swearing off macy's for life!

So that should be liberating! How it came to pass is that a coworker passed along her coupons from Macy's so I could use them. I knew the rules for these cards: you have to use your Macy's charge to get the discount. But I have had a Macy's card for years! I don't use it often, and I always pay it right off; in fact it's probably been 10 years since I used it last. But it was surely that long the time before that, too. I just don't go to the mall that often!

I need a new pair of shoes and maybe some boots, so I headed over in Sunday traffic to have a look. First, I have to say that the shoe department was a horror within itself. People just seething everywhere, and it took me 10 minutes of standing around with shoes in my hand to find someone to help. Obviously it's been a long time since I bought shoes at Macy's too, because they have a totally new system. Harried and cranky salespeople have to scan the box, only to tell you then that they have almost nothing in the sizes you have requested. Then, ten minutes later they appear with the ones you barely wanted anyway, and you put them on to discover they're an inch too long for your foot.

And that's how it went. I decided to head up to the petites department to see if I could find something nice to wear to work, and that's where it went from worse to worst, and my separation from Macy's was sealed for eternity. I finally managed to find a sweater and a shirt which would have cost, in total, about $50.  At the register, I discovered that my credit card no longer worked. The saleswoman (who worked more slowly than molasses so I had had to wait a fair amount of time just to be put through this experience) offered to 'reactivate' the card, with a license and major credit card.

Knowing that my credit rating is strong, I wasn't worried at all, it was only a reactivation! I knew that I had been rejected once by Sleepy's when trying to get credit for a mattress, but at the time my own income was less than $20,000 a year.  Now I felt it was at a respectable level, surely enough to charge $50 on a crappy Macy's credit card! (I had even checked 'store card only', not wanting their AMEX or anything else. I just wanted to charge this, pay it off, and move on.)

Soon I realized things were not going to work out. I had to be put on the phone with a girl, who grilled me and asked me, in front of all around, personal questions about income, mortgage and other investments. It was quite awkward and I told her so, and that if this was going to be a rejection, she should tell me right now because I'll just leave and not take the clothes.  Of course, it was a rejection after all. I came home and wrote to Macy's non-existent customer service, and received in response a "thanks for taking our survey!" form letter.  What is it with this store, that they just can't get it right? I guess I can now see WHY it's been so long since I purchased anything at Macy's.

Anyway, that was my Macy's debacle. It's truly hardly worth getting upset about it because I really couldn't care less that they didn't give me the card. What I do care about is that they put me through that humiliation over $50 worth of clothes and several hours of shopping out of my precious wasted weekend that I'll never get back to use more fruitfully.  But I learned a hard lesson. Macy's sucks!

And in other news, the cold weather is upon us.  The leaves are coming off the trees in droves, and the cars are all fogged up every morning. B has decided to shift his college search to warmer climes (which is really an irrelevant quest anyway, as he seems unable to finish an essay despite having been given weeks to complete it.)  Fortunately, the community college doesn't require an essay! And if he goes there, just think of all the money we will have to spend at places that are NOT MACY'S!!!

September Saturday

and we have been married 22 years today! It's funny how a lot of significant days turn up with the same weather,  year after year, even with all the global warming pomp and circumstance. September 11 is such a day, and so is the 15th. Halloween in New Jersey is often a nice clear crisp day, warm enough for no coats. Of course there are exceptions but in general this is how I remember all of these days.

So we will celebrate with a trip to the usual favorite restaurant, despite their sadly unsatisfying crab cakes the last time we went, because I always give them another chance and because they send us $15 gift certificates for every major milestone.

But our biggest news is the mortgage refinance, which will save us $1800 a month beginning in five years ($1200 a month immediately - this is because we had to take a 401k loan to pay down the principal so the ratio would allow us to qualify - that loan will be paid back in five years). Of course, Kevin will use this opportunity to buy himself the new car he's been lusting over for several months - probably a Jeep Wrangler.  It's nice to finally be free of Wells Fargo, who did all they could to keep squeezing an extra 3% a month out of us, and refused to refinance because we had a home equity line as a secondary loan - although it was also with them.  Now they get nothing! Although in a twist of irony, it looks like they will end up with the processing of the new mortgage anyway. But at least they're not going to be sucking the blood out of us for another 24 years like they had hoped.

Our car status has been just pathetic lately. First, the Explorer cost $300 one day and $500 the next. Then the truck cost $440. Brian's friend's car broke down at school and even my new boss needed an expensive brake job on her car.  I'm afraid to touch a car at all! Mine had a light come on the other night, but thankfully it only needed air in the tires. For now.

Anyway, as it's been a long and exhausting week, I am very much looking forward to spending some time at home. I do have to get my newsletter done, but that's become more routine and I can do it in a couple of days of sitting down for a few blocks of time here and there. Kevin is traveling to Sweden for a few days, and of course B is supposed to be studying away. Tennis starts today, and its his first year of being able to drive himself. And the deer are terrible! The other night one was just standing in the shadows, right in the middle of the road, around a curve! Luckily, he was on the other side from where I was driving, but the next time he might not be. It's very creepy.

Not much to report on M, as we don't hear too much detail from her.  She went to the Yankee/Red Sox game the other night with a friend of my friend's daughters. She's still awaiting delivery of a couch, and I assume still struggling to regain her physics brain so she can tackle that class.  She did say she enjoyed her audiology class this year more than last, so hopefully the physics brain will come back to her soon! Audiology is a longer school commitment, as the terminal degree is a PhD; for speech (at least for now) you can get a job with a MS, which she can get in five years if she does everything right. Of course, the audiology path could be more lucrative, but only time will tell what will be. It also will cost a lot more!

B has managed to survive his first week of senior year, barely. First, he lost the parking tag before he even got home on the day he got it. Then, on the third day of school, I got a call at 9:05 that he wasn't there. Although I had spoken to him several times before I left the house at 7:20, and probably should have feared a horrible wreck, I  understood him more likely to still be snoring away in bed, and indeed he was. This promises to be an ongoing challenge, and one which he'd better get under control if he expects to be sent to a residential college! We aren't paying tuition for him to sleep through classes!

And in other news, we will soon kick up the college search. Lots of schools are starting to send invitations to their open houses, which of course are all on Saturdays (same as tennis) or are far away and end late on Sundays.  I have tried to step back and let B manage this to some degree but I also have a sense that it won't get done. His high school is very structured and insists on all applications being in by the Monday after Thanksgiving, even for regular decision. Early applications are due much earlier than that. So that takes the pressure off, a little. Even thought there will be pressure, it's their own and no actual deadlines are in danger of being missed. But with B and his organizational challenges, it promises to be an adventure.

bring on the rain

It sure is hot! Of all days to have this weather, I finally got my hair cut after three months, and had some bad gray streaks mitigated (for now).  As I went to leave home, the skies opened up. Fortunately, when I left the salon, they had cleared, but humidity and heat are now up and the trees are dancing, a harbinger of storms to come. I guess we will see.

Kevin and I were out way too late last night (for me) and although it was a fun night, as I nursed a glass of wine, the hosts announced a DWI checkpoint on our route home. Three hours later, with me totally sober but exhausted and paranoid, we took a detour and came the long way home. By the time I got to sleep, it was close to 1. My entire body aches when I do this these days! It didn't help that I had been up since 6.

So - M is back to school. She has to take physics, which is causing her some anxiety since it's been two years since she last had anything requiring mathematical thinking. But she enjoys her audiology class this time (last year I think it was very dry) and also loves her social psychology teacher (sort of a given, I would hope, or at least a requirement for one to attain such a position, that the personality should befit the subject matter and be entertaining). Her apartment is probably her biggest source of excitement over being back, and she has already started swim training for the season. She can walk to Whole Foods in less time than it takes me to drive to the one here.  The bad news is that Abby is pining for her long-lost pal.

B started school yesterday. As always, he is determined to perform well this year. He too has physics, and he has precalc. It isn't going to be an easy year, and it's an important one for college.  He should be able to manage it, but he will have to learn to control his lack of focus.

Having just passed his driver's test two weeks ago, he has taken to the roads in M's Explorer, which we knew was in need of some sort of repair (turned out to be a rusted wheel bearing, and$300 later, that is all fixed ). Meanwhile, the other day, the battery light and warning sign came on, and the garage (during the wheel repair) said it was fine. Sure enough, half an hour later it came back on, refused to go off, and the battery charge drained down to 'E'. This morning we had to take it in to a different place, and drop an additional $500 on an alternator.

Other than that and the college applications, B is status quo. Oh, he did have his MRIs last month but we have heard nothing back. I may call, but since it ties my stomach up in such knots, I'll probably end up waiting until our November appointment.

As for my job, it is much, much improved. I like my new boss and appreciate her honed administrative skills, which the organization was really lacking prior to her arrival. Of course it's too soon to tell if this will prove to be symbiotic or cause rebellion, but I have not seen her make any move other than one that was unarguably the right one.  I rarely sit and stare with nothing to do anymore, and I feel almost as if my brain is awakening from a long sleep. Of course, nothing is perfect and without knowing the future, I do still keep an eye out just in case; the commute and the salary both have room for major improvement. But for now, I am happy to be where I am.

And in other news, we may have actually managed to secure a refinancing. Kevin is waiting impatiently as the underwriters do their thing, but everything up till now seems to be in order. If we ever manage to close, we will save about $1100 a month, which is nothing to sneeze about.  It sure will help when we have to pay two tuitions next year! Of course, Kevin plans to use the money to buy himself a Jeep.

what, no water????

So during Irene, a bridge was washed away by our drinking water.  In fact, it took out the home of a former KISS rocker, knocked it right off of its foundation, causing him to lament the loss of much of his memorabilia, as he wasn't being allowed inside to retrieve it due to risk of collapse of the home.  How long ago was that? Ten months?

Things are a little slow at work, sort of the calm in the eye of the storm, just after a major snafu debacle and just before the change in administration which will affect me in unknown ways. So I checked into my news source, Facebook, to find reports of a major water main break in town.  So major, in fact, that we no longer are gathering water in our reservoir.  We're on a mandatory water restriction, under a state of emergency, and very much in the dark as to why this happened or how long it will last. The entire midsections of three intake pipes are simply gone into the water below. The very same pedestrian bridge damaged by Irene collapsed around them - but it was such a flimsy bunch of boards to begin with, it's difficult to imagine that it could have caused the entire fiasco.

So far, we're little affected, our water works and the pressure is good. Although the water looks clear, we've been advised not to drink it, so I gathered up a bunch of water in Princeton yesterday before I came home from work.  Luckily, our power is on (some not so lucky in this extreme heat) and our pool is filled. This may end up being the first day it gets some use!

M is off to work, she is also filling in for someone on Monday which means she will work six days in a row. I don't like that, and hope at least one or two of them are complete washouts (she is already way too tan and it's not even July...) B is a bum; he'll start tennis camp on Monday, going twice a week, but other than that his days aren't too full until he heads off to his computer 'camp' in three weeks. He'll do some volunteering at the nursing home again, if he ever gets on the ball, and of course he needs all of his medical testing done as well.

Kevin is off on one of his obsessive bike rides, he finally found someone to go with him, a former co-swim parent and fellow congregant at our dysfunctional church. So they're off on their maiden voyage together, out in this building heat.

So I guess things are not that exciting. We're gearing up the college search for B, welcoming any suggestions for an average kid in a world where above average is the new average.  His hope will be his essay, which has to be well done and has to draw attention to the fact that his grades, while averaging out to a lackluster GPA, have staged steady increases ever since freshman year.  So the challenge will be for him to maintain that climb in time for first quarter/semester grades, and to tie in the whole chiari experience with the difficulty in settling into high school, and ultimately, a more competitive junior/senior year GPA as compared to the first two years.

The real challenge is to find a school with admissions standards relaxed enough that he will get in, without sacrifice of education quality or motivation of the other students.  And to keep this within a respectable budget, as his top choice school is one of the priciest schools around; although its reputation is solid in the community and it could offer him opportunities after graduation, another important consideration in this search.

And in other news, we had our house and deck painted last week. We waited a month past the date we were given for the guys to show up, and then they blew through like a tornado, knocking over bushes and leaving unfinished bits everywhere.  I guess that's what happens when you hire people and nobody is around to watch them work. They were dropped off by their boss, and the only one home was B, who managed to sleep through their hollering and banging around, which began at 7am daily.

But now I must be off - I took a vacation day on Monday, mainly to get caught up in dust bunny maintenance and laundry (which is now prohibited by the county!) so I probably should try to get a start on that.

of blogs and creativity

Well, can it be so? Occasionally I will search the hits, to see the terms that bring viewers, few and far between, to my little blog. About three years ago, I posted a link to an article featuring B and his surgical complication. Apparently, this search has landed me #54 in Google's searches on the topic. I have recently learned that the power of Google is indeed a mighty force.  Initially, when this blog was indexed by the "bots" it had WAY more identifying information than it should have had, and more details than should have been prudent! So I revised the blog and took out some of the details, but in the cache, often the facts remain.

But what transpired was a revisitation of the past - I perused a few blogs and had a few chuckles - hard to believe that it's just been a few years and already I've forgotten that chipmunks drowned in our pool, only hours after being rescued from the jaws of the Wren (a few circa 2012 have not been so fated, although I've not been home to witness, nor have I been responsible for the release of the beast, despite her loud and repeated pleas for acquiescence). I seemed to have a great connection to specific beloved shrubs, many of which I fear I see withering in the yard this year. I attributed this to the weather, but in fact it may instead be neglect. Not so much lack of water and care as lack of caring!

So this is what my going back to work has done ... my blog is dry, and my yard no better! Seven pets now roam the halls in search of entertainment, and, not finding it, they either eat my kitchen table or pee on my bathmat! But all is well. The college bills will be paid; at least for this year.

Anyway, the point is not to bemoan my working. On the contrary, I often feel as if it's given me my self back. But it may have drained some of my creativity when it comes to my blog, and my yard, and it's certainly left my pets just a bit more lonesome. Thankfully they have had M all of these days, and B will now be with them as well.  Abby no longer has to live in the hall - the other day we had a mysterious ant invasion and Kevin, ever the savior, doused her whole hall with ant spray, so I refused to put her back there. This put a short life on M's June lie-ins, as she reported awakening to a big wet nose the second day of Abby's freedom. But the good news is that the wood furniture has remained intact.

So it is interesting that I have to watch my writing style as well. The style at work tends to be more flowery and unlike me and it took me a while to realize I didn't have to end all my letters with things like "blah blah blah blah blah," and that I could just say, "blah" as always and perhaps "blah blah." I guess it's a good sign that I'm back to myself. Although I'll have to be careful. Don't want to be too unflowery - in the yard or in the email!

And in other news, we finally got to the beach today, just in time to see M and her partner get an earful about how to handle dead-in-the-water boats (not the way they handled one, which was to allow it to nearly wash up on shore!) But it was surprisingly warm and comfortable on the beach today. It would be nice to have more time to enjoy it! I did have a good laugh when a beachgoer came up and asked them what they do when a boat loses power and starts to wash ashore. They responded, "oh, we swim it back out," as if it's just one of those instinctive lifeguard talents. (I guess the guy had been too far away when their boss came by on the beach buggy).

summer daze

So - B has taken his last final of his junior year. Only one more year of high school (theoretically) and off to college?  He is taking the ACTs as I type and then he will be on to summer. He doesn't have much planned, but I guess he is happy enough about that for now. I'd like him to find a part time job but of course there's that trivial burbtopia issue with his not having a driver's license yet. The stores up in town are a possibility and I do want him to complete the application for the grocery store there; but I don't place much faith in much coming of it, even if he does follow through.

Otherwise, he's off to San Diego for a week, spending a week at a computer science program at a local tech college, and tennis camping one or two days a week when he's not away. And of course, the family trip to the shore.

M is still flopping around the house, although she spent a week in Cape Cod last week.  She finally saw a doctor for her stomach issues, which she's had for years, and had some troubling results in her blood work.  But a visit to a gastroenterologist yesterday allayed some concerns, and she's been given a medication to reduce "spasms" which she has to take 1/2 hour before each meal. She took one before dinner last night and miraculously, it worked! So I told her to skip the one this morning, as she's working and side effects may include tiredness, blurred vision and increased sensitivity to light and heat! Not a great combination for a beach lifeguard on the job. But it was encouraging that it had such immediate results.

She has one more week before she starts work full time, so hopefully her symptoms will stabilize before long and she can cut down on the use of those pills and manage with diet. She has been given a clinical diagnosis of IBS. If the treatment doesn't work, she'll have to have a scope for celiac. Although the IgA marker for celiac was low (negative), so was her overall IgA; so the doctor said she might still have it, but he didn't think so. He said that having had this for so long, if she had celiac he would expect her to be anemic (she's not), and aside from elevated bilirubin, all of her other liver numbers were normal. The IgA, according to the pediatrician, is an inherited deficiency. None of this has ever been tested before now, which surprised me.

And this is a busy day - Wilbur and I have our hair appointments, it's the family BBQ at B's school, M is working and Kevin is running around trying to find a place to ride his bike. Just back from his week overseas and then this past week of work, he's trying to get himself back into the groove. He's also revisited the shoulder injury, with another dislocation the day that he left for Europe.

And in other news, my job continues to keep me busy, which I do enjoy although it's been a little harrowing.  And of course, the future continues to hang in the balance as I await the direction of the company over the next few months. But in a week, I will have reached my three month anniversary, meaning I will be entitled to the full allocation of vacation days, and there are indeed many - four weeks to be taken whenever I want to take them (and the office closes for a week in December so that's not a vacation drain), plus 12 sick days so I don't have to use vacation when I take someone to a doctor, or go to one myself - meaning I can finally enjoy an actual vacation without being docked in pay or wondering if I will have any interviews when I get back. It's been many years since that happened!

mayday

And it's another sunny beautiful day with me in the dirty stinky house! At least today I have hope of getting it cleaned, although I have a little headache already and a newsletter to finish for school, the first since I started my job. To complicate the task, the principal, who has been my primary proofreader and supplier of information for the opening pages, has left the school and I'm missing some key components, including upcoming events (which I can somewhat figure out) and announcements (which I can't). But I hope to post it by Monday. I just have the tedious task of editing and adding clip art.

Meanwhile, Kevin and B have gone fishing! Kevin texted that the ocean is rough but B is having fun. I'm thinking of inviting the Doll over for dinner to make up for not seeing her on Mothers' Day but I always have to be sure the house is presentable so I have a couple of hours before that determination can be made.

M went out to dinner last night and just as I was drifting off to sleep, she texted that they might go to an 11:30 movie. I texted back, "!" and fell asleep.  She came home at 2am and scared us all out of sleep! Kevin hadn't even realized she was going to be out so late, and my usual radar is all cobwebbed from the months of not having to worry about where she was or when she would be home. It was a really odd feeling - because if she hadn't come home, I wouldn't have known till this morning! I don't like that thought - it's going to be a rough summer of this.

On the job front, there is still nothing to report.  Although I can't write here about the secret happenings at work, change is indeed in the air and I don't know how that will affect me in the long term.  Since both of my bosses will be retiring before the end of the year, everything is just a big question mark, and I still find I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing.  Surely it isn't a hard job, although once in a while when I am called on to perform a task, it *is* difficult, and hours of idle waiting make it more difficult for my brain to turn on.

I am also starting to notice strange tensions in the air, and an artificial friendliness that fills the gap in an attempt to cover it up. I am not directly affected by it, but I have to really remain aloof if I don't want to get drawn in.  That's not easy for me to do, and I did come close to losing my cool last week with one particularly condescending staffer.  I just reminded myself to remain above it all, and hoped myself would listen.  But overall, I do still like it although I don't think it's a good sign that the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is peruse the daily job emails on my phone.

And in other news, it's litter box changing day. I'm on a quest to find the best cat litter. We used to use Fresh Step, and I loved the way you could not scoop the boxes for days and the house wouldn't smell like cats. But it would smell like Fresh Step, and so would the cats - all the time! There was a fine powder all over everything in the laundry room, and all over the cats. I'd get it in my nose when I'd scoop and couldn't get the smell out for hours. So, regretting that I'd have to give up the luxury of not scooping as often, I began a search for a replacement.

Now that there are five cats and we've had problems with inappropriate urination, I really had to make a good choice. So I did a little internet research and found Dr. Elsey's CatAttract Litter.  Although I can't say it smells fragrant, it does clump wonderfully and the peeing has subsided quite a bit.  As a test, I had another box with another highly rated litter in it, and it sat unused for two weeks while the cats continued to pile into the CatAttract boxes, no matter how soiled they were.  I also invested in a plug-in Feli-way diffuser for the bedroom, where the new cats hang out, and that seems to have helped with the peeing as well. We've still had a couple of incidents, but not upstairs (except for when M locked one of the new cats in her room for hours).

And on that note - I think I hear the dust bunnies fighting!

settling in

It's going to be a beautiful day! Next week will see my two month anniversary at the job come and go, meaning in one month I will have passed the official 'trial period' of 90 days.  At that point I'll have all sorts of fancy benefits, including finally a retirement savings plan, my first in 17 years! Not that I can put much in, most has to go to college tuition, present and future, but in order to get the match rate of 5%, I have to put 5% in myself. So technically my pay will go down in a few weeks.

Not a whole lot of excitement has gone on in recent weeks.  Kevin has been traveling a lot, M has been hanging around the house most of the time, and B continues to allegedly strive to improve his GPA. The verdict on that will be in in four weeks or so. Meanwhile, I"m trying to get him into a summer program in computers at one of the local colleges for a week in July. I have been back and forth with the guidance office because the college's website wasn't functioning properly and the deadline is Tuesday! But we should have an answer on that by the end of the week.

In the world of M, lifeguard tryouts are today so she is excited to have something to do. They have to run a mile, swim 500 yards, and then complete some re-certification coursework.  They are lucky to have such a nice day for it this year. Other than that, she hasn't been doing much because none of her friends are back from college yet. She has some travel plans in early June, and she'll start work in mid- late-June. She is supposed to be trying to find herself something relevant to her major, as she'll have to interview for placements over the next semester for her co-op in January. So far these efforts have been limited to one unreturned phone call and a bounced-back email to the woman who led the volunteers when she volunteered at a hospital two years ago.

And in other news, we had to get a new floor for our family room!  The day that the dogs had their baths, I don't know what happened to Abby. She must have eaten something bad, or else she was just so distraught that she had terrible gastric upset beginning in the evening. She projectile vomited a couple of times before bed, but then came to bed acting normally. Well, at some point in the night she must have been stricken and went to the back door - but of course nobody was there to open it for her. So - the rug was horrifically soiled. We decided to get the wood laminate because it should be easier to care for than hardwood (and cheaper!) in case of incidents like this one. It's such an improvement over the ugly old rug.  And finally - the pool is open! And so we settle in and wait for summer ... and all the fun that it brings (and - sigh - the long-awaited MRIs...not looking forward to those.)

beginnings and endings

I have now completed six weeks at my new job! And it's still slow :( I finally felt that it would be best to bring it up to my boss. I had been trying not to trouble him, as the impression I had gotten was that I would report more to my predecessor, who would tell me what I was supposed to do in support of the main boss, as well as dole out some of her overload of work.

What I came to realize was that in her opinion, I was there to take over the "in support of the main boss" role so that she could better juggle her overload of work, and none was coming my way once the initial few example tasks were completed. I do think I will get one continuous task, but otherwise the days have tended to drag, and for now all that needs to be done has been done. After my talk with the boss, he did try to throw me a  few projects here and there so I've managed to pass the time most days and I also know busier times are ahead, as the first round of board meetings is on the near horizon. And changes are in the air which will alter my job in ways that have yet to unravel.

In my daily job log, I even saw one that almost had me tempted to apply. It was a high level assistant job at a major firm only half an hour from my home.  I wrestled with the decision, started writing cover letters and revising my resume, and just couldn't come up with the right approach. Why do I say I am applying, so soon after starting a job? Do I say I have started the job? I leaned towards not, but then I'm unemployed for six months in their eyes.  I shut it all down and decided not to bother. I thought it best to stick with this one to see how the changes evolve, as I am happy with the company and very much like my boss. I will never find a time-off package as generous as the one I have now, and I'm happy with the pay. So the only real negative is the hour drive in moderate traffic.  And the boredom; but that will pass. At least I think it will.

Anyway, the next day I went to click the link again, and the new job was gone! So that was a relief. The decision was made for me, and it was the same one I had made the day before anyway.  I have decided that I need a year. If in a year things are unchanged, then perhaps I have to look. But I hope not, as I know that the whole age factor is only going to weigh more heavily against me.

In terms of travel, I'm learning the patterns of the drive. I have come to despise when people ride in the left lane at the same speed as those in the right, especially when they sit right next to the back half of my car and do it while I"m trying to pass them.  I have noticed that the people with Jesus fish on their cars are for some reason some of the slowest and most inconsiderate drivers on the road (I call them pokes); often they are the ones cruising in the left lane  and causing major backups with the frustrated cars behind them.  Not as many people talk on their phones on the roads in the morning, but I can always spot the ones who do. And if there's a gigantic, filthy, rock-throwing exhaust-spewing monstrosity on the road, it will always pull in front of me. And finally, if by some miracle I find a faster route or traffic is mysteriously absent on one leg of my journey, there's sure to be an accident, a poke, or a monstrosity in front of me on a later leg, just to be sure that it always takes me the full hour to get from one end of the commute to the other.

The other big news is M's return home! Kevin went up and got her and brought her home on Thursday. She has already spent her first night out of the house with friends from college. They're going into NYC today. After that she should be around for a while and will have to tend to personal business (and my business: driving B around!) before her job starts up around the end of June.  I'm relieved to hear that gas prices will be dropping. I'd been considering looking for a smaller car that would guzzle less gas and not have to be filled as frequently as the gas guzzling V8 in the Explorer she's been driving (and B will drive to school next year.)

And in other news, B continues to try to bring his grades back up but unfortunately his slips of the past couple of months have put him at a big disadvantage. He has gotten decent grades but the low averages bear too much weight and creep up only slowly. Getting a 46 on a test because he didn't know he had it (the study guide was posted on the teacher's web page) in a class in which he had an A average was a major blow, both to the class and to his general GPA. So that and the upcoming SAT (round 3 but the first round since taking the prep sessions) are our main focus with him.  And - he is going to his prom! That is in two weeks. Other than that and a couple of days at tennis camp in the summer and one week in California before a few days in Cape May, we don't have a plan for him for the summer yet.

and so the next stage of my life has begun

It hasn't been too bad! I like my new office, I feel very happy there and for the most part, I like the people.  It has been a little slow to get off the ground, but I recall having that at one of the jobs that turned out to be my most prolific in terms of garnered experience; so I hope that will happen here as well. Already in two weeks (with two days off!) I have learned a lot about the world of non-profits, grants and fellowships, and there's so much more that I just don't know. It's an interesting place and of course filled with interesting people, all with multiple degrees. The irony of it is that I never told them about my masters coursework, that I am just a semester or so away from a masters degree of my own - albeit some 19 years in the past. Much of my work involved looking at financial statements and returns, and those accounting classes and business strategy assignments are all coming out of the foggy recesses of ancient memory banks.

In my poking and research, I stumbled across a ranking system for hiring. Having been advised to scale down my resume in terms of volunteering, so it wouldn't look like I was too distracted by life to be committed to work, I took out many of my community activities. I didn't mention the girl scouts, the Sunday school teaching, or the fact that I set up rooms and break them down for the homeless guests when they stay in our church once every few weeks.  The ranking system gave points for community service! I somehow managed to score a few anyway, I guess the high school work was relevant enough to count for that. But it's funny how you never know what will get you a foot in the door.

But after seeing that ranking system, I feel very fortunate to have found this job at all! After the many blind rejections from positions for which I know I was qualified, I can see that there's a tendency to look to the younger workers - they can be trained in the ways you like, they bring no bias, and they're just - well - younger looking!

Anyway that is my life for the moment. Interesting developments every day but I plod along. The hour-long drive is tedious, but it could be worse. It's broken into three sections, so I usually feel like it moves along. There are just a few patches of heavy traffic to get through a few intersections, or passing by school zones. The next couple of weeks, and then the summer, should be a little lighter as far as that goes.

As for M, she is set for next year with an off-campus apartment. She and her friends wanted to get a quad but they all had such terrible lottery numbers that all that remained were singles, some of them in the YMCA. So the housing office granted them an exception and they are able to live off-campus. They just have to prove that they have a lease, which now they do. We just happened to be in Boston when this all went down, so we got hold of a broker who was recommended by another parent, and she found them two one bedroom apartments in the same building, one directly above the other. So they won't share an actual common space, but they can pop in on each other all the time, and they'll also each have a little space for quiet if they need it.

B continues to torment me with his ways. After stumbling in three classes and being in danger of failing those for the marking period, he was left at home by himself to catch up while we went to Boston.  Apparently one of the other classes, one of the ones which was supposed to buoy his GPA up to a level where he could actually appear semi-attractive to a semi-decent school, had an assignment: complete and turn in the study guide (posted online) for a test Monday and get four points added to your grade. Not only did he not do this and therefore fail to get the four points, but he never saw the assignment and failed the test! So, now he is down in that one. It's extremely frustrating. We have our semi-annual appointment at the neurologist this week. So in addition to the usual anxiety over neurological intactness, now I am going to once again revisit the issue of ADD and possible treatment.

And in other news, it's time to plan for summer. M will be home in less than a month, and we have to figure out what to do with B. He won't be eligible for his driver's license in time to get himself to a summer job, so I'm not sure what to do about that. Last summer worked out well with the volunteering but I won't be in that same location this summer and I'm not familiar enough with my new work area to settle him around there. There's the tennis camp, which he can do, and maybe a sleep away camp for either tennis or computers. But those are expensive, and at this point it's pretty late to make those kinds of plans. M will go back to the beach and can drive him places on her day off, but we don't yet know what that will be. And she needs to think of these things too - getting ready to apply for coops in September should include some sort of volunteer work in her field or at least something related.  So she will have to get right on that when she comes home at the end of April.

from terror to tetanus

Well, obviously my failure as a foster can't end quietly. The day finally arrived on which the cats had to be taken to the vet for their check up. I had hatched a whole plan involving breakfast, Kevin, the bathroom and the cats. As if the stress of having the appointment was not enough, I found that I had to take the Doll for a cataract surgery follow up at 8:15, and get back home by 9:30 to get the cats to their appointment by 10. This logistical puzzle would require all the pieces to fall precisely into place.

At 7am, we came downstairs. I began to open the can of food as usual, and the cats milled about on cue. Kevin, though, threw off the dance. He walked into their space, and one bolted. I put her bowl down, and she was suspect but came forward anyway. As I reached for her, she tried to get away, and when I picked her up, she became claws in every direction. Determined not to have borne the brunt for naught, I hoisted her on my hip, and feeling her pounding heart, pushed her into me and sucked it up. Astonishingly, I got her into the bathroom and dropped her bowl in with her.

Next was Lilly, who was making moves to escape Kevin, who was to have been her captor in the same fashion. I guess perhaps he was a little thrown by my outcome, so he just bailed and passed the buck to me. Luckily, Lilly is more passive when she's captured, and I was able to get her into the bathroom as well. At that point I was just dripping blood from a deep gash on the top (thankfully not the bottom) of my wrist.

Brushing off Kevin's belated offerings of assistance, I went upstairs to search for an appropriate dressing and some antibiotic ointment. When I looked at the gash, I felt as if I could feed it, it was so gaping.  Suddenly I began to feel queasy and lightheaded, so I grabbed a washcloth and pressed to try to stop the bleeding.

But who has time for these luxuries? I had to get to the Doll's, and I had to pack lunch for Brian. Checking the calendar to make sure that this was his assigned day for yearbook photos, I saw that in fact that day was to have been yesterday. Of course, he missed it. So I told him to just wear his blazer, tell them he thought it was today and see what happened, and off I went.

Once I got hold of the Doll, I dropped her at the surgery office and went to pick up her prescriptions so it wouldn't delay me on my quest to reach the vet on time.  I managed to pull off the pickup in no time, and went to the office to wait.  The waiting room was deserted when I got off the elevator, so I was relieved that we would get out on time. I sat in the chair and waited. And waited. And waited. Two women came off the elevator and went into the optical store opposite the surgical entrance.  They looked at me but said nothing.  About 15 minutes later, another followed.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"I'm waiting for my mother in law. She had surgery yesterday and she's in for her follow-up."

"Fourth floor," she says.

!!!!!

Hurrying to the fourth floor, I discovered she'd already been helped and seen and was nowhere to be found. I hopped on the elevator and there she was - on a bench at the ground level. Where she had been sitting for about 40 minutes - just slightly less than the time I spent in the surgical waiting room on a non-surgery day! Who the heck knew they had two floors? Nobody told me!

Anyway, the day improved slightly from there.  I made it home on time and ventured anxiously in to collect the girls from their bathroom prison.  Rosie, Grizabella, was hiding IN THE CARRIER! And when she saw me, she backed further in, so all I had to do was close it up. Lilly is more handleable if you can catch her, so I got her in with no problem, and we were to the vet on time and they both were model patients.

However, the painful line on my wrist was still troubling me: what if it got infected? what if I get tetanus? what if it needs stitches? These thoughts plagued me, and the vet's reaction to seeing it didn't help. I decided to run into the urgent care clinic and have it looked at.  So that's where it got bad again. I had to get a tetanus shot! She didn't think it needed stitches and she gave me a prophylactic antibiotic but I'm not going to fill it if the gash starts to fill in. But she asked about the tetanus and it's been probably 30 years. Lately every time I cut myself, I wonder if there's tetanus toxoid although I think there have probably been two cases in NJ in the last 20 or so years, according to some study that I saw online. So I agreed to the shot, although I did insist that they get that pertussis component out of it - they tried to sneak that past me and if I hadn't asked, I would have had a three-in-one shot instead of the two-in-one.

Anyway that's the rambling story of my day. I now have one bad arm with cuts and wounds, and a bad arm that's beginning to ache when I touch or lift it. I'm trying not to read about the side effects of the vaccine, but I've read for hours today anyway. And B is in the basement with his friend, they are off from school for the weekend, starting now and ending on Tuesday! Kevin is on his way back from a dinner in NYC with a client.

And in other news, M is back to school, pierced cartilage and all. She is in the throes off housing woes right now, as she and her three would-be roommates aren't likely to be able to find a room in which they can all live; they all four had lottery numbers which didn't allow them to pick until the very last day, which is next Tuesday. So we will see what happens when they go to do that.  And good thing it's not tonight because they have no power in their dorm, due to a huge transformer explosion yesterday. And she is lucky - some of the dorms had to be evacuated. Not hers though - I guess because it was built back in the days when there was no electricity anyway!

the week in review

So, this was one of those rare weeks where it feels like the planets were just properly aligned. I got the job, Kevin got a nice raise (and it's about time, he's been operating at a deficit for the past couple of years), my mammogram was clear and B's health has improved. Of course, there has to be a little cloud around every silver lining, so that would be B's grades, not much improved from a week ago; in English, actually declining.

I got the job!!! I cannot even believe it, the whole experience was like a dream. I had that feeling of stepping into the place where I belonged from the second I got out of my car for the first interview.  I carried around a certain amount of guilt regarding the other job which I had accepted, but I was always honest with the second group of people.  (Well, except I never actually admitted to having accepted the job but I'm sure it was implied; no employer waits two weeks for you to give an answer.) In all fairness (to me, none of this is fair to Job A) I wouldn't have been able to delay as long as I did if they hadn't had the ridiculous requirement of the physical, and then when I did that on a Monday, they told me to start the following Monday, which bought me the rest of the week and turned out to be exactly what I needed.

So, on my second interview with Job B, I met with the second potential boss and then the first came back in and said, "we would like to offer you the job." I was so excited! But it just got better and better. They do want me to work 9 to 5, I would have preferred earlier but that's fine, I won't complain. Then they sent me their benefits package and there are tons of vacation and sick days allocated, and that's not even counting regular holidays! (When do we work???) And they're sending me a proper offering letter which I am to sign one copy of and return ASAP! Imagine if Job A had done that, what a predicament I'd be in now.  They want me to start in two weeks so they have time to set up my space and then I have to wait for someone who orients new employees to return from vacation. So I have two more weeks of unemployment and then I'll be gainfully employed. I'm really excited, hope I can perform up to expectations and that the job goes as smoothly as the process has so far. If it were up to me, I'd work here for the rest of my working life. Maybe we can move closer one day ;-) The train ride into NY has got to be pretty efficient from there.

I felt that my handling of the backing out of my verbal acceptance was cowardly but fair enough. I called as soon as I got home, but knowing that since it was after 5, I stood a slim chance of getting the HR woman. It was before 5:15, so I thought she might still pick up, but she didn't. So I left a message and explained that I had gotten another offer which financially I could not refuse, and then sent a follow-up email to make sure she got the news.  I received no reply, but as I told a friend, I wouldn't have replied to me either. I would have slammed down the phone, cursed a few times and then started the process to make things right. Let's just hope I don't have to search for jobs ever again - that bridge has definitely been blown out of the water.

As for Kevin, they had their compensation meetings yesterday and he was quite pleased to learn that he was finally being rewarded for some of his efforts. He's been at this one and only job forever, which can work either for or against you. You never get huge leaps in salary by changing jobs for better pay, but you also have job security, especially when you've worked in every spot from the lowest to the spot where you bump your head repeatedly on the glass ceiling (that's where he is now and has been for years).  But we are very happy to be able to breathe a little more easily about tuition payments, at least for this year and next. Beyond that - well we will see. A lot depends on grades and scores, possibly even more so than our college purchasing power.

And in other news, the foster failure is almost official. I can't return those poor cats. I guess everyone was right. Lilly is still very timid and hits the ground and cringes if she has forgotten to run in time and we go to pet her. Her ears flatten back and her entire body stiffens. But she no longer hisses, and she purrs like a motorboat when food is involved; sometimes she even purrs for play. So I know she's happy, she just can't fight the panic inside. Rosie is slowly forgiving me for chasing her around the house in an attempt to box her up with Lilly (who strangely, just viewed that as another of my entrapments, like when I capture her to pet her) but she hasn't come back 100%. Eventually I will have to capture them again, as I worry about Rosie's eye and want my own vet to have a look at it. It doesn't open and it oozes black gunk that I pick out every few days (she tolerates this, thank goodness). But it isn't bothering her so I'll let her relax and settle in for a while longer. And also save up for the visit!

Their biggest excitement today will be the arrival of M. They are planning a huge reception! (I think it mostly involves running under the couch...)

march madness

We have our own version of March madness going on here! It involves B and his schooling, the cats and their issues, and me and my job crisis.

B missed a week of school last week, after missing one day two weeks earlier. He had started to plummet grade wise which always makes me wonder what he is really doing when he says he is studying for hours. For now, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is appropriately chagrined, and will right the situation on his own. I don't know why, but it's always the third marking period when he takes these big stumbles.

The cats! I have still fallen into the category of Foster Failure but there is a big problem and it's cat pee.  Someone has been expressing distaste and I'm not sure who. My prime suspect is my Puff, but nobody has been caught in the act, so it could just as easily be any of the rest.  If a towel or article of clothing lands on the floor in the laundry room, it's peed on by morning. Same for clothes left out on the table in the dining room, or anything that happens to fall to the floor. Small area rugs are dwindling in numbers as I find them peed on and throw them out, and Abby is down to one new dog bed, which I ordered for her because it's off the ground and hopefully won't be viewed as a giant litterbox (as the cedar beds were seen by the offender). I scoop the boxes twice daily, and change weekly. I am at a loss. Video monitoring may be my next step!

And the job crisis.  I have been offered one job and am supposed to start Monday. But another may give me an offer, and what do I do? I feel like a terrible slug but there's not much choice. The job that I might be offered is, no doubt about it, a better opportunity. It's a job I can stay in for the long term. It offers intellectual challenges and a larger paycheck. And, although both are equally lengthy travels for me, Job B is a less traffic-ridden route.  Who would think that with all the trouble finding jobs that I have had, I'd end up in this situation? I had thought for a while that I would be lucky just to get one.

But perhaps that will be what happens. Job B has invited me back for a second interview today, and after that I hope I will clearly know their intentions. In fact, if they don't make these known by tomorrow, I will have to show up for Job A on Monday, or else relinquish it on the hopes that I will get B. One lesson I have learned is not to feel pressured to give an answer on the spot. My conversation when I got the offer replays in my head several times a day.

"Are you going to accept?"

"I probably will."

"You PROBABLY will?"

Cringe. She sounded so horrified that I said, "OK, I will!" But then she went over the low rate of pay, the length of the commute, and said that she wants me to be sure because she doesn't just want me to take the job and wait for something better to come along. Foreshadowing?  But I do feel terrible, because it's been two weeks that they have been waiting for me to start (although much of this is due to their odd requirement that I have medical clearance before starting).  The very next day after accepting, I got the email from Job B. I had hoped to have an answer early in the week but they are taking longer than that. I guess I should be happy it's happening this fast, as it took them six weeks to respond in the first place!

My dilemma now is - should an offer come through from B - is it OK to contact A through email with the news, or is a phone call a necessity? All my instincts tell me that the phone call is the right way to go. But my inner coward is horrified and can't imagine what to say.  I'm trying not to worry too much about it just in case B turns out to be a washout.

And in other news, M will be home this weekend! We have a whirlwind of activities planned, including a trip to NYC before she leaves for a tropical vacation with a friend on Tuesday morning.  Of course, if Job B doesn't pan out, Monday will be my first day at A. Added to last week's stress were my visit to the doctor, who, at 80, is hard of hearing and apparently of short term recall as well, as he asked me three times how old I was while he was checking my blood pressure, which was driven through the roof by this line of questioning while I was trying to keep my white coat hypertension in check.  Eventually he left and charged the nurse with running an EKG on me, which, with him out of the room, was normal, so I was left to go home with my flip flopping heart and skyrocketing dia- and systolics. The next day I had an annual mammogram, and sweated out that as well. I spent the day hoping for no call from the mammography center and for a call from Job B. Neither happened.

frazzled february!

Oh boy. As if the whole job thing isn't enough to keep my head spinning, now I have the foster kitties, and I am having a hard time taking them back. Yesterday, I tried.  I gave them wet food around 5pm (they usually get it only in the morning) and easily trapped the little scared one in the dog crate with the bowls. But the other, my friend, my favorite, sensed something was up and she bolted! She hid under couches, I flipped them over, she hid under beds, I lured her out. Finally, I had her in my sights and tossed a towel over her and gathered up, trying to protect my already scraped and bloodied arms from further assault. She absolutely panicked, her heart was racing, she was meowing like a beast, and when she cleared the area, I saw she had wet herself as well! So I had to call off the operation, exactly at the moment that the little one escaped from the carrier anyway. So I have loosely promised myself to try again this morning but actually, I have other priorities today so time will tell.

B is sick. Sick as a dog. Sunday he treated himself for low fever (100) and a headache. Monday he woke up with a rip-roaring raging 103+ fever. Advil and tylenol barely brought it down to 101 before it spiked back up again.  We've been fighting this pattern for two days now. He has a headache and his nose grows increasingly more congested. I'm going to call the doctor back today because I'm concerned that he didn't take enough antibiotic for the sinus infection that he had 2-3 weeks ago. He only took a ten day course and was still sniffling a little at the end.  But she thought it was a virus and he'd have to ride it out. But I don't like this fever, not one bit.

So - the job. I have an offer. But I have to go to the doctor for clearance, and I couldn't get there until  Monday. Meanwhile, I've had a couple of calls so I am going to meet with one company this afternoon. I had a sub job for yesterday and today but they ended up sending me home at noon and canceling tomorrow. They had also offered me Thursday and Friday - good thing I didn't take them because they would have canceled those too. That's a terrible way to treat people and no way to earn an income if you are reliant on it in any way. Thankfully, that will probably be my last day ever working in that capacity.  It was a pleasant day surrounded by good kids and nice people. But that Principal should really have some refreshers in how to treat people, not as if they are disposable. Although I suppose, to her, the substitutes really are disposable.

And in other news, M's big meet starts tomorrow! Kevin will be going down tonight, but I have to see what is to come of the B issue, and also the cats.  My concern is the litterboxes. The kitties do fit in with the rest of the menagerie and as far as expenses go - what's two more, right?  But since we were reduced from four cats to three when Buddy died, the litterbox has been so much more manageable.  Now, with five, it's worse than ever and someone apparently agrees, because they have been using inappropriate bathroom selections - and I don't think it's one of the fosters. Otherwise, my concern is B because of the sickness and the fact that I was worried about pulling him out of school for Thursday and Friday, but now he's done gone and missed Tuesday and Wednesday too! But I don't even know if he will be well enough to go in tomorrow anyway, and at that point, might as well just write off the whole week and bring him and his arsenal of fever-reducing meds down with us!

hanging on

Well, good news! I'm not going to ramble on about the sadness of my so called job search for this blog. I'm just going to say that all is still the same!

Anyway, I'm home today because I have a meeting this afternoon at B's school to discuss the college search and application process. This should be interesting because this was not a service offered by the public high school, and it isn't one which I'm sure I need to utilize. Nevertheless, off I am set to go and just in the nick of time, as B is experiencing his traditional third quarter slump.  His SAT scores should be available at the end of this week, and that information, combined with what I learn today, will help us plan our first real round of college visits. We have one scheduled for Monday at one of the state schools, and if I don't work Friday, we'll hit up another one or two then.

The 'big' news for M is that next week is her conference championship meet. We have the hotel booked but still haven't been told if we are going to be able to get in to watch. I'm not too bothered by this personally, as I also don't have a backup plan for B and the dogs so will probably have to go late to the meet anyway (as usual). Also with having these two extra cats it's not really ok to just leave the litterboxes for a few days (or a few hours at this rate ... sigh). Also, M is missing quite a bit of instruction and examination, which is alarming. I think this is one of the biggest downfalls of being a student-athlete. The practice time is something to which you have to adapt - but being pulled out of class for events is the worst.

And speaking of the pets - they are still hanging in here.  I would love to have them find homes. I like them OK, despite their standoffishness, but they are just too many. If only I could figure out how to train them to use the toilet! And someone has been peeing outside of the box, and on the dog bed. Poor Abby is now down to no bed at all.  So she decided she would sleep on ours! This morning, I ordered one of the camp cots for dogs. This way if it gets peed on, I can just clean it - she'll sleep on a comforter on top of it instead of a cedar dog bed that's ruined by a urinator. We've thrown out about four of them in the past few months. This went on even before the baby cats arrived.

And in other news, our house was egged over the weekend! We don't know if it was personal, maybe someone who knows B, as they're in the right age group for such antics. The majority of the slime covered his window; there was just one egg that dripped across the frame to the dining room and smeared its windows. Several drives around the blocks revealed two other crime scenes, and Kevin found an uprooted mailbox with a name and house number that were unfamiliar to this neighborhood.  So we will probably never know the story. As for the parkers, they continue to park. One neighbor did speak to the one on the street the other day, but it turned out she just asked him not to park at the end of her driveway, which sent him further down the road.  At least it gave me the opportunity to explain their presence. She doesn't mind them, but she has four kids of her own and the youngest just got her permit.  However, it's not her yard that they're accessing to get to the school!

parking wars

It's snowing! B is disappointed because it's not sticking to roads or even driveways and probably will not. It looks very pretty on the trees though, and on the lawn. Abby is excited to run in it although it's not that exciting when your paws sink to the frozen grass. Wilbur came right back inside! Luckily we had a nice long walk this morning.

So the job front festers. I had a (very long) interview yesterday but don't expect to hear anything for a couple of weeks. I also sent out several resumes but, as always, don't expect to hear much from them either.  Even the sub jobs have dried up.  I would have liked to work tomorrow, but I like to have the jobs lined up ahead of time so I know where I'm going and it ain't looking good for that.

Speaking of school - what a quandary. As most know, B walks to school. He has to cross a neighbor's private driveway and yard, for which he asked and was granted permission in the beginning of his high school career. The school provides parking for seniors and some juniors, but it's limited for the juniors. So as they begin to get their licenses, they try to find creative parking alternatives so that they can avoid being bused or driven by parents. One such new driver is in B's classes and discussed this issue, I suspect opportunistically, with B. B, ever the nice guy, offered the kid to park in front of our house. I told him that this might annoy the neighbors, but it would be OK if one car parked in our driveway.

The kid showed up the next day and the day after BUT ... the following day so did another car! And the car parked (of course) in the street. Then that kid brought another kid with him! So now instead of just B, we have THREE additional kids walking across the neighbor's yard to get to the school.  Although I suppose technically we don't even have the right to offer the one, I guess I figured as long as he was in our driveway it wouldn't be a big deal. But now this other kid is coming every day, sometimes with his passenger. And the worst is that when B asked the first kid about it, he denied knowing who it was! And then when pressed (after I saw the three of them walking through the woods together) he said that the kid just "followed him."

I'm not too happy. B is worried that there will be repercussions if I say anything (for example, to the Principal at one of our monthly club meetings, which he always attends) so I'm trying to remain calm. I am sure that the school discourages this practice or we would have these parkers every year. Once we had one, and it lasted about a week before someone stuck a note on the car and he never came back. A friend of mine said she would take the cowardly way out and stick one on and not mention it to B.  But we will see.  I'd like to tell the kid - tell your friend to stop coming or you can park in the street too! It's legal to park there, but not to cross through the yards.

A lesson learned at PTA meetings: sit on your hands when they ask for volunteers. And don't open your mouth when someone says they have nowhere to park!

And in other news, the foster cats are now listed on the shelter's main page as adoptable. So maybe someone will call for them. Meanwhile, they can stay here for a bit longer. I really love the one, she has a great personality and it isn't like she is indiscriminate. It took her a month to warm up, so you know she means it.  And they both come around often, even the shy one. And they're completely fearless of the dogs. They really settled right in.

back to square one

Yep that's the story of my life these days: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Here I sit, in a house full of cats and dogs, worrying about my hair, and without the prospect of finding work.  It would seem that the temp position is not going to pan out after all. I'm being passed over for a younger, cheaper (and probably better-looking!) in-house version. But it's really not that heartbreaking because although I enjoyed getting up and putting on outfits and feeling employed, this was an incredibly boring job. I didn't really do anything all day long. I'm sure the actual person does more than a temp, but I read through every file I could find, but physical and electronic, and couldn't really find much evidence of anything requiring too much effort. So in that respect, I won't complain.

On the other hand, it's a blow to the ego. And another 'headhunter' responded to my resume and spoke to me on the phone. She, as many others, is in the city and wants to meet me. But she was forward enough to say that she doesn't want me to come in just to see her. But she also said that it would be better if my background had been in fixed income instead of, er er, what was it again? That annoyed me so I said well, it was asset management, and in fact, it WAS fixed income. So I don't know if I'll bother to go and see her. I actually only sent the resume by mistake, I didn't realize until too late that she wasn't the actual company placing the ad.

As for my hair, I finally got myself in and used my Groupon for the hair straightening. It looked ok, although a little TOO straight and greasy.  But then someone told me they saw a TV show on the perils of keratin and I googled and threw myself into a panic! This woman who discounted the treatment so steeply surely doesn't use a safer formulation! Although, she didn't seem too concerned about protecting even herself during the application. As soon as I read that, I washed my hair, even though it was 12 hours too soon. It still feels kind of coated and straight so I imagine my head is still filled with formaldehyde. I guess the best I can do for now is wash it on a regular schedule and never do it again!! I did have burning eyes and a burning head, but that had begun strangely the morning of the treatment, so I know that it was caused by something else.

The little cats are starting to take over the house and I really have to think about getting them back to the shelter. It's such a Catch-22. You're supposed to make them more endearing to people so people will want to adopt them, but then they start to grow on you and you don't want to give them back! I'd like to time it so they go right into a good situation (not a smelly scary cage in the back but one of the nice digs up front where people can see them) and right out into a home. I guess this week I'll speak to the shelter about it. Five cats is just too many and they're tearing up everything! Plus, Wilbur keeps eating their kitten food.

And in other news, B got his midterm results back and, while better than past years, a couple of grades were disappointing.  I always hope that he will learn from these experiences, but still, time after time, there he is locked in his room for a week before, trying to cram everything in that he should have been outlining and studying all along.  He's also taking the SATs this weekend - going in sort of blindly because he had to study for midterms and didn't have time to prep, but I just wanted to know his true starting point. We're going to have to pay for one of those pricey prep places, so I'd like to know just how much improvement needs to be made, and in which areas.

As for me, I guess it's back to resume-bombing the job sites. The postings have been slow lately, which is a bit alarming. I took a sub job yesterday, figuring I've already blown the unemployment with the temp job; I'm not sure if I will have trouble extending benefits if I haven't found anything by 26 weeks. I had a nice day at the school. It's hard work trying to get an obstinate kindergartener to forsake fire trucks in favor of a math worksheet, but it's also a good environment and I received a warm welcome from all, so it was nice to feel appreciated. I'll keep an eye out for more jobs...in fact this same one should be posted regularly, but it requires ninja-job-snatching abilities to snare it; not sure how I got it in the first place, just a fluke, I guess! I'm beginning to regret taking the two week temp job, although it will help pay the Christmas bills. But had I not, I think I would have been offered a part time insurance job, and I would have had flexibility and income - albeit meager.

2012, here i come

So the official start to my year is tomorrow. My two week temp job begins! I will be working true full time hours for the first time since before B was born, so over 16 years! Luckily I was somewhat broken in with my 36 hour work weeks, but even that ended at the end of October. So I am a little nervous and a little excited. I hope that it works out and there will be the potential to turn this into a permanent position, but I don't really want to say anything and jinx any likelihood!

Also back to 2012 tomorrow is M. Back from their training trip in places warm and exotic, the team is settled into their dorms and ready to start classes tomorrow! We will head down to watch a meet next weekend, and after that we don't expect to see her until spring break in March.  She did finish out the last semester with a reasonably impressive GPA although the shock of anatomy and one of the other speech curriculum courses kept her off the Dean's List by a fraction of a percentage. And we thought that only happened in the pool!

B is winding down the first half of the year and allegedly studying hard for finals. His GPA remains in satisfactory standing but he's had a few stumbles recently and he needs to get himself back on track.  Unfortunately, the mock trial competition in which he had been assigned a part falls on days 1 and 2 of his three days of midterms, so he's probably going to back out of the competition. I think he could probably swing it, but I can't force him and he is not historically one for efficient time management, so if he feels he needs those evenings to cram, he will have to use them. His favorite school club is stage crew anyway, so he'll probably just stick with that; they just started preparing for the musical.

And Kevin is, as usual, status quo. He just completed his own staff reviews and now awaits news of the new year's compensation.  Hopefully the news will be good; he just passed by in the hall on his way to complete the FAFSA!

And in other news, the baby cats remain. The less shy one with the one eye is having a ball. She gets a little skittish but I think she is more independent (and also partly blind) than she is being unfriendly. The other is still pretty scared and anti-human, but she is appreciative of her meals. Unfortunately they don't seem to agree with her delicate constitution lately so I'm going to have to rethink her diet. They've had a much broader run of the house the past couple of days with long periods of time loose in the family room. I think the older of the two has developed a crush on our Rusty, and it may not be unrequited!