October 03, 2004 - 8:39 p.m.

Yakkety Yak

I spent well over an hour on the phone with my mom this afternoon. Wow! I don't know what it is about the two of us, but we always manage to have marathon phone conversations, despite the fact that I am not really a phone person. Especially since email entered my life in college, I rarely call people. The phone can be intrusive, and I express myself much better in writing, so I like to communicate in person or in cyberspace. Despite all that, it is not uncommon for me and Mom to get on the phone and seem virtually unable of bringing the conversation to an end.

We don't talk all that often, probably about every 10 days on average, so that partly explains all the talking. I also think my mother brings out the chatty side of people. Something about her makes people want to open up, vent, and express their opinions, and I am by no means immune to this trait. Plus, since Mom and I are similar in a lot of ways we get to validate each others actions and feelings.

As usual, she filled me in on all the happenings with various friends and family members, some of which are quite complex at the moment and add just a little more worry into my already overcrowded anxiety zone. On the other hand, I got my chance to vent about everything from my stress of the Hopkins application (yes, I am aware that I seem like a broken record on this subject - deal!) to how pathetic I think it was that the guy I went on the blind date with ruled out a second date just because of lack of chemistry (seems a wee bit hasty to me).

I also got to thank her for the cordless drill/screwdriver set my parents got me for my birthday. I have a power tool now! I am so excited. Yep, I am one of those girls that wants in on the home improvement/carpentry action. That's why I was excited last weekend to get to do some set construction for the play. I got to put a couple of wooden boxes together to form the stoop that the other urchins and I will spend most of the show sitting upon.

This coming week is going to be a long one. The kids' mom is going on a business trip from Tuesday through Friday, which means I have to work late on Thursday evening, when their dad has a meeting, as well as working on Friday (no volunteering that day, sadly). I'm not used to working five days a week anymore! Luckily, with the kids in school, my work hours are not long, so it should be fine.

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