First Day Jitters

I’ll admit it- I’ve been bad. I haven’t updated the blog in FOREVER. But let me explain myself. See, the last post I wrote was about the job I had working in retail. And I chalk that experience up to one of the worst months in my life. So why on earth would you want to read anything from grumpy old me? Okay, I forgive myself for being complacent with posting now. You should forgive me too.

But all’s well that ends well! I left that job in retail for a much better one! I am now a secretary! I have always wanted to be a secretary as I like anything to do with organization and customer service. Plus it is at J’s school. So I cut my commute time and cost by a lot. We’ll carpool, and we’ll be able to have lunch together on campus once in awhile. The job is OFFICIALLY full-time. No 37 hours a week here! And while I’m not swimming in piles of cash, the pay is a way better reflection of my abilities and education.

Needless to say, I’ve been in a much better mood since I left that job-that-shall-no-longer-be-named-after-this-sentence 11 days ago. Those 11 days have been almost blissful. I’ve read four books. I’ve watched a movie (Stranger Than Fiction). I scrubbed my porcelain sink and tub clean. I did laundry. J and I swept and mopped the floors. I’ve been able to keep dishes out of the sink. I’ve actually MADE dinners instead of just assembled random foods to munch on. And I’ve not had to worry about driving to work or being under appreciated.

The last night of work I had was rough (okay- I mentioned it one more time) and it was made even worse by the fact that I was coming home at 11 PM (I said it was ROUGH) to grab my stuff and leave the apartment for 48 hours which actually turned into three nights and four days. Our landlords told us that the apartment was going to be fumigated for termites. J and I were in a tizzy- we had never had a home fumigated before. The chemicals they use are odorless and colorless and LETHAL if you come in before they air the place out. Your home is covered by a circus-like tent and everything that can be consumed must be either taken with you or stored in these bags that rip really easily. Pillows needed to be placed in bags and I took the extra precaution of taking almost everything off of horizontal surfaces. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with one of J’s classmates. There is no way we could have afforded a hotel for that long with two cats. (Speaking of, they hated us for days for disturbing their peace and moving them…)

The time at J’s friend’s apartment was actually pretty good. It was nice to talk to someone normal. We had dinners together, went grocery shopping at Whole Foods, she introduced us to a U-Pick Farm with the BEST strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers, and J helped her start an herb garden. I was anxious to get back home though to clean and re-organize my life. All of the plants that were around the apartment building turned black and withered away. A poor little lizard was a victim of the gassing and limply hung from the laundry door. I was grossed out, but luckily our neighbor removed his corpse so when I did my laundry I didn’t have to work around it… Ugh.

J and I got back into the swing of things now that we had a normal schedule again. We tried two recipes in addition to our usual menu. One was stuffed green peppers (stuffed with hot peppers quickly pickled in Red Wine Vinegar) topped with bacon. It was pretty good, but cutting the peppers set my hands on fire, so I was mostly angry eating them with the fork barely in my hands. The second recipe we made tonight and it was a big success: English Onion Soup. It’s like a blonde French Onion Soup. We used onions from the U-Pick Farm and chicken stock that we had made from a previous meal. We made our own croutons by broiling them in the oven, some we covered with a sharp Irish Cheddar cheese. I’m getting hungry for it again just writing about it.

The only sad news is that getting a puppy is set back by a couple more months. My car decided to take a turn for the worse. After $500 of preliminary repairs that we hoped would solve the problem, I noticed the car was misfiring after I started it on a chillier morning. Turns out three of our four fuel injectors were cracked and one was almost completely black. That was $1000. Well, at least my car runs much better now and I get even better gas mileage. But .:poof:. there went the money for a puppy. I’m glad we were able to cover the cost of the car. We’ll just have to keep saving those pennies…

I’m sorry the posts have been few and far between. Now that I’m on a regular schedule I won’t be so exhausted. Wish me luck for my new job tomorrow! It feels like the first day of school. I’m excited!