You know you're desperate when...

**You keep searching on Craigslist under the jobs category searching for anything to make an extra few bucks. Yes, I still have a full time (50-70 hours/week) job Monday thru Friday. We are STILL having a hard time making ends meet. Our budget has been looked over a million times and I can't find anything else to cut back on unless we start to go to bed at 8pm as to not use any electricity in the evenings. I'm not kidding. So, I've been searching Craigslist and applied for a job as a Suite Attendant (glorified hotel maid). This place is pretty sweet though. The rooms are $300 and up/night. I've done this type of work before. Way back before I had any kids, but I can still clean like nobody's business. Haven't heard a word back from the place in 2 weeks. Their loss. Then there was the ad for someone looking for a nude model. I know what you're thinking. But wait! It sounded legit and I almost (well, maybe more than almost) answered the ad. This was an ex-art student looking for someone to pose (in the nude, of course) so they could get back into their craft. The pay? A professional massage from the "artist". That's when you know you're getting desperate. So, I answered an ad I spotted yesterday for a different cleaning job. Someone needs their studio apartment cleaned every few weeks. I will meet with him tomorrow morning and if I'm lucky, will not end up on the news as the newest victim of a Craigslist killer. I've seriously considered having Ron go with me, but it seems like paranoia. I guess if this is my last post we'll know for sure!!!

**I will soon become a Trucker's Wife. Ron has spent the past 6 months (never EVER did either of us think this would last this long) applying for engineering jobs and basically anything else that he might remotely qualify for. He's had a whopping ONE interview the whole time. It looked rather promising. Enough so that we were both in the mindset that he HAD this one. He had nailed the interview and the testing. He was the only applicant in the past year that aced the test and he got The Good Vibe from them during the interview. Unfortunately, he received the "Thanks for your interest but we've chosen someone else" phone call. That was back in June. A few days later my parents visited from CA. We spent the week playing tour guide, sent Jesse off on an airplane with them, and now she has a few days left before coming home. During the 5 weeks that she's been gone, Ron has been pursuing a career in the trucking business. He's been studying to take his test for his temp license, various doctors appointments to make sure he's ready to pass the physical, and lots of waiting to see if he can receive gov't assistance for his truck school. For at least the first year of a trucking career you can most likely expect to receive the long haul jobs. This is when I will have to gear up into Single Parent mode. He could easily be gone for 2 weeks at a time. Boo! I know this is not going to be easy, but not stressing about making the mortgage payment will be wonderful again. At least we'll have our cell phones, but it's just not the same. The kids will be affected I'm sure, but they also like to eat. It really is amazing how much you begin to appreciate the little things (or big, depending on how you choose to look at it) in life when something like this happens to your family. Time spent playing games with the kids. A meal on the table. A house to live in. Leftover gift cards from Christmas. We went to see The Hangover today due to the generosity of one of my daycare families this past Christmas. If you haven't seen this movie, then GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! My stomach muscles still hurt, but boy did I need that laugh. Now back to reality...