Since I've been so lax in my writing lately, I guess it's time for another catch-all session including everything that's happened to me in the last month or so. Here goes nothin'...
On November twentieth I lost my job. Yeah. Happy stinkin' holidays, right? Since then I've been blasting my resume out to anyone who'll take a look, without success. I've had a couple of random calls from companies to which I didn't apply (odd, right?) soliciting me for sales positions. I have all the respect in the world for people who excel at sales...I just don't think I'd be good at this. Plus, there's the fact that I need to support a family here, and there's no guaranteed salary in these positions. Just commission.
So on I look.
In the meantime I've applied for unemployment, and will find out in the near future if they've deemed me worthy. I can't imagine any good reason why they wouldn't, but am kind of freaking out about the unknown. What if they say no?
There's always the 401k. I know it's a last resort, but at least it's there if things get bad.
Two days after losing my job I threw out my back. This is starting to sound like a pity party, I know, but it's not meant that way. It's just what happened, I kid you not. I'm still not completely recovered, but at least now I can seem to make it through the day without tears of pain or feeling like I'm gonna pass out. I see this as a bonus.
The real upside to all of this is that I get to spend time with The Princess. I've always wanted to be a stay-at-home mommy and I'm getting to play at that a little bit while I'm on the job search. Though the circumstances are not ideal, I wouldn't trade this time with my daughter for anything in the world.
And the stress of that job is gone, which is another plus. Things had been going downhill at my previous employer for a couple of years and morale was low, to say the least. Being home for these few weeks has made me realize I may have been in the wrong position there. Now that I'm home, I find that I am a better listener and am more relaxed. My mind isn't constantly racing, trying to figure out how I'm going to put out the next fire at the office.
I think it would be great if I could get a job working with people again...real people, rather than high-powered corporate clients whose sole ambition is to get ahead regardless of who they step on along the way. I'd love to do something working with people on a personal level. Child care, patient services at a hospital, that kind of thing.
We'll see how it goes.
For now I'm pounding the pavement and getting my name and credentials out there. Not much more I can do on this front until I get that magical phone call.
My Christmas lights are up on the outside of the house, and they are adorable. We got a new set of ceramic multi-color C-9's this year, so the place resembles a gingerbread house in the evening. We even splurged on a timer so I didn't have to climb to the back of the garage to plug them in and turn them off each day. Bonus!
Christmas tree is up. Autistic 2-year-old is enthralled, to say the least. I'm happy to report we had the foresight to stick with only the pre-lit tree, sans garland and ornaments, this year. My red and gold angel is perched on top, thankfully out of The Princess's reach. The night we put it up was trying to say the least...I don't think we went 25 seconds without her grabbing a branch and yanking, resulting in the inevitable "no" and temper tantrum that follow. She's pretty much used to it now, which is nice...lots less yelling around here. :)
I've cleared off the back of the piano as well as the entertainment center, and redecorated those areas. The piano area will stay this way for a while, with the exception of the glittery magic wand in the rubber tree...which is the only themed decoration for Christmas.
The entertainment center is now the home of our Christmas Stitch, dressed as Santa Claus. On either side we've put a bowl of ornaments and garland, and the stockings are hung on the wall behind. It's very cute, but will inevitably need to be replaced with something else after New Year's.
Here's a different view of the entertainment center so you can see the stockings, etc., in all their glory:
Other than that, there are a few small decorations on top of the china cabinet in the kitchen:
Oh, the kitchen! It's almost done. Not sure when the counter and backsplash will be completed, but the paint and wainscoting are done (as long as you don't look behind the fridge!). Pics to come later on that.
I just realized I forgot to mention Thanksgiving in there...we had my family over for dinner here, and handled everything ourselves - even with my aching back. I baked a 15-lb turkey to perfection (not to toot my own horn or anything, but toot toot!!), and made stuffing, mashed potatoes, scalloped corn and pumpkin cheesecake to go with it. Mom, Dad and Hambone joined us for dinner, and D and Robert showed up after. All in all, a nice quiet evening with the fam.
Since I'm going all ADD in this post, let's jump ahead to last week.
On Wednesday I took The Princess to her first-ever play group. It was in Crystal Lake, and was run by the non-profit place we work with for The Princess's autism services. The first half-hour was free play, which she loved (surprise, surprise). She found a little play hut with balls inside - you know, the kind they put in ball pits for little kids? - and didn't budge. She played peek-a-boo with me and a lady from NISRA, and was really enjoying herself.
Then a little boy came into her tent, stood up and took off. With the tent. The Princess was all, "No way, dude!", and grabbed a side of the tent to drag back to its original location - prime real estate, you know, with its ball-pittiness and such. She then proceeded to place the tent on the floor and sit on the side so it couldn't go anywhere.
That's right. My little girl is just slightly possessive. But there was no meltdown and no hitting, so I see this as a good thing!
She saved the meltdown for circle time.
Just as free play was getting good, some silly grown-up decided it would be fun (yeah, right!) to put the toys away and go sit quietly in a circle while she read a book. The Princess? So not into it. Squirming, yelling, and getting ready for a full-blown tantrum in the middle of the floor, I scooped her up and took her over to the table for a big ol' glass of Shut Up. That's what we call anything yummy in a sippy cup - no better way to avert certain jerkitude...believe me, we know from experience.
We watched from the sidelines for a while, but The Princess didn't want anything to do with the group activities. After about an hour at the play group we snuck out and came home. Honestly, I hadn't thought she'd last that long, so this was a pretty successful first time.
Two days later we had The Princess's annual evaluation with Early Intervention, and the short synopsis is this: we're keeping speech therapy twice a week at home with Julie, adding occupational once a week at a clinic and twice a month at home, and adding developmental twice a month at home. It's about to get busier around here!
In some roundabout way, I think I've pretty much covered the last few weeks. Here's hopin' I remember to post more often from now on so I don't have to do these War-and-Peace-length rants anymore.
But just in case I don't...Merry Christmas, y'all!
Yay! Thank you for getting me (and everyone else) all up to date. I was missing your posts and even more than that, missing you guys. This is such a nice way for me to hear all that is happening in the Tucky! Love you guys!
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