Just Another Week on the Books

I try to stick with one theme for my blogs. But there is so much bouncing around in my head that the blogging horizon could be wide open tonight.

I started my new, low-paying job on Monday. This, with around 120+ employees, is the biggest company I've ever worked for. They are so big that websites are blocked, I can't even click on the headlines at Yahoo for the whole story. So I am completely in the dark about current events. I will not be logging on to my favorite blogs. I cannot hit the Channel 3 website back home to keep me up to speed on the going ons of my old stomping grounds.

This company I work for fills up storefront-type property downtown, like a less-glamorous Old Sac, but instead of facing the Sacramento River we face train tracks, in a charming way, not an old Roseville way. This company has filled in several spaces, with some stores in between, then we have more spaces, then a hotel, then more office spaces. I am not fortunate enough to be one of the employees that has their desk against the old brick wall with a mural. It's beautiful.

I am not quite as germ-a-phobic as Monk, but a runner up to Howie Mandel. On my first day, the human resources director took me throughout the whole company to introduce me to everyone. I shook hands with about half of the 100(ish) people that I met. How much soap does it take to get all those germs off of my hand? For that answer we'll go to Jack Nicholson's character in As Good as it Gets.

Today at 4pm they had 'beer hour' at work in honor of an employee's 10-year anniversary with the company. You don't see that a lot in California, no sucker wants to take on that liability. I quietly ate 2 meatballs, a handful of chips, and a cookie and was on my way. No one will miss the new girl. By the way, what clued them in that I'd be more interested in a soda than a beer?

Like anyone else who works a 40 (or more) hour week, I'm chanting the old T.G.IF., but my weekend won't live up to my hopes. Somehow it feels even more empty than usual. I am restless. The thought even crossed my mind of being the cool mom and gathering my kids from the neighboring houses and running off to do something fun tonight. But what? There's nothing to do. There's no family to drop in on. There's no Leatherby's. There's no Galleria Mall. There's no Lake Tahoe to drive to. There's nothing.

With this new week our little family is very much looking forward to the 1st day of school. Even at the ripe old age of 30 I still get excited about the new outfit (the one my kids don't even know I bought; for them, not me), the new shoes, the anticipation of meeting their new teacher and the excitement of picking out their new desk. After all these years, it's still exciting.