New Job - Part II

So, you remember how I told you that pizza story? Well...I'll let you take a guess as to what we are having for our pot luck lunch Thursday. Yup! You guessed it. Pizza.

We were all sitting around for our morning meeting and the topic of Thursday's pot luck lunch came up.

"What should we have?" Someone asked.

"Why don't we just do pizza? It's easy."

I groaned inwardly while everyone else agreed.

The pushy lady, the same lady who told me last time I had to eat what everyone else was eating asked me, "Do you even like pizza, Kim?" (The fact that they call me Kim is a whole different subject that I will address at a later time.)

What else was I supposed to say but, "Sure. It's fine."

Now, don't get me wrong. I like pizza just as much as the next person but it's very difficult for a girl to eat healthy when her co-workers are bringing in donuts in the morning and ordering pizza for lunch.

They bring in cookies, cakes, banana nut bread, and a whole plethora of other goodies that are very hard to say no to. And the sodas...don't even get me started on the sodas! Not one of them drinks diet sodas. Not one. It's coke and sprite and root beer. Do you know how much sugar is in one can of soda? How much calories? One can of soda is worth 3 weight watcher points. Three! And you only get 24 points per day. Do I really want to waste three precious points on a can of soda? I think not.

Even after all of my ranting and raving, I refuse...absolutely refuse to go through that embarrassing experience yet again With that in mind, I bet you can guess what I'm having for lunch on Thursday. Yup. You guessed it!

Military Life

Last night, my friends and I were talking about what it's like to be a military wife. It certainly isn't for everyone. I never thought it would be for me.

If five years ago, someone came up to me and told me I'd be marrying a soldier at twenty five years old I would have laughed in his face. I would have told him that he must be mistaken because my husband was going to be a business man. He was going to wear a suit and tie every day and come home every night. We were going to live in the town I grew up in, next to my sister and mom.

That was my plan and I was sticking to it. But everything changed when I met Patrick. We've been married for almost two years now and this is the first time we have actually been able to live together for an extended amount of time. He's had two deployments in three years.

People ask me - How do you do it? How do you stand it? My only answer for them is -You just do. You do what you have to and you keep going. Ask any military wife and she'll tell you the same thing.

We don't get to choose where we live, when we move, or when my husband has to leave. We don't have much control over what happens to us.

Why? You might ask. Why would anyone want to live that kind of life? It's rewarding, frustrating, and at times, terrifying. But it's also an adventure, full of stories, interesting people, and unique experiences.

I don't regret my choice even when it's hard. Even when I don't get to see my husband for nine months at a time. I'm proud of my husband, of what he does for our country and I'm proud of myself for having what it takes to endure all that comes along with being a military wife.

New Job

It's hard being the new girl at a new job. Everyone is judging you, wondering if you're good enough, wondering if you've got what it takes. So, what do you do? You try to fit in, blend in, do any old thing you can to stay under the radar. Unfortunately, on week one, I failed miserably at this.

Every Thursday we have potluck lunches. The first week I was there everyone decided to have pizza. I didn't really want pizza because I was trying to eat healthy. I thought it would be okay if I brought something of my own as long as I sat with everyone at the table and socialized. WRONG!

There I was, heating up my Lean Cuisine meal when one of the counselors came up to me.

Sally asked, "You aren't eating pizza?"

"No, I brought this instead."

"It's sort of required that you eat whatever we're eating."

I looked at her like she was nuts. What kind of rule was that? "Are you serious?" I could have sworn she was joking.

"No, I'm serious. Bob requires it."

"Really?" I said.

"Really. But you already started heating that up so it's okay." She patted my shoulder. "Just so you know for next time."

I took my meal out of the microwave. "No, it's okay. I'll eat pizza." After all, I didn't want to piss my boss off the first week on the job.

I walked into the conference room and went up to the secretary. "How much was the pizza?"

"You're going to eat pizza now?"

"Yeah. Sally said it was required."

She scoffed at me. "It's not required."

"She said Bob required it," I explained.

And then Bob walked into the conference room and Sara turned to him and asked, "It's not required for her to eat pizza is it?"

My cheeks heated up. This was so not good. "Of course not!" Bob said. "She can eat whatever she wants. She doesn't even have to eat with us if she doesn't want to. She can go home. It's not required for her to be here."

Mortification blanketed me. Oh God. This was horrible. I didn't want to make a big deal about this. I just wanted to eat what I wanted to eat. Was that too much to ask?

Since the boss said it was okay for me to eat whatever I wanted and he sounded sincere about it, I finished heating up my Lean Cuisine and sat down at the table. Everyone was eating pizza. And I mean everyone.

"So, you aren't going to eat with us Kim?" Bob chuckled.

A nervous laugh escaped my throat. Was he serious? Was he joking? It was hard to tell with these people. I sat there, picking at my food, feeling completely self-conscious. I couldn't tell you what they talked about for that whole hour because I was too busy worrying whether people were judging me or not and I was pretty sure they were.

I felt like I was a teenager all over again. You know how it was when you thought everyone was always watching you, staring at you, finding fault with you? That's what it was like.

Needless to say, I didn't enjoy my lunch very much that day.

The Giada Drinking Game

I don't know about you, but I love watching The Foodnetwork. I like watching the different shows and trying out new recipes. My favorite show is Giada De Laurentiis's Giada at Home. Ever seen it? My DVR records all the episodes and since we only have one TV, my husband gets the pleasure of watching it with me.

There are a few predictable things about Giada so, after watching many, many episodes, my husband and I have come up with a new drinking game based on her habits and mannerisms.

Here are the rules...
1. Take a shot whenever she uses lemons or olive oil. (She uses both of these a lot.)
2. Take a shot whenever she smells something and goes "Ahhhh." (Watch it and you'll see what I'm talking about.)
3. Take two sips of beer (or drink of choice) whenever her husband or baby is shown.
4. Take two sips whenever she says anything with a heavy Italian accent.
5. Take two sips when she gets overly excited about cooking or taste of her food
6. Take two sips when she says "It's going to be really good" or "This is going to be really good."

I guarantee by the end of one episode you will be feeling pretty good. Try it out and let me know how it goes. But remember, drink responsibly!

Day One

Hi everyone! I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Kimberly and I'm a writer, counselor, and military wife. My passion is first and foremost, writing, hence, this blog.

You might ask yourself, why should I care? What do I care what this Kimberly person has to say? Well, I'd probably have to agree with you on that point so let me promise you this. I promise to fill this blog with intersting tid bits of information whether it be associated with counseling, writing, or military life. I promise this blog will be a platform of knowledge, advice, and interesting stories.

I encourage you to interact with me. Post comments, advice, or whatever else you feel like telling me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Stay tuned...