Change is good

Another day, another dollar...or 50 cents after taxes. John is wrapping up his college career in a few short weeks. I can't believe it's almost over. We've scrimped and struggled for him to attend school full time for the past few years so he could finish his degree. The first week of May will finally bring an end to it all. I sometimes feel a twinge of guilt because I haven't always been the most supportive of wives, but then I do what I can just to get through each day anymore. I'm so tired of it all. I'm running out of steam with full time work, getting Katy back and forth to every extra cirricular activity she signs up for, and trying to keep Shona happy while John gets his work done. Remind me again why I felt the need to add a new puppy into the mix? Oh yes, comic relief. That's right.

So now we are at a crossroads. John is looking into jobs all over, from Washington, D.C. to our own local school and at this point, anything is possible. He (almost!) has a degree that allows him to teach all sciences, not just one, so I think he has a good shot at a decent job. I'm torn, though. Part of me would love to just chuck it all, sell the house and start over somewhere else, but I know the kids would hate to rip up roots and move. Katy would, anyway. She is starting high school this fall. Shona is starting first grade. I'd hate to do that to them, but where John gets a job dictates where we move, so they know it's a possibility. I think I'm intrigued most by a private school in Oklahoma City that has shown a strong interest in John. They keep requesting more information and I know he is in the top three. Only time will tell.

As for me, I passed my state test, so if any jobs open up for the new job title I'm eligible for, I can interview. The new classification pays more, so I am crossing my fingers that something will open up that I would be perfect for. Then again, part of me is also hoping we'll sell the house this summer and move to another state! I won't get my hopes up for anything in particular because there are just too many variables and too many ways this thing could play out. Whatever happens, though, I'm ready for a change. Bring it on.

As long as I'm ranting

Ah, easy come, easy go. We had such plans for our income tax return. We got a really nice one back and whammo! the furnace went out. Of course. $2500 later, we kissed most of our return goodbye, but at least we have heat. Oh, the tradeoffs we must make. I'm happy we had the money to do it when it was needed, but still...

A few nights later, Katy stepped out of her shower and yelled "MOOOOOOM! What happened to the hot water!?" Oh, geez. We have a tankless water heater, so there was only one reason it could be. In all the hassling with the furnace, we both forgot to check the propane tank. Yep, bone dry. This is the first (and LAST!) time we ever let that happen. But why did it have to happen at night when it was too late to call the gas company out and WHY did it have to happen on a really cold night? John spent 40 minutes trying to start a fire in the wood burning furnace, but without kerosene and the yukky, tough wood we have, it just didn't happen. He gave up and was going to head out for kerosene, but when I went downstairs to get the container, there were flames licking out of the furnace. Now I'm no expert on fire making, but I was pretty darn sure those flames shooting out mixed with the smoke emanating from my furnace were a clear indication of fire. How annoying, but at least it finally took off and we had heat. However, I knew the morning to come was not going to be fun because I had an ice cold shower to look forward to. I tossed and turned worrying about it all night and it actually turned out to be worse than I thought it would be. You have to understand, I cannot leave my house without a shower. I just can't do it, but not getting a shower just isn't enough of a reason for me to miss work in my mind...so ice cold water it was. My fingers actually went numb and I didn't feel warm until about five hours after I stepped out of the shower, not to mention my red fingers. Let that be a bitter reminder to me not to let that tank run dry again.

Fast forward to Saturday. I had decided to apply for a new state job title, one with better pay that will hopefully whisk me away from my current hellhole of a boring job. I had to take a merit test for it and it happened to land on this particular Saturday. I was sailing along fine through it until I came to an entire section on Statistics. I hate Statistics. I loathe Statistics. I think Statistics is an asinine, purely invented nonsensical FAKE math that some idiot invented to confuse otherwise sane and reasonably intelligent people. It is totally without merit and meaningless. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled. Unfortunately, the 15 minute limit of ditching the test to take it later had passed so I was stuck taking it. I won't find out for a couple of weeks if I passed and am on the register. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I really want a different job. Mine has become so dull I have read five 300+ page novels in the past two weeks.

And in other news...I want to scrap! There just aren't enough hours in the day lately. Maybe this weekend....