Living in a Dream

Those of you who actually remembered that I started the new job this week, and took the time to write and ask how it was going, I love you with the warmth of a thousand suns, or, you know, a lot. What can I say? That kind of stuff impresses me.

I have to say, so far, the dream job has been darn right dreamy! My first day of work I came home with these...


Big Bro and Little Bro asked their mom if they could pick some for me from their yard!

When all four of them were together, I felt like a celebrity. "Jen! Hey, Jen! Over Here! Look Here!" Big Bro and Little Bro wanted me to throw the frisbee, Big Sis wanted me to watch her climb up the slide, and Little Sis wanted me to watch her swing. Luckily, I'm very rarely with all four, because my old, can't-do-what-it-used-to body would be exhausted after a whole day of that much activity!

Speaking of my old body, I felt it would be a good idea to do cartwheels with Big Sis the first day. Yes, I said cartwheels. Can you say acute denial and a pyschotic inability to act one's age? I think that would be my diagnosis. My wrist has been sore ever since.

I spend most of my time with Big Sis and Little Sis. Little Sis is so darn cute, I had to keep internally reminding myself not to hug her. She only just met me, after all.

Big Sis celebrated her 5th birthday on my 2nd day of work. When I asked her what she thought she might be getting, she said "I hope I get some balloons, and a purple and pink purse!" Not a list a mile long, just that. Sure enough, she was very excited to show me her balloons and the purse filled with girly stuff the next day. She made a formal, and extremely cute presentation of her gifts. "This is the purse that Big Bro picked out for me himself...and I love it...and it has all this stuff in it...and I will tell you what is in it now..." After that, she started presenting the balloons, one at a time, explaining them as she went, as if I didn't have the foggiest clue as to the concept behind a balloon. "This one says H.a.p.p.y. Birthday, which is Happy Birthday to me...this one is a butterfly and if you do this, it will fly...this one has fairies on it..." I had to stop her at that point. "Fairies?", I asked, incredulously. It was a pink balloon with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocohontas, and Belle on it. I said, "Those are Princesses, aren't they?" "Oh, are they? I don't know. Do you know who they are?", she asked, her big eyes looking at me sweetly. "Well, yes, I do. This one's name is Belle, this one is Cinderella,"etc. Then she asked me, "Which one do you like?" "I guess Belle is my favorite", I replied. "Is that the one you would want to be?", she questioned. "I guess if I had to be one, I would be her. What about you?" She answered, "I don't think I'd want to be any of them. They look kind of funky". (Julia, please pick your jaw up off the floor now, she really did say that!)

The mom is SO nice, always positive and friendly, and talks to me as if she is talking to a friend, not hired help. I spend the majority of my time outside in their huge yard, playing. I get paid to PLAY and be outdoors, what could be better?

It's not all positive, though. There is one negative to this job. It has something to do with an annoying green monster called ENVY. I never thought of myself as materialistic. I couldn't care less what the label says on my clothes or what store I bought them from. I have no interest in fancy cars or expensive shoes. But, after spending the day at their beautiful huge home, with amenities galore, it is difficult to look at the houses that we are hoping to move into. It's like this... If you were told you were going to eat this for the rest of your life...

you might say, "Well, great, that looks delicious!" But, you probably wouldn't say that if you were spending your days eating like this...

*(I don't really like to eat meat that much, and I've never even tried lobster, but this was the easiest way to illustrate my point).
See what I mean? I was the one who was always telling my husband, "Money doesn't buy happiness, you know?!" Lately I'm thinking the dummy who first said that probably didn't have money and was just trying to make himself feel better. Geez, that's horrible. I need to have a chat with my therapist.