Digging through bins

Tuesday was allowance day. It's a big deal in our house, where I'm not making much income, for me to dole out the pittance of $20 each to the kids.

I had a great interview this past week and the job actually fits almost all of my criteria. Enough money, responsibility and flexibility, learning something new, creating a new process since it's always been done by another company. The company is financially sound and has a good reputation. The person who would be my boss is awesome. I would love working there.

But I'm overqualified. I hear that again and again, as I work to scrounge and scrape together money for groceries and utilities and the basics. Keep your fingers crossed and send little old me a little extra good karma at 3:30pm Pacific on Tuesday!

After she got her allowance, my daughter wanted to go to the fabric store and pick through the bins of remnants. She wants to create some strange looking stuffed animals and sell them online and at a store up the road. She's also making leg warmers (if you'd call these things leg warmers - it's not the 80s anymore!)

She has a number of projects going right now and a number of demands she's placing on me that I will not be able to fulfill. Bummer. For her, really.

The trick here is that there is no right or wrong answer. To be a good mom, I have to take care of mom first. This is my mantra for 2009 as I travel the windy and often bumpy road of life. If I sacrifice everything that makes me happy for everyone else, there is no room for me in my world. And no room for me makes for a very cranky mom. By the way, so do 19 voicemails in a 6 hour time period, Sara, in case you're reading this...



Now, a scary stuffed animal might go far toward forgiveness, babe...