Sunday, December 4, 2011

When couples talk and fall down

Chuck and I had a conversation tonight.

Imagine that! You can be married forever and still converse.

We discussed the details of me possibly taking a part-time job. He's been at his new job for a whopping two weeks you know. (Can you tell I want to get off the pot?)

Elements of our conversation felt oddly familiar. Like when Chuck said, "It'll be okay. We'll figure it out" then slammed 10 shots of tequila. And again when he clutched his heart, croaked, "We'll find a way to make it work" and then slumped to the floor.

Yes. That's when it hit me that we'd had this conversation before. As I stood over his trembling body I recalled how last year, almost to the day, Chuck and I were agonizing over the details of my unpaid maternity leave. Could we make it on his freelance income? What if no one wanted to buy his body parts? What's the street value of a complete Thomas the Train set?

I suddenly felt awfully grateful. If I take a part-time job and we land in the poorhouse, at least it's a conscious choice. And if it's going to happen around the holidays, at least no one will bitch when we give them hand-drawn pictures of the kids (hey, photo paper is expensive).

I jest. I don't know what the hell to do. In this economy. In this recession. In this maelstrom of foreclosures and lay offs and budget cuts.

Fuck.

I think I need to consult a fortune teller or call one of those psychic hotlines.

Maybe I'll ask her why one of us always seems to be lying on the kitchen floor. Start off simple.

Yes, simple would be good.

4 comments:

brokenteepee said...

You just want your turn. There is no shame in that.

VandyJ said...

It'll work out one way or the other. good luck with which ever you do.

Keely said...

Yeah, but the mat leave turned out ok, right? Chuck is only missing a couple of body parts and nobody starved.

LazyBones said...

Good luck! I hope you can do it, and it's worth every penny (literally, pennies) that you'll spend on the handmade pictures of the kids. Other people's Christmas expectations are a completely acceptable casualty of part-time work! I miss it. I babysit other people's kids, along with my own 7am to 5pm. And it. is. exhausting. One thing I really miss is my beautiful 8:30-12:30 schedule. *sniff, sniff* RIP part-time work. Bring 'er back to life for me!

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