Just For Fun

Today was the second day of census job training.

The alarm went off much too early this morning. I'm not used to working a standard 8 hour day; for many years my jobs have been part time or had flexible hours. (I know, I'm quite the princess!) I quickly showered and dressed in business casual clothes, another thing I haven't done for a while. After a quick breakfast and a bit of Internet surfing, it was time to leave for the day.

There was a hectic morning of training, and then it was time for lunch. We're allowed an hour. Everyone in the group lives close to the training facility, and it sounds like many of them go home during the break. Even though I could do that, I've been bringing my lunch and eating outside. It's nice to get a bit of fresh air before I have to go back inside for the afternoon. Today's weather was blustery and cloudy, but it felt great.

Our training facility is in a building which is next to a city park. The park has a lake, paved trails, pavilions, tennis courts, and a play area. After I finished my lunch I took a walk. The park was deserted, because the weather was cloudy and blustery. I made a loop around the perimeter of the park, and had time to spare.

I glanced at the playground as I walked by it. It's been updated since my boys were young enough to go there and play. It has things to climb up, slide down, and spin around in. The swing set, which was placed in the far corner of the playground, seemed particularly inviting. It had quality belt seats, shiny chains, and a soft rubber mat underneath it.

I think the last time I used a swing I had the excuse of being with a child; somehow that makes it more acceptable, but today I was by myself. I decided not to let that bother me; after glancing around to make sure no one was looking, I hopped on a swing, grabbed the chains, and started pumping my business-casual-clad feet.

It felt great to be flying through the sky. I thought about trying to see how high I could swing, but remembered I had somewhere to be. It would be pretty embarrassing to fall off and go back into the training class with torn-out knees on my pants or skinned hands from a playground accident. I swung for about five minutes, but panicked I saw a car pulling into the parking lot. I quickly stopped myself, jumped off the swing, resumed my persona of middle-aged woman, and walked back to the training building.