My family and I went out of town this weekend to a friends lake house. While we were sitting around chatting, Jeff (lake house owner/friend) asked me what my plans were. As in "Dayna when are you going to get a job and what kind of job will it be" kind of plans. I gave him the answer I've been giving everyone. I have no idea. As most of you know I quit my job of 10 years at the hospital in May. Lets just say it was time for me to move on. I knew I was going to take the summer off and hang out with my kiddos since it had been 10 years since I had been able to do that. It was the most enjoyable summer I've ever had. However, the kids are back in school and I suppose I should be looking into finding a new job. The problem is I have no interest in doing it, nor do I have a clue what that job should be.
Truly I have very little interest in going back to healthcare. I love the area of labor and delivery, love being a doula, but actually working in a hospital or medical setting has very little appeal to me right now. I have a hard time seeing hospital administrators as anything more than blood sucking, money grubbing whores. Call me crazy but I really don't think I could go into a new hospital with the right attitude. Also I want to work less, as in part time only. It has been made very obvious to me that having a person home more during the week benefits everyone. So the question becomes "What do I want to be now that I'm a grown up?" I am lucky in the fact that I'm not the main bread winner of the family. No really, I understand I'm lucky so please no tirades about how I should be kissing the ground my husband walks on. I GET IT I PROMISE! With that luck comes some freedom to choose what I want and that freedom is overwhelming me. School? Maybe. But only if I can get a history degree and teach high school kids about the Tudor Dynasty or work at The Tower in the summers as a guide. Jewelry? I miss selling jewelry but have no interest in working retail at the holiday season. Try something new? Ok...but what?
So basically what I've decided is nothing. I'm going to pull a Scarlet O'Hara and think about it tomorrow. Today I'm going to enjoy the fact that my house is cleaner than normal, the laundry and grocery shopping are done and I have time to blog about it.
ps....if you have an idea, feel free to shoot it at me. I'm taking all suggestions!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Are 15 or 60 my only choice?
So picture this. I'm standing in Macy's between two departments. The Juniors section to my left, the Misses section to my right. My head bouncing back and forth between the two just looking at my options. 15 or 60. Twilight the movie or your twilight years. What kind of options are those?
Now let me preface this with the fact that up until a few months ago I wouldn't have even been in these sections. Over the last year or so I've lost enough weight that I moved from the Plus Size dept to the top end of the other depts. I remember thinking how great it was going to be to be able to shop at regular stores with my friends. I thought I would finally be able to find "my style" and not have to limit it to what I could find at specialty stores. Oh how wrong I was.
So I return you to the scenario I started out with - Me, Macy's, and the clothing tennis match. I was horrified to discover that truly I still had the same options I had in my old sizes. Either dress like you're going back to school OR dress like you are going to Shady Pines Retirement Village. I was disappointed to discover that when you are in your late thirties early forties fashion is almost impossible to find. They write endless stories in my dearly loved Vogue magazine telling us how once you hit a certain age you can't possibly wear (insert huge list of no no's) and you should be only wearing (insert huge list of very expensive clothing). Well thanks for the list but I live in the real world with budgets and children. So what is a girl to do? I don't want t shirts with humorous sayings on them like the ones my daughter loves. (Although, I must admit, one of my favorite t shirts is black and says "I'm not the girl next door I'm the bitch down the street") I don't want jeans with elastic waist bands. I want clothes that are appropriate for my age and yet have some STYLE to them. I want a cute sweater that is super classy and fun that doesn't cost me Burberry prices. I want the color of Betsy Johnson without huge lips or cherries on everything. I am not a Ralph Lauren Yacht Club kinda girl and yet I'm not Hot Topic either.
I look around and see that lots of women my age are in the same boat. When people say "She dresses like a Mom" could that be due to the fact that she can't find anything within her budget that looks any better? Could it be that the Mom uniform comes from lack of free time to search for hours online for something that isn't a tshirt, sweatshirt or jeans? Is it any wonder women my age start to have a battle within themselves? Wrinkles and bad clothing--what fun!
So I'm on a quest to find the Holy Grail of shopping. The Mecca of fashion on a budget. The yellow brick road to style. And best of all, I promise to share what I find. Wish me luck!
Now let me preface this with the fact that up until a few months ago I wouldn't have even been in these sections. Over the last year or so I've lost enough weight that I moved from the Plus Size dept to the top end of the other depts. I remember thinking how great it was going to be to be able to shop at regular stores with my friends. I thought I would finally be able to find "my style" and not have to limit it to what I could find at specialty stores. Oh how wrong I was.
So I return you to the scenario I started out with - Me, Macy's, and the clothing tennis match. I was horrified to discover that truly I still had the same options I had in my old sizes. Either dress like you're going back to school OR dress like you are going to Shady Pines Retirement Village. I was disappointed to discover that when you are in your late thirties early forties fashion is almost impossible to find. They write endless stories in my dearly loved Vogue magazine telling us how once you hit a certain age you can't possibly wear (insert huge list of no no's) and you should be only wearing (insert huge list of very expensive clothing). Well thanks for the list but I live in the real world with budgets and children. So what is a girl to do? I don't want t shirts with humorous sayings on them like the ones my daughter loves. (Although, I must admit, one of my favorite t shirts is black and says "I'm not the girl next door I'm the bitch down the street") I don't want jeans with elastic waist bands. I want clothes that are appropriate for my age and yet have some STYLE to them. I want a cute sweater that is super classy and fun that doesn't cost me Burberry prices. I want the color of Betsy Johnson without huge lips or cherries on everything. I am not a Ralph Lauren Yacht Club kinda girl and yet I'm not Hot Topic either.
I look around and see that lots of women my age are in the same boat. When people say "She dresses like a Mom" could that be due to the fact that she can't find anything within her budget that looks any better? Could it be that the Mom uniform comes from lack of free time to search for hours online for something that isn't a tshirt, sweatshirt or jeans? Is it any wonder women my age start to have a battle within themselves? Wrinkles and bad clothing--what fun!
So I'm on a quest to find the Holy Grail of shopping. The Mecca of fashion on a budget. The yellow brick road to style. And best of all, I promise to share what I find. Wish me luck!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
A Little Giggle
I do believe most of you know that the last month of my life has been insane. The English were here, we all went to Jamaica for a week, after sending them home I went to Montana for my 20th class reunion and then immediately went on a 3 day girls trip with my rock soul sisters. It was an amazingly fun yet completely exhausting month that I would do again in a heartbeat.
In the above mentioned month I was able to span 26 years of friendship. From The English whom I've known for 6 years now, to my best friends from high school who I've known for over 20, I found a common thread among them all. They make me laugh my ass off. I'm telling you I haven't laughed that hard in so so long and it was fantastic! From all the inside jokes to the "Oh no you didn't" stories that I might not have wanted to be shared, it was rib breaking hilarity. At my class reunion it was like a day hadn't passed between the girls and myself. We walked right back into 1990 and were happy to be there. The English and their "Fauncey" take on so many things. Then the girls trip which I'm positive has Joan Jett running scared from us. All of it was hysterical!
I started thinking about it after I got home from my month of crazy. THIS is what I love about my friends. THIS is what draws me to them. THIS=humor. We all need different things from our friends. Mine just happens to be laughter. I can't think of one person whom I consider a close friend who isn't really really funny and I love them for it. I do know I could go to any of them if I needed a serious shoulder to cry on, and sometimes do, but the fact that we make each other laugh is the basis of most of my friendships. I wouldn't have it any other way.
So thank you to my crazy, nutty, amusing, joking, side-splitting, merry, ADORED friends. You bring laughter to my life every day.
In the above mentioned month I was able to span 26 years of friendship. From The English whom I've known for 6 years now, to my best friends from high school who I've known for over 20, I found a common thread among them all. They make me laugh my ass off. I'm telling you I haven't laughed that hard in so so long and it was fantastic! From all the inside jokes to the "Oh no you didn't" stories that I might not have wanted to be shared, it was rib breaking hilarity. At my class reunion it was like a day hadn't passed between the girls and myself. We walked right back into 1990 and were happy to be there. The English and their "Fauncey" take on so many things. Then the girls trip which I'm positive has Joan Jett running scared from us. All of it was hysterical!
I started thinking about it after I got home from my month of crazy. THIS is what I love about my friends. THIS is what draws me to them. THIS=humor. We all need different things from our friends. Mine just happens to be laughter. I can't think of one person whom I consider a close friend who isn't really really funny and I love them for it. I do know I could go to any of them if I needed a serious shoulder to cry on, and sometimes do, but the fact that we make each other laugh is the basis of most of my friendships. I wouldn't have it any other way.
So thank you to my crazy, nutty, amusing, joking, side-splitting, merry, ADORED friends. You bring laughter to my life every day.
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