Calgon, Take Me Away!! ®

Ever have on of those days when you just want to take a nice long soak to wash away the tension you have been dealing with? Great, inexpensive therapy!! After all that “me-time” is taken care of and the tension is draining out with the bath water, you feel refreshed and ready to tackle on anything. Or so you think.

I don’t need as many of these kinds of days as I used to. I have a light class schedule next semester. That helps enormously. I was a full-time (12 credits) student the past two years. I don’t know how I got through it. I guess you just “do.” Time and tempers were getting short. I wanted to work on getting the best grades possible while being a full-time “supermom.” It was hard to manage my time. I used to spend all day at school trying to get as much possible done without any interruptions. That helped somewhat. I was under constant pressure, at school and on the home front. I am proud to say that I have a 3.9 GPA. (The only class that made me lose my perfect 4.0 was a typing class. I couldn’t type 48+ wpm to get an A.) I still make typos. I have bad typing habits. The best I can do is about 40 wpm. It was not enough to earn an A. I don't know how some people can type 100 wpm. Honestly. With no errors!! I would be concentrating so hard on the finger placement on the keyboard, it would actually slow me down. I have a Typing Instructor software that is collecting "cyberdust." I should start honing my typing skills again.

I’ve put a lot of time into my homework and the hard work is starting to pay off. I would only want to work part-time when I am done. It’s nice being home when the kids get home. I used to work 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. There were times when I had to work overtime. Then the starting times would be at six or five in the morning. After a good 30-40 minute commute with a co-worker, it’d be past four o’clock by the time I got home. So, it was nice being home more.

I feel another “Calgon” moment coming very soon. It’s not for stress or tension, but just to pamper myself. There are so many facets to my life (mom, wife, student, dare I say it-maid, etc). I have to be a friend to myself, too.

I hope that there’s a job somewhere, preferably within walking distance, where I could just work from 8 (or 9) a.m. to 2 p.m. If I have to work three 8-hour days a week, I guess I will just have to wing it. One never knows what the hours a prospective employer has in mind when an ad says “part-time.” Not always. I do hope that my future workplace will be very accommodating and flexible.

I really don’t relish the idea of staying home. I have worked steadily for a good 19 years before I went back to school. I really don’t want to stay home all day. I like being around people. I would go nuts staying home. This is odd, really, because when I worked, I wanted to be home. I guess I want it both ways. Part-time work would be the perfect medium.

A song by Reba McEntire comes to mind. I know that it is more about a woman who never worked. She married young, took care of her family, and wants to get out and work. Some people love being stay-at-home moms. Some miss the interaction with other adults. Same idea.

Is There Life Out There
(Susan Longacre/Rick Giles)

She married when she was twenty
She thought she was ready
Now she's not so sure
She thought she'd done some living
But now she's just wonderin'
What she's living for
Now she's feeling that there's something more

Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin
Is there life out there

She's always lived for tomorrow
She's never learned how
To live for today
She's dyin' to try something foolish
Do something crazy
Or just get away
Something for herself for a change

Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin
Is there life out there

There's a place in the sun that she's never been
Where life is fair and time is a friend
Would she do it the same as she did back then
She looks out the window and wonders again

Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin
Is there life out there

Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin
Is there life out there