I think now I know where to start.

Man. This blog has been such a Debbie Downer lately. I'm kind of sorry for that..but then again, sometimes life is a Debbie Downer.
It also didn't help at all that I felt like a sore, pathetic, sicky all of last week. I really did feel gloomy once I landed into my 2nd week of feeling even worse than the 1st week. And then Natalie was really sick but only looked really sick because she was kind of a hellion for most of last week. It's sad to see your zombie-like-faced child in timeout. But hey, the corner timeout spot does not discriminate! Sick or no sick, it don't matta!

But now I can restart this blog with some good news. At least change the front page story of the blog a little bit. That can't hurt.

10.) So wouldn't ya know it! The job that we were pretty well-convinced was gone forever and forever called Ricky today! But I need to backtrack a little.. once we found out that the staffing agency taking over the hiring was acting like asswipes (and not the good kind) we immediately re-applied for the same position on their website. Which like I said in the last post.. you can actually apply for jobs on their site now! So you can skip the middle man (ie- the staffing agency). They called Ricky today based on his online application! The company didn't put 2 and 2 together. They treated him like a brand new potential employee. So after a really great conversation with the HR person, not only does he have a phone interview tomorrow, but even the HR person laughed because Ricky probably won't have to go very far to be hired again. And yup, wouldn't ya know it, the staffing agency no longer helps them out anymore. Found that out today. Can't say we were surprised. But yeah.. we are actually really surprised. I don't think that we've had it completely sunk in yet that there's another chance for a career opportunity again!

9.) God I'm giddy. But my giddiness does not compare to Ricky's at all. At one point after the phone call from HR he felt like he was going to have a stroke. Totally kidding.. but if he had it would have been a happy stroke. I know, that doesn't exist.

8.) I always say this but I never say it enough- it's amazing what stress does to your body. Good stress and bad stress. Both can cause the craziest body reactions. It's like, once you finally get good news after feeling like you've been pooped on top of for so long, your body has to find a way to figure it all out.

7.) I'm still working every weekend cleaning at the nursing home. Luckily my boss has let me work a few shifts during the week. This has helped out a whole lot. If Ricky does get this new job, I'll either stick to just weekends again or have to leave. Honestly, it all depends on how he manages school, his labs, and working full time and what shifts those would be. Thankfully, my boss has been aware of this for quite a while. It's actually a running joke at my job now because I've over-extended my last day there for a month now. Seriously.

6.) After getting fantastic advice from friends we are now on the path to getting grants and scholarships. Basically, we're at the phase of getting more information and finding applications and "how to's" and stuff. And forget it all just being about Ricky, but it's about me, too! I've decided that I can't wait yet another year to go back to school. I've been itching to go back for years (and YEARS) now. I'm going to attend in the spring because DAMN STRAIGHT. The plan has been changing each year and we had originally decided that I would go back to finish my AA degree next fall once both kiddos are in all day schooling. But I can't wait that long.

5.) Oh and we will be able to pay our rent up for the rest of this year! Yes, we have to add it to student loans but it beats being homeless, hopeless, and not able to even go to school because you have to fight a line to the local shelter every evening! The way we see this extra student loan spending is that it's an investment not only for the future, but for our present.

4.) My left ear has been itching inside it for months now. I can't push a Q-tip in that far ever again. Not only did that hurt but I almost lost the cotton inside it. Great mom figure right there. "You kids cannot ever put things in your eyes or noses, but mama can't push a big 'ol Q-tip in her ears so don't watch! It's an itch she can't scratch aaahhhh. Hey wait, your fingers are tiny enough come here!"

3.) James visited a pumpkin patch with his class last Friday. Thank god I paid for that like a month ago before the job drama. He had the best time and talked about it all weekend long. Even to the point, please forgive me, where he annoyed me. But only because he repeated the same stuff over and over. It's still cute. And he picked out a white pumpkin. I know right? A fucking white pumpkin. Have you ever heard of such a thing as an albino pumpkin?
He proceeded to ask me later in the day how he was going to make it orange.

2.) We're waiting to hear if James gets accepted into his first school club. He chose Spanish Club, where he will learn spanish. He already knows more than I do so why not?

1.) Big deep breath in. Exhale.