I had lunch today with a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile and we talked about where we were professionally at this stage in our lives, and where we wanted to be in the future. I confided that I’ve been going through a tough time, struggling with the imbalance I currently feel in my life.
I had hesitated to book the trip to Vegas. But I booked it. And I was really, really excited about it. The big day arrived quickly, and it was finally here this morning. We were scheduled to take an 8AM flight to Sin City. But the snow got in the way. And even though the snow stopped falling early yesterday morning, the airports were still barely functioning this morning. And our flight was just one of the thousands of casualties.
It’s elusive. I often wish I had a sliding door in my brain so that I could simply shut out work when I wasn’t at work. Sadly, however, I don’t have such a door in my brain. And sadly, unlike Bill Clinton, I’m horribly bad at compartmentalizing.
I had to come home early today to meet the girls at the bus. It was nice to play a little hooky on a Monday. Chloe spent some time performing mother’s helper duties next door and I spent some time hanging with my Sophie – in between answering emails and phone calls for work – and giving her a much-needed bath.
I want to write. I want to do something creative. I want to have my own store (I’m still hooked on the idea of a children’s bookstore). I want to be my own boss.
I am obsessed with the idea of taking the girls to France next summer. Not just for two weeks, but for the summer. I want them to really get to know their father’s country.
Sophie had a talent show at day camp today. Of course, parents were invited to attend. Of course, I had no intention of attending and conveniently forgot about it until I parked the car in front of the camp this morning and Sophie said, “Mommy, my talent show is today. Are you and Papa going to come?” I then did the unthinkable. I rolled my eyes. A lot. And I turned around, looked my daughter in her pools of brown eyes and responded, “No, sweetheart. I have a busy day at work and I don’t think I am going to be able to make it. Besides, I go to all your school shows and camp shows just aren’t as important.”
One work week down, and it’s official. I have managed to avoid the computer every night after work until the girls go up to bed.
In my ongoing effort to stay away from the evil empire of computers, we’ve been playing lots of card games. The recently learned French games, like “Trou d’Uc,” as well as more traditional American games, like gin rummy. Chloe wanted to learn poker, but that’s not my forte. Blackjack, on the other hand…
I looked at the front page of the NY Times today and saw an article that resonated a little too much with me. The headline: “Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price.”
