Yesterday when I was in Costco, I ran into K whom I had not seen in a long time. We were never close friends but we were in this "Goddess" group together a few years ago where we got together once a month and celebrated girlfriends and friendships etc. The group started dissolving when one woman left her husband, another moved to California, one more moved off the Plateau and then K and S had a big fight which made it uncomfortable for some of the others who were good friends with both of them.

Anyway, getting aback to K. She is a very kind person. She is warm and friendly and very funny. However, she reminds me a bit of Oprah in that she really hasn't a clue how people who are not in her socio-economic bracket live. K had an allowance of a couple of thousand dollars each month and if it looked like she was falling under it one month, she would rush out to a several stores and buy $100 gift cards to ensure she would hit her amount so that her dh would not cut her allowance. A while later, she had run up her credit cards to $40k and was wondering how to ask her dh to write a check to cover it.

As I mentioned, K is a very kind person and is always looking to help people out. A few years ago she had called me and told me that there was an opening in a playgroup that some woman had formed in her home for 18 month-2 year olds and she just knew that it would be perfect for Dex and me. Dex could play there while Jax was in preschool and I could go have some mommy time to go for a massage or pedicure or even just relax at Starbucks. And it was very "reasonable" - only about $300/month (which was almost double what I was paying for Jax to be in a structured preschool!). Um, I am a SAHM and I do not have a lot of extra cash lying around to that I can put my toddler in a for-profit playgroup so I can run to go for coffee or to the spa. Needless to say that I passed on that opportunity.

Another time, K asked me if I were looking for a Nanny (because apparently I was the only SAHM she knew who did not have one) two days per week because she did not need her Nanny full-time but she did not want to lose her completely. She only charged $18/hour and was a fabulous Nanny and what do I say?! Um, no again.

(Now, I must interject here that eventually I did get Nanny (a different nanny) for one morning each week after Cars was born but that was because I was suffering from post-partum depression and I could barely function. It was financially a strain on us but got easier last year because we had no preschool costs. Oh, and I am no longer crazy but it really did take over 2 years to get back to my new normal. The third year with Nanny was just pure decadence).

So, I had not seen K in a very long while until I ran into her at Costco yesterday. She had two of her three kids with her and two other women who looked to be in their early 20's. K explained that she was out taking her new au pair to Costco for the first time and she also had "Runaway Au Pair" with her and hey, did I need an Au Pair because "Runaway Au Pair"'s family was "Mean Family" so now she was staying with K until they could find a new family for her.

Au pair? Pour Moi!? There I was, wearing my Costco coat, my Fred Meyer clearance shoes, my Mervyn's clearance jeans, an Old Navy Deal of the Week t-shirt, my growing-out-the-grey-because-I-cannot-afford-monthly-trips-to-the-salon-for-colour hair and K asks me if I need an au pair. I had a nice laugh and thanked her very much but told her I was fine since Cars was now in preschool two mornings each week.

I wonder what K will have to offer me next time I run into her?