Well I am still sitting here

so I have decided to go back to volunteering at the Blanton. I have been wanting to do it for ages but as I was job searching I thought I should be doing that. However, I thought to myself yesterday, I am going nutty here with no kids to talk to and Gordon sleeping a good part of the evening before he goes on the PC until about 9.30 when he wants to watch TV. So I contacted Martha yesterday and I should be back next week, doing my old shift of Friday 10-1pm, so I am looking forward to that.

Kid wise, Alan and Emily are both back to college but Alan has only managed to get 9 hrs despite needing to do 12 (the max he can do at the moment). This will put him even further behind but at least he can't say he is overworked! I just wish he would contact his counsellor more and maybe they could have pushed for him to get into something.

Elisabeth is believe it or not, working in a call centre for $8.00 an hour! We have spend $72,000 approx over the last 4 yrs for her to get a good degree in Biology and apparently that is not enough to get a level entrance job in that field. She had an interview with the fish hatcheries in San Marcos the other week which had been described to her as being something a high school student could do. That sounded good but no, apparently they were actually looking for someone more experienced than a graduate fresh out of college. She had done well in the interview apparently so they suggested she could get more experience by volunteering there! Just a quick point, she had been working all last summer with no pay for the same place but with smaller fish ,so basically they are just get cheap labour.

Anyway, she is plowing along, as she really want to work in the environmental field. If she is still in San Marco during the summer she will take a new class that is being offered in environmental law and maybe that will help. However, it really pisses me off that more and more places are insisting on kids getting masters/phd's before they are even considered for a job other than your run of the mill jobs, like call centers or pharmaceutical reps!

The weather here is cold but no colder than it was in London when I visited but somehow it seems colder, weird eh. Anyway, basically it is dark, dank and too cold to willingly go outside. That is another reason for taking up the volunteering again, that unwillingness to actually go anywhere is rearing its ugly head again. If I could get groceries delivered I would as I really hate going to the grocery store but its more than that, I get anxious about going anywhere, putting it off until I absolutely have to. The weather is not helping!

Anyway off to get dressed now and do some chores around the house before I start my crafting/art(?).

Yesterday, I spent a good part of the day making a cardboard frame for my latest beaded figure . As it based on an icon from these parts, I decided to make a shrine but again one of my fears got in the way. We have plenty of scrap wood in the garage which I could use to make a frame, however, since my college days, its always sometime I avoided doing. I know how to do it, I made my own stretchers at college but it was with power tools, a big circular table saw and it scared the sh** out of me. All power tools scare me but saws in particular. So today I am going into the garage and sort out some wood.

Anyway back to the shoddy cardboard frame, I decided in my wisdom to cover it with tiny Mosaic glass tiles. I managed to do the top, one side and some of the raised front before deciding this wasn't going to work. Fortunately I had used a hot glue gun to attach them to the cardboard so they weren't too bad to prise off but its amazing how well they were stuck on with that stuff!

Xmas is fast approaching

and as usual life goes on its merry beat.

For the past 24 hours the house has been a hive activity with the arrival of Elisabeth to complete the family visiting for Thanksgiving. Not that we actually celebrate Thanksgiving but with everyone away at college or working, its a good time for a family get together.

The biggest drama (because there has to be drama in holiday weekend) was the upstairs toilet overflowing this morning and first time we noticed it was when Emily heard a dripping sound behind her as the water came out the air vent in the ceiling. Now we have the constant drone of fans as the downstairs bathroom cupboard and the part of the games room carpet dry. Just confirms that the US has the crappiest plumbing system. Very rarely had blocked toilets in the UK and here we have them on a regular basis, normally however, we spot it before any damage is done!

The past week I have been busy getting the house tidy and gifts for Xmas. As usual I have left the gift buying for my family to the last minute which isn't so great as I have to post them to get to Australia, France and the UK.

It doesn't help that I am not feeling so great to be honest. My stomach feels like its expanding by the day although my weight is actually going down! My back is killing me, so sitting in this seat at the PC isn't really helping. Everything seems tight around my waist so I can't get comfortable. Basically, I just feel bloated, uncomfortable and miserable, although having all the kids helped with that. How can you be unhappy when you are laughing and joking with your kids, its just a brilliant feeling to be honest.

The other part of my week was spent searching for a suitable gift for my folks, Golden Anniversary. Boy! that was a difficult one. Me and my sisters have already bought a joint gift for them, tickets to see Spamalot in the West End, London, that was a relatively easy decision to make. But getting a personal gift was almost impossible. Of course the best gift would have been if I had been there for their anniversary dinner on 8th Dec but with the rate of the pound against the dollar, 1 for 2, and looking for a job (which I have for the next 5 weeks, thank God for seasonal work), it was out of the question. However, in the end I think I found the perfect gift, bare rooted roses to celebrate 50 yrs of marriage plus 1 each for the birth of my sisters and I, 5 in total.

Waiting

for a phone call, to see if I have finally secured a job. I must admit I felt quite hopeful yesterday after the interview. It was a group interview and I was the least experience of the group - ie no real work experience but I knew enough about PCs for the job I was interviewing for. I know that because I passed the test they provided to be even considered for the position with flying colours. To be honest it was pretty basic stuff and things anyone with a PC should know if they are using one on a frequent basis. Anyway I thought I did OK but as the morning drags on, the more I know, its unlikely I have the job as its through a temp agency and its a simple yes or no from the company, no background checks or anything like that, but I won't give up entirely until the end of tomorrow. By then I should have heard a yes or no, I suspect.

Apart from that, the last few days have been great. All the kids were home at the weekend. Emily arrived home from Denton on Friday afternoon as she only has one class on Fridays. She hates her room-mate and to be honest, if I was in her position, I would be hard put not to say something to the girl. Apparently, she rarely showers, leaves all her trash lying around including soiled sanitary products and mopes around the room, bemoaning the fact Emily has so many friends. Fortunately, Emily is rapidly learning coping tactics and finding places to get space to work on her own, without the scowling face of her room-mate. Of course, Emily can be difficult to live with as well I am sure but the hygiene thing is bit too far.

Elisabeth came in for a few hours on Saturday to see her little sister, as graduation is rapidly approaching and she is beginning to realise that seeing her siblings might be a difficult thing to achieve in the next few years. At the moment, she is one minute panicking about her future and then the next calm about her future. I looked up a few websites for her to investigate over the weekend and Gordon went with her to the book store to get a guide on your next steps as a graduated student looking for employment. Having no success with my job search, I know its a really hard road but at least she is young and free of any ties, so she can go anywhere in the world.

Alan was working as usual this weekend so didn't get to see Elisabeth but he managed to have a fun time on Saturday night with his friends before returning to college on Sunday night.

So now I am going to the shops for something for dinner tonight and get the car registrations done. I hate thinking about dinner each day. It was hard when I was cooking for 5 plus lunch but its even harder now its for 2 plus Gordon's lunch. Must admit if I wasn't cooking for Gordon I don't think I would even bother with dinner. Thankfully I do have to cook dinner for him so that way I actually eat healthily, left to my own devices I would soon be suffering from malnutrition and be as big as a house!

Well life is never quite around here

with the kids in town. Yesterday, we had a case of brakes that need replacing immediately. The child was amazed when its car failed to even get into the shop before they failed it for inspection. The child offered to take me around the block to see how the brakes performed. 1st brake as we approached the corner, CLUNK, not a squeak as the child described it, 2nd, 3rd 4th and reverse, CLUNK. I booked it into the garage immediately!

Later on, other child came down stairs, looking decidedly worse for wear. The child had been working all day, barely eaten and then taken their medications. Insisted on driving to the local pharmacy for something. On the way out hit the trash bin. What we didn't know and the child didn't know is that the child hit the next door neighbour's daughter's car and then drove off. Although the neighbours car is not badly damaged,(child's car more damaged) he was understandably not pleased with the child. Think we might have smooth the waters a bit but the child needs to go over an apologise.

3rd child didn't have any problems like that but does have a very best friend who is having problems, so my ear is for the listening, I hope.

Of course, most of these problems occur because they are students on a limited budget. The brakes weren't fixed because the child has no money at the moment. The child has spend over $700 on car fixtures already this month. Of course the reason its that high is because problems were ignore until the car literally broke down. The reason the problems were ignored because the child has rent and other living expenses to pay for that seem more urgent. Its balancing act and the child got it wrong this time.

Child 2 was tired because work is in a local DIY store so child is on feet all day in the hot humid weather that is TX. The child also has become a vegetarian in the last 12 months, so find it difficult in this land of carnivores to get decent vegetarian food. Add in medications and its a disaster in the making.

I know working or paying for their way is good for them in the long run but when things like this happen I feel bad. Hopefully today will be a good day for them.