"Hey Mom? You know I love you, right?".....

I have a confession to make. For the last few weeks I've been in the job applying/interviewing/accepting process. Only a few people knew about this (Misty being one) because sometimes...I'm very private. I didn't even tell my family. Maybe deep down I though it would be easier to handle possible rejection if I hadn't told EVERYONE about the interviews. I normally tell my mom everything..... well... almost everything. This was one thing I didn't mention. I never told her I had filled out the application. I never told her the application was rejected. I never told her someone (thanks puppy!) intervened. I never told her I had a phone interview ..or two. And I never told her I had an actual face to face interview. The reason? I love my mom.

I can see the puzzled looks on your faces... Ok... let me explain. At the beginning of this process I was having a really horrid week. The week ended with me finding a dead mouse in my bedroom. Some of you may remember how much I adore mice .......anyway, I had a homework assignment due that night. As much as I tried to concentrate on my homework, I just wasn't grasping the concept for figuring out a price index in macro economics. I decided that it would be better for me to turn the homework in a day late and take a 20% hit on the grade since I had only answered 1 question. If I had turned in the 1 question, I could have gotten a 25% on the assignment. I decided to wait a day. This action on my part caused my mother to have a sleepless night. I'm not kidding! She woke up in the middle of the night wondering what my grade was going to be. (turned out I got a 100% on the paper but with the 20% deduction, a recorded grade of 80%) It was at this point I knew I couldn't tell her anything.

So..... I went to the interview and was told as I was leaving that an offer would be presented in the next few days. Being unemployed for almost a year I knew that whatever they offered, I would be accepting! I got home and called mom......

Me: Mom? You know I love you, right?
Mom: Yes... but you don't tell me as often anymore... (gotta LOVE the mom guilt!)
Me: Ok... I love you. Now keep this in mind when I tell you I just came from a job interview and I got the job.

Silence.


Me: Mom????
Mom: *more silence broken with a few sniffs* I'm so happy you got a job!

We ended the call with her happy and (I think I may be projecting here ) a little hurt that I hadn't shared this with her. The next day we met for lunch (she bought because technically, I'm still unemployed!) and we talked. I explained my reasoning for not telling her and she did say that in actuality, she was grateful she didn't know.. she would have been a nervous wreck. Score for me!!! Then I went on to explain how if I had told her and she had started to ask questions, I most likely would have snapped her head off which would have lead to a fight and hurt feelings. So not telling her saved my mom from needless worry and from me turning into a bitch!

Lesson learned? God does not struck you down for lying to your mother...contrary to what I learned in catechism years go!

*** a side note - I didn't mention anything about this to anyone else until I actually had received the offer. The acceptance letter was sent back today. Exactly 11 months to the day I was laid off. Ironic? I think so.