Bad Timing

I just must be one of those people with perpetual bad timing jumbled in with if I didn't have bad luck, I would have no luck at all.

I came here to Thornton, CO for a job interview and I aced the interview and got sent for a drug test. I know the drug test will come back spotless. My fix for that is don't do drugs. And I won't eat anything with poppy seeds, it'll make you test positive for opium.

So all I needed to go with my new job is a new place. Except there was a flood just last September and all the 13,000 plus people who lost their homes to the flood have taken all the affordable rentals. And home owner's insurance never moves fast enough in situations like this. And if they didn't have flood as part of their home owner's insurance, then they're screwed.

What this means for me, is any rental that is available is way outside of my price range. Everything in my price range has a two to five year waiting list. So it looks like I'm going to stay put in Utah for another year. I'm still going to need to move by the end of May. We can't afford to keep our current apartment on just Cherokee's SSI and a little unemployment for me while I continue to job hunt.

Last time I lost a job in Utah, I was laid off and it took me 2 stinking years to find that crummy job at Convergys that I hated. Heavenly Parents please, don't put me through that again. So I guess what I'm hoping to do at this point is maybe with the help of the manager at the Home Depot here, I can start at a Home Depot in Utah and then in a year's time, maybe things will be more back to normal in the Thornton, CO area rental wise and I can transfer and relocate then. Sound like a plan?

If you have any better ideas, let me know. And no it can't involve me moving back to Ohio. Luv U Fred. Keep us in your prayers.

Brain Drain

I think I know why some people never relocated and stay right where they were born and raised. Trying to relocate is a booger. I'm not doing that badly at finding my way around. But finding an affordable rental is like finding a needle in a hay stack. I don't need a lot of fanciness. I'm not really expecting anything fancy at all. I just need two bedrooms and let my disabled daughter keep her dang cat. Yet I can't seem to find anything affordable. Same problem in Utah, but it's different when you're working full-time. I haven't officially been hired by Home Depot yet and when I start, I'll only be part-time to begin with. So I need something reasonable, around $500mo so we can eat too.

Dang, I so need to learn to absorb nutrients out of the air so I won't need to buy food.

I don't know how anyone can afford a place that's $1200-$1500mo, and I'm house hunting outside the city limits. My brain is on fire. But for the most part, most people have been very friendly here and most have tried to be helpful. But right now I am so discouraged.

On the brighter side, I slept in a WalMart parking lot last night. Before I bedded down for the night in the back of the Exploder, I went in and bought a couple of extra blanket and I slept very well last night. Didn't have to get up to start the Exploder for heat once. I need to find a truck stop tonight so I can get a shower.

Things you want to have with you when you're living out of your vehicle: Disinfecting/anti-bacterial wipes, toilet paper (sometimes a rest area is out), and of course you want to have things like deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, clean underwear. And you want to be friendly and outgoing. Keep us in your prayers.

Frustrated

I understand that there have to be rules and regulations. I get that. But when those rules and regulations get in the way of helping someone, there's a problem. I was informed yesterday that a subsidized apartment complex was taking applications for their waiting list. That I could go into their office today, fill out an application and we would be put on their list. What they didn't tell me was all adult household members needed to be present when applying.

My daughter Cherokee is at home in our apartment in Roy. Her last day of school is May 30th which also happens to be when our lease is up. But I didn't see any reason to drag her around with me and have her stuck sleeping in the back of the Exploder with me while I job and apartment hunt in Colorado.

So I was there first thing this morning when they opened there office. I stood in line for an hour to get the application. I filled it out and stood in line for two more hours to turn it back in. I missed a job interview to accomplish this. I finally was at the front handing in my paper work and they refused to take the application because Cherokee isn't with me and it's not like I can just run to the other side of town and grab her. Apparently the federal regulations for this type of HUD housing project requires all adult household members to be physically present when the application is turned in.

I'm so frustrated. I have copies of both our IDs and Social Security Card. I even brought Cherokee's birth certificate with me. I had everything they asked for accept Cherokee there in person. I'm so frustrated. They wouldn't accept our application. I wasted over 4 hours. I was there for over 4 hours to turn in that application and they wouldn't take it.

They need to rethink some of these rules and regulations. The rules and regulations shouldn't keep people from getting the help they need, when they need it.

Cold & Scared

Not much in my life ever goes smoothly. I guess most of the big life or death stuff has gone better than could be expected. I was born healthy without complications. I had healthy pregnancies with my two children and gave birth naturally both time without any pain meds.

So hear I am just outside of Denver, CO, be-bopping around trying to get to know the area before my job interview this after noon. My drive over from Utah went smoothly. Still wish the Exploder was better on gas.

I found my self in the Colorado Welcome Center/Rest Area last night. Can't afford a hotel, need to keep gas in the Exploder. It was the first time I ever saw a rest area with signs posting a limit on how long you can park there. I didn't find that very welcoming at all. Despite the lighting, it was still dark enough that I couldn't see the signs properly and I was afraid a police office was going to come along and make me move in the middle of the night. Then I found I had grabbed the wrong sleeping bag, so I had my son's old sleeping bag which is kid sized and it got pretty cold last nigh. I didn't want to waste gas letting the exploder idle through the nigh so I could have heat, but I had to start her up twice in the middle of the night. Plus my daughter didn't answer the phone when I called to check on her last night. Between worrying about my daughter, worrying about being moved along by the police and freezing temperatures with the wrong sleeping bag, I did not sleep well.

I'm so glad to have found a Burger King so I can take advantage of the free Wi-fi.

So everyone wish me luck on my job interviews and on house hunting. Finding an affordable reasonable priced rental is going to be a challenge here. If I get this first job I'm interviewing for, I may find myself with a bit of a commute because it's in a more expensive area than we can afford. Keep us in your prayers.

Love Being A Parent

If you're not a parent, you don't know what you're missing. And if you're one of those people that never wants children, I feel sorry for you.

I love being a mom. I love my children so much. They bring me so much joy and their not even trying. They're just being themselves with all their imperfections and idiosyncrasies.

Today for example. I had to take Cherokee back to the doctor's office. She rarely catches a cold, but right now she has a whopper of a cold. And since she's so rarely sick, she's being a big baby about it.

So when we left the doctor's today, she had a prescription we needed to stop off and get on the way home. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But of course, we have to wait a half hour for the prescription to be ready. Thus, we had a half hour to walk around the CVS and explore.

Cherokee being Cherokee naturally ends up in the isle with all the cookies and stuff. And I'm like no, because the last thing either of our big butts needs is another cookie. But she had some money with her and decided to buy the box of cookies she wanted herself, fine.

The prescription is finally ready and we can finally check out. We're at the check out counter up front and Cherokee is having trouble getting into her purse. She walks in place in a circle as she's trying to get into her purse like a dog chasing it's butt.

I was dying and Cherokee is totally oblivious. She has no idea why I'm laughing my butt off.  I don't know how anyone can think there is more fun to be had out there at the bottom of a tequila bottle than there is having your own family and just watching the silly things they do sometimes. I love being a parent and their uninvolved fathers are missing all the fun.

I'm So Excited!

I am so excited. I had a preliminary phone interview for Home Depot this morning and I have a face-to-fave interview scheduled for next week. And not for their call center either, for store operations.

So I'm going to have a 7-10 hour drive to get there, it's in N. Thornton, Colorado. I'm kind of Utahed out right now. I think Chreokee and especially me will do better in an area where there are more converts like ourselves. I just have this little problem with being true to myself. I just don't believe in Fake-It-Till-You-Make It. It's one of the most dishonest philosophies I've ever heard. And I wasn't part of a clique in high school and they just don't belong in church, any church.

Deep breath... I guess it's kind of obvious I've gotten a little frustrated with more than just the job I found myself in, here in Utah.

Having Asberger's Syndrome, a form of Autism, Cherokee isn't always good with change, especially sudden change. But she's excited about this. The only complication I see right now is Chreokee's last day of school is May 30th. And if I'm hired on for Home Depot next week, I'll need a rental unit in that area not too far from my new job. I'm looking at possibly trying to cover rent for 2 place through at least May.

They say Heavenly Father doesn't give you more than you can handle. But I think that's only covers mentally and emotionally. I don't think He's paying attention to finances. I wish I knew someone in the area there, but I don't. I'm flying a bit blind here. But at least I'm not trying to leap across the country without having a job lined up first. I learned a lot from my failed attempt to move to LA that landed me here in Utah instead.

Wish me luck. And keep us in your prayers.

My Therapy

For me writing is a form of therapy. Sometimes it's just a way to vent and get things off my chest without yelling or fussing at anyone. But mostly it's how I escape this world. I can go where ever I want to go. Be whoever I want to be. It's all up to me.

I just finished typing up a short story I call Crotchety. But it's still a little too long for posting on here, but it feels good to know it's finally typed up. I need that dragon program where you speak to the computer and it types for you. When I write, I write by hand with an actual paper and pencil in cursive. Imagine that. But once I've finished writing a story, it needs to be typed up. Between the writing of the story and the typing it up it's not a fast process, but it is a satisfying process.

But Crotchety is typed up. It's part of a set of related short stories I have that go together. It takes place in the future as do all the other short stories that go with it. I guess if I ever get them published as a book I would like to call it White Cities and Small Villages. I think Peony's posted on here some where. I felt she was short enough to be posted. A word of caution though, Peony doesn't have the happiest of endings. My daughter, Cherokee, finds stories with sad endings infuriating. But not everyone's story has a happy ending. Just because one's story doesn't end happily doesn't mean it shouldn't be told. Sometimes the sad ones need to be told the most.