You Can't Touch This

Blog soundtrack:



Last night, we all assembled for the Cigna 5K run. I met Brenda in the lobby at “work” and she took me back to her office. Everyone in the now-laid-off writing department had left except for her; the place looked miserable.

For the last six months, there was definitely an air of uncertainty there, but yesterday, there was an air of “nothing.” When I sat in Brenda’s office, I looked for something that reminded me of “Brenda at work”, but the cat-of-the-day calendar, the basket of 67 gel pens, the candy dish, and all that was Brenda was gone from the office. All that remained were computers, monitors, piles of paper, a trash can filled to the brim, and Brenda. She had told me how she had kicked her sandals off earlier, put her feet up on her guest chair, and just sat there and looked out the window. And while doing so, a few people came by and voiced “What a shame” it was. And, it was.

At 4:30, Jeff, Amrit, Brenda, and I all congregated, climbed into Amrit’s car, and drove up to Manchester together, but not before Jeff and Amrit programmed the super-duper GPS in Amrit’s car. When driving, Jeff sat in the front with Amrit and told her all about his new job, while Brenda and I sat in the back of the car; and for lack of anything better to do, we poked fun at the GPS.

Well, it was not like the GPS was malfunctioning or anything like that. We thought about things the GPS might say in different scenarios like “Small animal in the road, swerve to the right…for God’s sake, swerve to the right before you flatten that poor bunny!” or “Take the next left. Are you listening? I said take the next left. Hello?!?!?!? The next left!!!! Do you hear me, you moron?!!?!?!?!?”

Anyway, we were giggling so much in the back seat, I felt like I was back on the track team in high school and we were traveling to an away meet. At any moment, I expected a truck to go by on the right and for Brenda to give the driver the “Honk your horn” sign or for a car of cute guys to go by on the left and for me to hold up my pad against the window, having written on it “You are so cute!”

Upon arrival in Manchester, we all climbed out of the car and headed up to the designated “work” meeting place. We got our chips, discussed the day’s depressing events, attached our numbers, discussed the day’s depressing events, went to the port-a-potty, discusses the day’s depressing events, and at 6:15, we headed to the starting line. At 6:20, the gun went off, and off we went!

I think we all did well considering. Tom had a PR. And the rest of us did well, considering we either hadn’t run for a while and/or were totally depressed.

I give Brenda a lot of credit. On the day I got laid off, I ran with the running group at lunch. But, unlike Brenda, I didn’t clean out my office, linger the whole day, and then leave to run in a race where I was running in the name of the company that had just laid me off. You've got ovaries, Baby, and that's why I love you! :-)

After the race, we went to Jillian’s, where Brenda, Amrit, and I changed in the bathroom. Here are the chicks, the jubilant Jean, the adorable Amrit, and the beautiful Brenda. Remember, we are sweaty runner girls here, but still MOST lovely and then some.



And, here’s Jean, Brenda, and Jeff. Note that we are still sweaty runner people here, though Jeff looks like nothing ever happened to him! How the hell do you men do that? :-)



We grabbed a table, and the rest of the team joined us. There we were – the employed and the unemployed—and we had a great time! While it was hard for those who lost their jobs that day, I think it was just as hard for those who had to go back to “work” the next day without those who would no longer be there. While the jobs are gone, we will always there for each other; they can't touch this.

While I’ve written here about finding something “good” about unemployment, I would be a liar if I didn’t say that every 9 days or so, I revert into a funk. While I hope all of us find jobs, I hope that all of you find something good about this time too, as I have. I swear everyone should get 6 months off every 5 years to revisit their life, most importantly, to revisit the life they are living.

Tangent Story As We Need to Exit from the Sad Blog Highway onto Levity Turnpike:
Last night, I saw Brenda’s brother, Bruce. He helped me get the interview I had last week at his company. Anyway, despite not getting the job, he mentioned that the receptionist, a very lovely woman with a Brit accent, said that I was a “classy lady.” Hey, I didn’t get the job, but I’ll take “classy lady” any day! He said, “I don’t know how she could tell that from just saying ‘Hi’ and ‘Bye” to you!” I then told him what the secret to “classy” is, though I shouldn’t just give this secret away to everyone, but what the hell! The secret is……………………………pearls. Is too!

My brother’s first wife, Pam, was the pearl girl. In fact, I think she turned me into a pearlaholic. I love pearls, especially pearls with little diamonds. Anyway, Pam wore pearls all the time. When I say “all the time”, I mean she even wore pearls (a long strand) with her t-shirts! She was die-hard about her pearls.

Anyway, to illustrate my point, I submit to you my evidence.

Exhibit A, Isabelle’s stuffed monkey (before and after):



Exhibit B, My foot (before and after):



Exhibit C, Monty (before and after):



Exhibit D, Bug spray (before and after):



Note: When bug spray wears pearls, it even smells like Hermes Eau Des Merveilles!

Exhibit E, Spatula (before and after):



The defense rests its case.
And, I would like to close by saying, everything looks better with pearls!
Well, Liam looks like Barbara Bush (see http://goddessofallthingslovely.blogspot.com/2009/07/things-to-do-with-your-cats-when-youre.html), but remember, we’re so not telling him that.

Life Imitates Art Movie Tangent: Was I the only one who saw “LA Story” and liked it? (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102250/) In the movie, there’s this freeway billboard that talks to the main character. Yes, really; hey, what’s a Steve Martin movie without a talking freeway billboard?! One of my favorite bits of dialogue is when a group of people are all ordering at a restaurant.

Tom: I'll have a decaf coffee.
Trudi: I'll have a decaf espresso.
Morris Frost: I'll have a double decaf cappuccino.
Ted: Give me decaffeinated coffee ice cream.
Harris: I'll have a half double decaffeinated half-caf, with a twist of lemon.
Trudi: I'll have a twist of lemon.
Tom: I'll have a twist of lemon.
Morris Frost: I'll have a twist of lemon.
Cynthia: I'll have a twist of lemon.

Okay, maybe this is one of those things you have to see and enjoy for yourself!

Anyway, today as I traveled to bring Nathan his wallet, I passed by two churches and each had something to say to me.



Son Looks at You Like You’re a Weirdo and Then Tells You Something Lovely Tangent:

Nathan is staying over a friend’s house tonight, so he needed some money to buy pizza when they went out. (I found his wallet under his pillow this morning; and if you speak to Nathan, that’s exactly where he intended to leave it – not!) I pulled into his friend’s driveway at about 5:30, and he came running out to meet me. I handed him his wallet and said, “I put $20 in there.” He said, “Thanks, Mom!” I then said, and I have no idea why, “Be good!” He rolled his eyes, gave me that look Iz did the other morning when I asked about the words to her cheer, and then he said without hesitation, “I love you, Mom.” Did I mention before that I love that boy? <3