In Which I Explain My Long Absence.

Oh how time has gone by. I look at my last entry and think to myself, REALLY? Fricking APRIL? How is that even POSSIBLE?!?! Well, here's how that's possible. First off, I became a travel nurse for a little while. Then in May my beloved pitbull died from her seizure disorder. Then the job market in Ohio got REALLY awful. The only travel assignment I had available would have had me in the bowels of Toledo taking up to eight patients a night. No bueno. So I was out of work and had no clue what would happen. So my folks advised me to apply for jobs in California. I did. I got a call almost immediately for a phone interview. The phone interview went so well that I was scheduled for an in-person interview for the next week. Fuck! How the hell was I supposed to get to California when I was broke?! So my folks foot the bill for a plane ticket. I flew out on a Tuesday and interviewed the next day. I was supposed to hear back the following Monday but my (future) boss got stuck on the east coast during hurricane Sandy and it took her another few days to get back. She called the day she got back and offered me the job. I started two weeks later. A month later (Thanksgiving) my father flew back to Ohio to gather my Jeep Cherokee, my children, and my dog (I rescued an absolutely awesome pitbull named Emma). They made it about four hours before the engine blew. 24 hours, 2000 dollars, four days, and a train ride later my kids and father were in California. My dog had to stay in Ohio because they don't allow dogs on the train. Things were going swell after that. It's tense with two families living in one house but we were doing okay. Then my brother wrecked his motorcycle, making it necessary for us to have another vehicle. So he and my father head back to Ohio yet again to pick up my cherokee (which had just had a new engine installed thanks to my extended warranty). Two days later they are in California with my vehicle. I went to drive the boys to school in it and that's when my father informs me that, oh by the way, did I know that the transmission was gone? WTF! A week later my savings account (I've been saving for a place of my own so I can bring out my husband, our stuff, and my fur babies) was empty but I have a new transmission. When I picked it up I expected them to tell me about the power steering leak because I knew about that, but in addition to that they inform me that I need a new suspension because mine is completely rusted out and it's dangerous to drive my vehicle in that condition. Oh, and I need at least two new tires also. So.....what have YOU been up to? Hmmmmm?