My "Happy Mommy Moment" Today

Occasionally, I experience what I refer to as a "Happy Mommy Moment." It's just a fleeting second when something happens that remind you how totally glad I am to be a mommy, and especially to be the mommy of my wonderful child.

Today, on the way home from getting Kaleb from daycare, we stopped in at Publix to pick up a few things. As we walked up to the store from our car, I was holding Kaleb's hand and letting him walk in the parking lot with me like a big boy....he's heavy, and the lot wasn't very busy.

Anyhow, the sun was shining brightly on our backs, and it cast our shadows in front of us, so that we were always about to step on our own shadows. I glanced down, and saw this perfect shadow, of a child and mother walking together holding hands. It was like the live version of those photos you see on Mother's Day greeting cards. The sun was bright and unobstructed, and cast a perfectly clearly defined shadow of my child and me.

In that moment, I wished we could just stand there and admire our shadow for hours.....but it was hot, Kaleb was tired, and we were in the middle of the crosswalk. So, we went in and did our shopping. But, the precious image of our shadows is lingering in my mind's eye, and I love it!

The People I've Met at Work So Far

So, the Census Bureau is turning out to be quite the place to meet a variety of new people. Here's a little description of the people I've met so far:

Department Management:
1. The sweet, soft-spoken daytime supervisor in my department.
2. The funny, good-natured evening supervisor in my department. Awesome, sarcastic sense of humor.
3. The apparently bipolar manager...pounding his fists on his desk one minute and cracking jokes the next. Don't like either of his personalities.

The people who started in my department when I did:
1. The other big girl....I like her a lot! Excellent sense of style, very pretty girl. Efficient worker, pleasant conversation.
2. The "Daria" clone. Monotone, Daria look-alike. Anti-social. Productive, but just enough to avoid looking lazy. Also, seems to be incapable of parking properly in a straight parking spot. Luckily, I haven't parked next to her.
3. The middle-aged, single gay guy trying like hell not to let on he's gay. I think he knows I've got him figured out. He's a nice enough guy. Really ought to try short sleeved shirts as a possible solution (or at least a help) for his excessive sweating.
4. The 50-something forever-single guy living in his mom's basement. Ok, so we don't have basements in Florida....making him the guy living in his mom's spare bedroom. I can picture this guy being the world's oldest WoW addict. He's nice enough, but about half the time he talks in his (scarily accurate) Yoda voice.
5. The Lenny Kravitz wannabe. Same look, but with a lazy"God's gift to the world" attitude. Spends most of his day flirting with the women in the office, while simultaneously bragging to the guys about his "hot" girlfriend. Instead of describing things as "cool" or "awesome" or "neato," he calls everything "sick." It makes me sick.

Other people working in my department:
1. The self-proclaimed Wicca-Jew. Aside from her extreme religious confusion, I really like this chick! She's cool, fun to talk to, and does her job well. Considering what I know about her life outside of work, I'm amazed at her positive attitude!
2. The robot girl. Works at super speed, knows the job inside and out. Speaks only when asked a question about work procedure, and then only to give the shortest possible answer without any unnecessary elaboration.
3. The "Quagmire" (think Family Guy). 'Nuf said.
4. The pregnant white-trash slut with unending verbal diarrhea. Raised her boyfriend's 3 kids (from 3 other mothers), got pregnant, and he left her. But she's confident he'll take her back once the baby is born in September and she gets her life all straightened out again. She says things like "anybody messes with my family and I'll take a Louisville Slugger to their knees" and I don't think I've heard her utter a sentence without a curse word. I do whatever I can to not work near her, as she is hands' down the most annoying coworker I've ever had.

New recruits coming in next week.....

Don't Go Fishing for Compliments!

Conversation I had earlier this evening with a friend who lives a couple of hours from me (via Yahoo messenger):

Friend: I found my perfect wedding dress!

Me: That's great! I'm so happy for you!

Friend: Did you see the pics I posted of all the dresses I tried on at the Bridal Expo?

Me: Yes.

Friend: Well, what did you think?!

Me: You looked very excited!

Friend: No, no, I mean what did you think about the pics?! You didn't leave me any photo comments!

[Let it be known that this friend posted photos of herself trying on no fewer than 25 different dresses, all of which I thought to be quite hideous. So, I had chosen to post no comments, as I had nothing nice to say about any of them.]

Me: Well, I didn't really have anything to say worth leaving a comment for.

Friend: Can you guess which on I picked?!

Me: I have no idea. They were all so different from one another.

Friend: Ok, well, which one do you think was the best?

Me: Well, if I had to choose one....

Friend (before I could finish): I know it's hard to pick one when they're all so awesome!

Me: Well, I guess I'd have to pick the one in photo #8.

Friend: Oh, that's the one you like too?!?!

(Thinking to myself: It's the least atrocious of them all.)

Friend: That's the one I BOUGHT!! Don't you think it's the most beautiful thing ever?!?!

Me: Well.....it's unique. And you looked very happy in it.

Friend: But....Don't you LIKE it? You like it, right?

Me: Well, not really.

Friend: OMG! Why would you SAY that?!?!?!

Me: Um, because you ASKED!

Friend: OMG!

Conversation ended here, and she logged off a few minutes later.

MORAL OF THE STORY: If you post photos or comments or status messages, and I don't comment on them, just leave it alone! Maybe I didn't see it. Maybe I saw it, and didn't really have anything to say. Or maybe, just maybe, I think you've posted something horridly ugly, and I don't want to hurt your feelings by telling you the truth! Be careful when fishing for compliments: Sometimes, all you catch is garbage!