So what do YOU do?

My Uncle and my Dad

Fantastic decorations by my Mom's friend Connie

This past weekend we celebrated my Dad's 70th birthday.  My Mom threw him a party and it was very nice.  My Dad was born in the USA, but his parents came here from Greece in the 1930's.  So the party had a Greek theme.   There were around 50 or so people, mostly family and close friends of my Mom and Dad.  A lot of their friends I had met once or twice, but some I had never met before.  After introducing myself, my husband, and my children, people would ask me the question, "So what do you do?"  I had to stop and think.  I wasn't ready to answer this question and it really caught me off guard.  Hmm, that's a good question.  What DO I do?  I don't consider myself a stay at home Mom.  Not yet, anyway.   So I'm not really a stay a home Mom, but I'm not really a working Mom either.  Who am I?  Funny how our identities are so strongly tied to how we spend the workday.  As a working Mom, I had certain perceptions of stay at home Moms.  And I know that stay at home Moms have certain perceptions of working Moms.  So my response went something like, "Well I used to be a clothing buyer for over 10 years, but my position was eliminated in December, so I have been looking for a job."  Whenever you say "clothing buyer" to a woman, her face lights up, and the general response is, "Wow! What a great job, I always wanted to do something like that."  Yes, it's a great job, and I did like it, most days. But it's not like I was helping people or curing cancer or anything.  One of the online job blogs that I follow says that you should always have your "2 minute elevator speech" ready to tell someone your story.  You practice it, memorize it, so that you can easily tell a recruiter or job interviewer a concise response to "tell me about yourself".  Over the past year I have talked to dozens of recruiters and been on several job interviews.  I'd like to say that I have my 2 minute elevator speech down pat by now, but it changes all the time.  How do you define yourself?  What is it that you like to do, what is it that you are good at?  Is that how you are spending your days?  Are you really making the most of your time?  Or are you punching a clock, staring at a computer screen, wishing that you were somewhere else?  When you get to age 70, will you look back and be proud of your career?  Or will you wish you had spent more time with your children ?