Lunch Breaks

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I've now been working full time for one whole week.  This is my very first full time job, a bit of an adjustment for an old(er) lady like me who has always considered herself and her job title as "Mom" first and foremost, even though I have been working part time in my present job for over eleven years.  It has been a bit of an adjustment in more ways than one, and not so different in my others. 

Perhaps one of the best perks of working full time is my "new" lunch break.  As a part time employee I was officially entitled to one 15 minute break during my work day . . . just enough time to visit the rest room, stretch my legs, and maybe grab a quick snack to eat on my way back to my desk . . .eating at the desk is strongly discouraged as we have quite a bit of public traffic in our work area.   I now have a full thirty minutes of precious personal lunch time.  It has been wonderful to take my lunch outside and sit in the warm summer air (the office is usually a bit too well airconditioned for most of our personal taste, especially for desk work) under the trees, watching mothers bringing their young children to play in the fountain and listening to the sound of flowing water.  I now have an entire half hour to sit in solitude, in the fresh air and sunshine, to stretch, relax, and just think or not think.  This is not a luxury that stay at home mothers have.  They are always on the job, cooking, fixing, serving, cleaning up, refeering, coaxing, etc. etc.   How long has it been since I had a true lunch break?  I may have rewarded myself with a lunch break sometimes while I was in college, but even then I was often eating on the run between classes or on my way to work.

The biggest problem with my wonderful outdoor lunchbreak?  I can't see the time on my cell phone while sitting outside to know how much longer I have left on my precious break.  Perhaps I'll have to learn how to set the alarm . . . .