31 Is The New 42

I got an email today from the plant Diversity Steering Committee chair. He wrote to invite me out to lunch/dinner with one of their team members so I could ask questions about the community. He mentioned at the end of the email that he remembered me from when I was an intern here 9 years ago. Later, he stopped by my office to re-introduce himself. He asked me how old Shorty is so he could pair me up with someone who has a child about the same age as Little Man. I told him that Shorty's gone to visit his dad for the next 6 weeks , but we could go ahead and schedule the lunch/dinner w/o Shorty. He asked if I really needed to ask questions since I've lived here before. I said it would still be a good idea and that Shorty's got his own life anyway.

"How old is he?" DSC man asked.

"11," I replied. "Pretty soon here I'm going to have to get him a cell phone since his social life is picking up."

He reiterated that he remembered me from when I was a co-op and was suprised when he saw my name (conspicuous as it is) since it seems like I'm such a southerner...why would I take this job in IA.

"Well it's a great opportunity for me professionally, but most importantly, it gets Shorty in a better environment to finish growing up. New Orleans was fun, but I'm pretty much over that whole going out & partying thing. You do what you have to do for your kids. He's my other job and this one pays for that one."

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "You sound so grown up!"

"I'm 31 on paper, but I am the mother of an 11 year old child, so technically I'm 42."

Now if I can just hold on to the open minded attitude of a 25 year old, I'll be all set.