LIKE A HIPPIE IN A SORORITY

For a long time now, my hubby and I have been wondering if our daughter's career choice was the perfect match for her. Not only has she worked her butt off for very little reward, she always seemed a bit like a fish out of water -- kinda like the only hippie at a sorority party. But hey, as long as she was happy, we were happy! She must have been asking herself those same questions, however, for she told us this week that she's been focusing more on her web design skills, which are pretty amazing for someone who is completely self-taught. She has several friends who work in that field and who are advising her on the transition -- friends who work at "fun little companies where they have Friday Nerf wars, and where I could be around other people more like me." Ahhh, she felt it too. Not too surprising, I suppose, considering she was raised by a hippie and a geek!

A Self-Portrait Done By Lex in High School

I felt the same way most of my career. You're drawn to things like design, catering, and merchandising because you are a creative type, but in order to make a decent living in anything like that, you need to be really good at kowtowing to the uber-riche. I just never got the hang of it. I started out in fashion merchandising, then realized it was my job to convince everyone to ditch their perfectly good clothes from last year, and replace them with whatever's new and trendy. I hated working for the landscape architect, because all of our clients had multiple million-dollar homes with gardens they never stepped foot in -- they were strictly for show. They also thought that having lots of money meant that the laws of nature shouldn't have to apply to them. On the other hand, I loved designing for the do-it-yourselfers -- young couples who were over the moon about finally having a real garden, but who just needed a little help getting started. Too bad you can't really make a living designing for people like that. Lexi's number one pet peeve with her design clients was anyone who told her they wanted her to " just buy all the accessories" for their new homes, since she was raised to believe that the accessories should tell a story about the family who lives there, and about the lives they have lived.

Ah well, no experience is ever wasted. Everything I learned, at every job I ever had, eventually came together to land me the perfect job -- visual merchandiser at a native plant nursery and gift shop for garden fanatics -- and I'm sure the same will eventually be true for our Lexie!