Old Lady Clothes

In my attempt to make each blog entry a little less scattershot, I'm focusing on one topic today. As I take a wee break from the maelstrom of work that, straight up, came out of nowhere, I'm going to ponder the curious predicament of my mother and her "new" job.

My mother has been unemployed for a while, making the moneys tight. The only job that my mom truly excelled at (and by "excel" I mean a job she likes; she's been great/the best at all of her jobs) was her job as a buyer/window dresser/everything else at a dress shop in Mufreesboro, TN. A dress shop for old ladies. Rich old ladies. Lucille Bluth old ladies, fancy old lady clothes. My mom has always been creative. From making sweaters with lace on them and puff paint snowmen (it was the early 90s so it was acceptable; her putting me in said sweaters and taking photos was sheer manipulation) to her own purses and diaper bags for all the preggo women we know, she always kept herself busy with a project of some sort. Our backyard looks like the after on one of the more boring episodes of While You Were Out (the backyard episodes were never as good). When my mom got that job, it was perfect for her.

But, like most everything, there comes a metric ton of suck. My mom started spending almost every waking moment at the store, mainly because she wanted it to look good. This is mos def a trait I get from her; I'm a perfectionist and tend to go all in when I get involved in something (hello two improv classes a week and a practice group). This wore her out and other work scenarios were just not worth it.

And now, like, two years later, she's with them again. After a pretty long stretch of no-jobdom. I think there's mixed reactions in the family about this, but we all agree that the money is necessary. I'm not as mixed because I like seeing my mom do something that she's good at and something cool. She's so creative and, for someone who didn't go to college and was married with a kid by her late teens, she's done well for herself.

I'm thinking about this a lot lately just because I feel like I'm going to be hitting a cross roads soon, career wise. It's not really pressing; I'm only 22. But there's a gut feeling that in the next couple months, it's going to come time to really batten down my hatches and try for something big, most likely improv-wise. I'm not even making this sound right, I think. Maybe, maybe it means that every single job sucks but if it's what you love, it's worth holding on to and going back to. There were always parts of TV production that I hate but, as I sit at a desk for almost 50 hours a week, I wish I could go back and do it all one more time. I'd even lay cable or pick up yellowjackets.

Okay, maybe not, but I'd love to direct something again.