A Day in the Life/Wednesday

8:11am, Wednesday morning, my cell phone rings.  I look at the number and realize it's the the producer from the job I interviewed for on Tuesday.  I'd decided to say no to the job but I wasn't ready to tell them, so I let the phone ring.  Two minutes later, my home phone rang.  I know they wouldn't call both lines to tell me they'd decided on some one else.  

I called my mother for reassurance.  She agrees that just because I say no to this job doesn't mean another TV series won't call me some time in the future.  I call the producer back and prepare my refusal as I listen to the phone ring.  The producer shocks me by asking me for the name of the person I'd like to alternate with.  

Quick explanation: sometimes script supervisors (my job) alternate on TV shows.  It's basically job sharing.  I work episode 10 and then kick back while the other script supervisor works episode 11 and then I return for episode 12 and so on.  Basically, I work for a week and a half, then have a week and a half off.  The time that I work, I work 14-16 hour days so it's far from a walk in the park.  But then I have a week and a half where I work a day or two from home and that's it.  I don't get paid for my week off but I'll take it.  Instead of not seeing my kid for nine months straight, I don't see her every other week.  It's about as doable as it gets in my line of work.

The producer had told me during the interview that alternating wouldn't work on this particular show.  I hadn't even brought it up, didn't even suggest it.  He made it clear that it wasn't a consideration.  To have them call me less than 24 hours to say they were considering it felt like quite a coup.  They'd liked me, they'd really liked me.

It's also pretty busy here in the TV world and there aren't a lot of script supervisors with solid television experience.  So maybe he realized he had to consider it or end up with no one.

I call my mother, ecstatic that they'd consider alternating.  She says she has good news too, that the doctor's office called to tell her to stop taking Coumadien.  She's been on this blood thinner in order to prevent a stroke since she went back into Afib (rapid heartbeat) this past winter.  Blood test reveal her Coumadien level is dangerously high and she must stop taking it immediately.  Why does she see this as good news?  Her body's been acting weird lately and she's relieved to have an explanation.  The drub also makes her very tired so she's happy to stop taking it.  We hang up, both happy.

My babysitter arrives for the morning and I head out to write and do errands.  I return to find Eliza freshly awake from her nap.  It's a a beautiful day and I pack up to take her to a nice playground along the river.  Eliza has fun running through the sprinklers and repeatedly filling a bucket with sand.  I call my mother from the playground to tell her what a nice day we're having and after two rings and get her answering machine.  The long beep lets me know she's got a lot of messages.  Suddenly, I wonder if that call from the doctor was good news.  I leave a message and ask her to call me later that night.

It's past six so I take Eliza home and make macaroni and cheese with broccoli and zucchini.  We eat around 7:30p, a time I consider way too late.  I excuse myself saying it's summer.  I put Eliza in the bath and while I get her ready for bed, the phone rings.  I need to get Eliza to bed so I check the caller ID and I'm relieved to see it's my Mom.  I get Eliza in bed and call my mom around 9p.

My mother spent the day in the hospital.  Apparently, the Coumadien levels and some other symptoms indicated internal bleeding.  They wanted to admit her but my mother refuses.  She's happy to be at home, not in the hospital.  She sounds okay, just tired and sick of spending half her time in a doctor's office or hospital.  We hang up and I look up some information on the internet.

So my mom could be bleeding internally.  It could be all kinds of things, many of them fatal or it could just stop on it's own with the elimination of the Coumadien.  I read accounts of people who'd lost family members due to internal bleeding and people who swore Coumadien saved their lives so please don't sue.

I talk to my mom again and she sounds great.  She is already feeling better, free from Coumadien.  I am not good at waiting but that's all I can do right now.  Wait and hope that whatever is going on in my mother's body rights itself.  

I go to bed and wonder how I'll swing child care if I take the job.  Even if I alternate, I'll still need some one to come at 5:30 in the morning when I leave for work.  Who's going to want to do that?  Will I have to stay with C longer, just so I can work?  It almost defeats the point of my returning to work in the first place.

And then I lie awake in the darkness and wonder if my Mom will be okay.