for my less than happy purchase and head out the door. I got back to my vehicle where I noticed my shoe seemed to be sticking to the ground. Yup, I did. I stepped in the darn gum.
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