Taking Charge

Welcome to day 4 of BlogFest 2012!  Thank you Stuart of Stuart Fish.com for today's writing prompt:

 “Will you take charge of your life?”

      Twelve years ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  I vowed to quit my job and give my daughter all the attention and love I could and to be there for her 24/7.  I left my job of 6 years to become a full time stay at home mom.  During that time of wiping butts and snot noses, an abundance of hugs, kisses, and tears my life drifted along.  Around the time my daughter was approaching the moment to leave the nest for kindergarten I got knocked up again and my son joined the family.  I couldn’t see not giving him the same amount of devotion, so I remained at the status quo.

       In 2009 I began writing online.  I was still at home but now my life seemed to find purpose beyond my kids.  I wrote and that satisfied me for a long time.  Then I turned the ripe ole age of 44.  Pre menopausal hormones reared their angry head and I started to wonder if this was it for me.  I began to get a little restless in my own skin and seriously began considering getting a job.  It had to be part time, and it had to be a job I could do and still be available for my kids when they needed me plus line my pockets with extra cash. 

      I checked out the school website for positions and found some openings available in the cafeteria.  I grabbed the bull’s balls and on a whim filled out an application.  To my shock not only did they call me for an interview, but at the interview they hired me on the spot as a sub.  Well, hot damn and happy day.  I hadn’t expected that at all.  When they called me for the first time to sub at one of the elementary schools I was happier than I had been in a really long time.  I actually enjoyed it.  A couple weeks past and I wasn’t called again.  I felt like I really didn’t have a job after all.  When I had went in and applied for a job I figured I would be working daily if they hired me.

         Instead of sitting back and waiting, I once again took the initiative and called the lady that hired me to find out just what the hell was going on.  I told her I was looking for a job I could go to every day.  That is what I had in mind.  If they didn’t need me, why hire me?  We discussed my computer skills and my past experience in running a cash register and my desire to learn their system if need be.  Seconds after we hung up the manager at the school I now work at called and told me to come to work, each and every day, for as long as I wanted to.

        Along about this time I was diagnosed with hypertension, began treatment to lower it, and was put on a strict diet in the hopes of dropping the pounds I had put on with my pregnancies and never lost.  I was told I was just like my Dad and was diagnosed with heart disease.  Considering he suffered from heart attacks and died of a stroke, I was given a wake up call.  I could keep on the way I was and prepare to die, or take charge and change my destiny and live.  With two young kids, I chose to change my destiny and live.

        So yes, I am taking charge of my life.  I am eating healthier than I ever have, working and getting paid for it, plus still a very active mom in my kid’s lives.  On top of that I am crazy enough to challenge myself to blog each and every day.  My life is structured and has more purpose than ever before.  Instead of selecting a hole to put myself in, I am out here living my life and doing everything I can to take charge of my health so I can be around for a while.  Instead of safe in my little cocoon I have burrowed into over the past 12 years, I am out in the mainstream meeting people and mingling and having one hell of a time as only I can.  

      Nothing in life worth having is easy.  Getting used to working and not sitting on my happy a$$ all day long writing, reading, and commenting has been a major life adjustment, but I am doing it.  I will do it.  I want to do it, and let’s face it I have to do it.  I gave up art when my mom died in 1993.  It was a passion that drove my life up until her death as much as the blood pumps through my veins.  Recently I picked up a sketch pad and some colored pencils and realized to my shock not only could I still do it, I liked doing it, and I am still pretty good at it.  I made the decision that slowly but surely I would work towards devoting more time to draw into my life.  I am in control and taking charge, and I am happy about it until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.