I'm Lottie Lee. Or rather, that's my nom de plume for the sake of this project. My original intention when I started this blog was to fill my time while my dear husband was deployed to Afghanistan last year. So what happened?
Work. Work. Work. Work. That's what happened. Last year was probably the most dismal year of employment I've ever spent. This was partly my fault for not standing up for myself, and partly my employer's fault for taking advantage.
In a military town, the logic prevails that if your husband is deployed, you should have no life and spend almost every waking minute at the workplace. This is all well and good to an extent- you naturally want to keep busy when your other half is away. That said, you don't want to exhaust yourself physically and mentally either. Unfortunately, I became totally exhausted. 12 hour days were my norm, with little pay compensation for my efforts. Days off for me virtually became non existent too, due to staffing problems. If/ when I did get a day off- all I wanted to do was catch up on sleep or lay in a hot bathtub because my feet and joints ached so much.
I was 110% miserable with little respite. Of course, I regularly wrote letters and emails to my husband- but overall my personal time felt limited.
To some of you, 12 hours a day may not seem like an awful lot. Gosh, when I was younger I even pulled 15 hour days from time to time when I worked for Government- more until they put a cap on how many hours a shift we were entitled to work. When it's every single day though, it starts getting old.
I'm a stickler for time to begin with- I have to be early everywhere I go. I can't just be on time. No. I have to be early or I'll start turning into an anxious mess. Therefore, I used to wake up 2 or more hours prior to the time I had to be at work- giving myself plenty of time to feed Kitty, make Oatmeal & Coffee for me, pack my lunch, shower, wash my hair, iron my clothes, do my makeup and get to work with another 20-30 minutes to spare (enough time for another coffee and to get myself situated and mentally in the 'zone' for the day).
By the end of the day, I was exhausted. Even after I clocked out- work continued. Somebody would ask me for something, or how to do this or that, or I'd get a phone call from one of my staff with a problem, or a phone call from one of my managers with a problem. It was never ending. Then of course I had to attend to groceries and laundry and any housework at home that needed my attention. After all was said and done, I only had room for sleep left over, and rarely felt as if I got enough of it.
Yes- this is the daily life of a lot of us- although it shouldn't be. Modern reality? Yes. The reality I want? No.
The result of all of this was that I gained weight back because I was having little time to work out or spend time cooking healthy options, and I was eating far too many carbohydrates.
Jon, thankfully came home safely- albeit worse for wear (he sustained a non-combat related knee injury while deployed. It's still giving him grief). Finally, in April this year- Jon too could no longer tolerate my work schedule and prompted me to quit- which I gladly did.
After all, he's partaking in the '3 month early' program which will get him out of the Marine Corps 3 months earlier than his EAS (end of active service) date so that he can start College in the Spring Semester of 2013. This of course means that we are:
MOVING BACK TO ST. LOUIS!
You have no idea how happy this makes me! I'm literally thrilled that I finally convinced Jon, while he was deployed, that St. Louis is the most amazing, wonderful, incredible city on earth. For all it's grit, decay, dirt, crime and poverty... it's balanced out by super-low cost of living, four beautiful seasons, mid century modern architecture everywhere, history along every pavement and a wonderful Midwest mentality. I'm so, so, sick of living in the South that I'm looking forward to again experiencing the Rust Belt. The South is for some people, but it isn't for me.
Anyway, now that I'm not working and we are in the process of buying a house and moving (long story on that one... that'll have to wait until another day). I am back!
Finally, I'm going to start a new little side project which will hopefully intrigue and enlighten you all!
Thanks again for reading, and thank you for your patience!
Best Wishes & Stay Glamorous,
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