VivTown, Population: 1

So…one of the good things in my life at the moment is the fact that my cubicle is next door to Anna A.’s cubicle on a sort of cul-de-sac at our office. That means we can have lots of over-the-clothesline conversations and Anna can roll her chair on over to mine and say “I hate her” in that deadpan scary way she has when our boss is being particularly narcissistic. I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of Anna, and luckily I’m not. Here’s an example of how nice Anna A. can be: One day I was having a horrendously bad day and Anna rolled over and let me pick out a My Little Pony sticker to cheer me up. I stuck it to the front of my CPU. The ridiculously festive mane and the optimism in its jaunty little pose do cheer me up. Every day. She also got me hooked on lol cats — another cheerer upper when the pressure’s on.

The other day Anna A. told me she only reads blogs that have entries about her.  So here it is, Anna, a post about you.

Before I hurry off to my cool new job as Web Maven for a health organization, I am happy to see (and say) that Poetry Daily, a poetry anthology site, is still alive and thriving. The Editors, Don Selby & Diane Boller, are dedicated to searching out good contemporary poems and serving them to those of us who require poetic nourishment on a regular basis. They’ve also just announced their new RSS feed — for those who truly want to be served.

Today will mark my first day back to full time 9-5 work after a considerable period of unemployment (8 months). As a single mother and provider for two school-aged children, I’m grateful for the paycheck I’ll be bringing in again and for the opportunity to enjoy some professional success. But, I have to admit that the thought of going back to work full time fills me with some trepidation: how will I manage to do it all? Over the past eight months, I have truly come to appreciate how much unpaid work I perform outside my 9-5 wage-earning job. While being unemployed, the work of running a household and tending to the various needs of my children, occupied a huge chunk of my time. I’m acknowledging to myself that working full time while also managing a household singlehandedly puts me at risk for not being able to perform either job at maximum efficiency! In my last job, my supervisor couldn’t tolerate and punished me for unpredictable fluctuations in my schedule and my sometimes divided attention. That she was insane and scary and evil is another story.

I’m grateful that my new boss raised a child on her own and understands what I’m up against — and what all of us are up against — as we try to make a living and live a life. I’m bracing myself for the grind of the days of a 9-5 wage slave and her hurried (but well-loved) children. I also have every intention to breathe and smile in both the relentless rhythms and the ceasuras of the modern routine.

Wish me luck, everyone, as I enter the workaday world once again!