My stint as June was short lived. The advertising agency that Michael was going to was a sham. They wanted someone "committed to the process" (that would work 12 hours a day for what averaged to less than 10 dollars an hour) and that wasn't "soft after not working at an agency for so long" (wouldn't say something about the 12 hour days without breaks) After all they supplied "lunches" (cans of spaghettios and soup or frozen dinners) And they were allotted two "breaks" (flex times is the legal jargon for it, which no one moved or did anything different... and no one used their 'flex time'... could it be because it was discouraged?) And they don't understand why they can't find the 'right person' (that would be okay with all of the above) They don't understand why no one wants to stay longer than a couple days, after all, if they just make it past the first week so they can have "benefits" (stock options, no health no dental, no visual.)
Corporate America is sick. I am going back to work. If they take me back. If not, I may try to get something local here so that I don't have to drive. One day, I swear to God. Corporate America Ideals will fall. We should have a union. The "ordinary peoples" union.
What would happen if everyone... EVERYONE went on strike for one day against the BS that is happening in our country.
BS that we don't have healthcare
BS that we don't have a covered college education
BS that we don't get a raise to match the oil
BS that we are tied to oil when the technology exists to do better.
BS that we don't care about the planet.
Is anyone else pissed off?
To all of you mothers and wives out there.
OMG. I never had any idea.
I love having foreign exchange students. They are so darling. I have experienced great karma when it comes to trips and adventures. Having the girls is just one of my ways of acknowledging this.
Michael has a new job (We are so grateful). And there has been some debate about me staying home. Several reasons including my neck and back health.
But the reality only took two days to settle in.
Between meals, and grocery store, and getting things washed and dryed and ironed, and going to work, and packing lunches, and trying to get 3 people and myself ready. I had no doubt that I wasn't up to the task of working and accepting more household duties (Michael's job is salary and has long hours and I've been spoiled with him staying at home while I work).
Things are piled up here anyways. You know the things at home that a woman thinks is important. Crazy. Crazy.
So, for the time being, I am June MF Cleaver. And I will enjoy it.
I have been actively pursuing my muse and picking up the bread crumbs of her existence over the last few years. Every bit of poetry that I can find I am putting in one compilation. Everyone has a poetry book. There has to be something out there that may want another.
Two books of sketches and about 27 poems recorded. I had to put them into notepad because Word was editing them into proper grammar and spelling and it was messing with my... flow. yo.
I've been editing the first chapter of ye olde novel.
And, I am working on my photography site. Can't wait for that to be done.
Think that I am done with having a women's group. Everyone has busy lives including us with our exchange students and I just don't have the energy to come up with anything.
That's about it.
Have a good week.
Houston, we have teenagers.
It is really interesting having people here that aren't raised the way that you would raise them, and have different cultures and habits. This works both ways. I have had to think about my responses before responding. I have had to think about myself at that age and try to remember what it is that I felt at that time. I have tried to remember what it was like to be in another country and not really know the area, or the culture, or barely anyone.
As predicted and expected... boys are calling. That is fine. I totally rocked two boy's worlds in an impromptu interview. I asked them to 'friend me' on their my space and their facebook accounts. I asked them what type of person would I find on those places, versus who was sitting at my table. I found out what their GPA was like, etc etc etc.
I am of the opinion that we can drop the girls off at the movies, and then we will pick them up at the movies, but they will not go with these boys. I caught them in a lie.
ha.
But I am not so stupid as to think that I should keep the girls under lock and key either. That will only inspire them to find a way to get out.
I have also been watching some shows about my space and face book and the willing self exploitation of girls. The violent subculture. The sneakiness. Now, I believe kids should have a private life, etc etc etc.
But, when one of my girls friends me on one of the pages and they have a profile picture looking right down the front of their shirt. And I don't mean subtly. I mean right down her shirt. Not cool. But I don't want to come across wrong. I don't want her to be ashamed of her body, I want her to understand that this is
not good for her self image. She is already super aware of herself in what I think is a critical way.
Plus, different table manners... like picking out all their favorite vegetable out of the community dinner salad. Eating all of that vegetable out of the fridge so that by the end of the week when I would like some, there is none there. Standing in front of the fridge and foraging. Not wanting to contribute to household chores (and we only have chores on one day a week... Saturday, Everyone on Saturday does one hour of housework... We don't ask for anything during the week, just that they do their homework.) Dragging their feet through the grocery store at a snails pace so that it can take forever. Not completing the one chore that you give them. etc etc. Teenagers. The cool thing is that I don't overreact. I just chill out, and communicate straight.
So, we encourage their independence. We encourage their desire to eat healthy, we encourage them to do well in school. We encourage the heck out of them. It's tough. But we love it.