Me? Jealous?

This afternoon, the girls and I headed out to one of our favorite local restuarants.

Unfortunately, it was also "Happy Hour" and we were there with a bunch of business types taking advantage of the cheap margaritas and dollar drafts.

So, I'm sitting there, looking all 'mom-like' with my almost dry hair (still wet from the swimming pool earlier), barely a stitch of make-up on and the same clothes I've been wearing since 7:00 a.m. this morning. The girls... well, they didn't look much better than I did.

I couldn't help but look around at all of the stylishly dressed women and one in particular caught my attention. She was sitting at the table next to ours, so close, in fact, that I could overhear bits and pieces of her conversation.

She was talking about her day, and apparently it was her first day on a new job. I could hear her tell her husband how "they" thought she was "one of the girls" and how "they" - the staff - talked about her all day long. I gathered that she was some sort of hot-shot at this new job, by the way she was talking about "them".

Eavesdropping on her conversation made feel somewhat jealous. I don't know why. Maybe it was because she was a 'big-shot' and wore fancy clothes? Or maybe because she was having a conversation that didn't start with, "Today, the girls did (fill in the blank here)."

But, then I noticed that she didn't seem very happy at all. She only laughed when she refered to the staff members when they thought she was "one of them". She looked tired and she was not smiling.

Then I looked over at my dinner guests and they were happy and they were smiling, which in turn, made me happy and made me smile. They were talking (even if it was incessantly) about the ice cream they were going to eat after dinner and the fun they had today with their friends at the pool. They were even grabbing my hand and giving me wet sticky ice cream kisses on my hand.

So, jealous that I was not having an adult conversation? Yeah, sure.

Jealous, that I was not wearing fancy designer label clothes? Yeah, for sure.

Jealous that she is a big shot at her new job that will indelibly create unwanted stress in return? Maybe...

But, jealous of not being happy? Of not smiling? No way!

I love my life and my job as a wife and mother. It's a job I take very seriously. And, although the pay is low, the reward is high.

It's a reward that lasts a lifetime!