Shopping, Picnics, and Work for the Unlucky

So, uh.... Happy Labor Day? It probably is pretty happy if you're off work today, but for those in retail and food service, I'm sorry. Yet another reason why I will be avoiding those fields like the plague once I set myself in the out of house workforce again.

This has been a very lazy, unproductive weekend for me. No picnics or parties or anything like that around here. It's been lots of pajama wearing, late nights, and lying around in bed. Sometimes those kinds of weekends are just fine. I get tired of the busy ones that go by without even seeming to have been. Those are the ones that make Mondays all the much more brutal.

Yesterday, John and I did go out for a little dinner. Nothing fancy, just a moment for me to get out of the house and away from the kids.

We're experimenting with leaving Hammy alone with his sister for very short spurts now that he's a big twelve years old. I wouldn't leave him home late at night or for anything longer than a couple hours, and I certainly wouldn't go far. I know I used to babysit when I was twelve, and I think he's just as responsible as I was, but times are a little different than they used to be. I don't even allow him to answer the phone (and he certainly can't answer the door!) unless it's us. Call Waiting is great. It helps that Booie is seven, so she's not hard to handle like a baby or toddler might be. They get along extremely well for siblings too. Even strangers comment on how nice my kids are with each other. I often feel like a crappy parent, but things like that tell me I'm not the worst there is.

Today we are actually going to go out and do a little shopping. We're out of black ink on the printer (hence the reason none of you have yet received your CDs... sorry!), so we have to pick up a cartridge. One of those keyboard cleaner things is in order too after I cleaned our computer keyboard a couple days ago. Blech! I want to stop by Michael's and get a couple die letters for my MIL's die cut machine. It's the least I can do when she's paying for my next scrapbooking workshop. It's the least I can do, even if it is only 1/4 the cost, since I have a 50% off coupon. Love those Labor Day sales!

Right now I have my hair in big curlers, just like those 50s housewives but without the scarf. I don't even know if I own a scarf. I used to have some, but I think they got thrown in one of the many Goodwill bags a long time ago, not that I'd have put one on now. I typically don't do my hair to go out to the store for piddly things. I just wanted to do something with myself.

Speaking of which, I finally went to the gym. I didn't work out or anything, but I got the tour and my five day free pass. I'll still get the special discounted membership rate too, even though I went in on the very last day of August. I plan on going for my first time to work out tomorrow. It will get me out of the house and away from the kids again. There's free child care at the gym. I don't want to be leaving Hammy in charge too much.

Only one more week to go until those boogers are in school. Though that is a very good thing, it also means that I'm going to start looking for a job. I haven't been in the outside work force since before Booie was born. That's more than seven years. Do I look nervous? I am. I have to buy some clothes too, which kind of peeves me, since I haven't lost any weight yet. I don't intend to stay this size. I did get that gym membership, after all. I'll just have to purchase some inexpensive stuff that doesn't look too cheap. Hard to do, but I think I can manage something. It's always fun to buy clothes, even if they are bigger than I want to be buying.

Maybe I should just type straight in the box here more often. I sure seem to be able to write a lot easier. I don't worry so much about how good it is. Might not be great quality, but it's something, which is probably better than nothing.