Updates Galore

In the past two weeks I have successfully applied for three jobs. Two of them I have already been rejected for because apparently I do not meet the requirements. It's just like with any job--how am I supposed to get the experience required for the job if I can't be hired for a job that will give me experience? (Say that ten times fast!) I'm feeling very frustrated, but I'm sure something will come up soon. I'll put in some more applications and just see what happens. You know the economy is bad when even a nurse is having a hard time getting a job!

Oddly enough, my back has been more sore and generally more uncomfortable since I have started physical therapy. I guess it's just from the strengthening exercises--I am sure that my muscles were pretty weak since I am so out of shape. It's not like I am unable to perform my regular daily activities or anything. It's just an annoying sort of soreness. Perhaps the doctor can shed some light on things when I go back to see him again this Friday. I think that regular massage therapy and visits to a chiropractor would also help a lot--I need to get on that.

Last week I spent three and a half very long days working on the guest bedroom. I finished it just in time for my mom and my sister to visit this past weekend. And when I say just in time, I mean that in the very literal sense. As in, after removing excess furniture, removing the closet door so it could be painted, painting the walls, the trim, and the baseboards, vacuuming, making the bed, putting up curtains, and returning the furniture to its original place, I finished screwing the freshly painted closet door back in place literally minutes before they arrived. And did I mention that they arrived at 3am? (It's not just me, running late is a genetic disorder that my family carries on both sides.) At any rate, I was very proud and happy to present warm and inviting (and finished!) accommodations for the weekend to my very tired family. Now I can check another room off the list!

I had a wonderful time with my family this past weekend. I always forget how much I had missed them. I only get to see my mom and my little sisters about twice a year, so it's always a bit of a reunion when we can get together again. Sometimes I really wish they lived closer so that I could be closer to my sisters. There have been a lot of "firsts" in their lives that I have missed as a result of the distance. And that is just kind of tough to think about sometimes, because I practically raised them during their younger years when I was in high school.

I also had a meaningful talk with my mother about what it was like to grow up in that household, where she and my stepdad were constantly at odds with each other. It was very stressful, and I just remember being so incredibly ready to get the hell out of there when I went to college. I can't believe they have been married for seventeen years and my mother is still miserable. It sucks to see her so unhappy and to feel helpless in doing anything to make it better. She knows what she has to do, it's just a matter of getting up the guts to do it.

In two days my favorite person in the whole world will be returned home to me again. I can't wait!!! Thanks to all of my best peeps (you know who you are) for taking me under your wings while he has been gone. It has meant a lot to me to know that I have friends to call on when I am at my loneliest. Soon our big, happy family will all be reunited....yay!!!