Well, I do love what I have learned on the job. But that’s not why I am willing to pay $300 per month for my job…No, I’m paying $300 a month for my job because it’s cheaper than trying to take classes at a local college, or even online. And it’s better than classes because I have a big portfolio + all the training classes would give me + job exerience=will be easier to find a new job later than it would be if I were only studying right now versus working.

Oh, also, there is the added bonus of many cute guys at my job. But that has nothing to do with the reasons I’m willing to pay $300 a month to work there–no sir, sorry, that is where I DRAW THE LINE–I will NOT pay money to go to a job just to see the cute guys there! Man, I drive a hard bargain. What can I say? Except that it’s probably time to figure out how much longer we can afford for me to have this job.

Also, I have to comment on my manager. Man I  really hope he isn’t reading this–I know, I’ll be tricky–I have 3 managers (in a heirarchy) and could be talking about any one of them–I’ll be vague so that if one of those managers IS reading this, he will still have NO IDEA whether this is about him or the other guys. (It is theoretically possible that one of them could have read this blog. think I sent a link as a writing sample–they wanted to see evidence of blogging. In retrospect, WHY would I send this? You can’t send stuff like this when applying for a JOB. I find it very worrisome that I did that. Scratch the part where I said “I think I sent this”–I know I did–I was just pretending like I wasn’t sure because it was SO DUMB to do that and I was momentarily embarrassed…) Well, anyway, my boss is a A really good-looking GUY who’s disguised as a nerd. In other words, he has the hot “geek” thing going on. I think you know what I mean. That’s it–I can say no more except that he also looks very fit and hides it under loose clothing. Thank you. I feel so much better now. Also, there is no chemistry between us whatsoever–and I am glad.

Oops–I just realized that this post is absolutely ridiculous. I just said that I pay money to go to my job, I like that there are a lot of cute guys there, and my boss is a hot nerd.

I’m sorry–I know that it’s very unlikely any readers of this blog are in junior high, yet I keep writing about topics that are suited for junior high schoolers. Okay. I’m going to get it together and post a GOOD POST. One suited for adults. Don’t worry, it won’t be graphic. Just more mature than this one.

Hollywood workers are seeing some hard times. The effect of the writer’s strike, gas prices, and the age old problem of Los Angeles area rents and mortgages are making it hard for locals–even those who have achieved their aspirations of securing cushy positions in the industry.

While movies don’t pay the rent, they can sure relieve and inspire the soul. For any readers who seriously need an escape and a little inspiration, I strongly recommend the following movies–if you think YOU’RE having hard times, wait till you see these guys:

1. The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith (the title is actually spelled that way–it’s not a typo) and the sweetest little boy ever, though I don’t know his name, he’s a marvelous little actor. MAN this is a good movie about how the human spirit can somehow keep on going even when doors keep closing and closing…and then before you know it, things start looking up.
2. Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe: Such a bad title for such an incredibly engaging and inspiring movie. It’s about family, love, hardtimes, and risks. It tells the TRUE story of a family who made it through the Great Depression. Note: I got so emotional during this movie that I had to pause it and find the ending on the Internet–pathetic, but true testimony as to how incredibly awesome this movie is!

First, the unemployment began right when our third child was born. Oh! Ha ha! I just realized that this sounded ironic, though it wasn’t meant to…Why would I be happy that my husband and I are unemployed right when we have our third child??? Well, several reasons:

1. One could say that I haven’t seen my husband for an entire year due to his employment (before August, when he became unemployed). He was working on movie after movie after movie, and therefore, he was never home. Mind you, I don’t complain about his work hours due to years of unemployment a while back–I’m always thankful employment, always have been, it’s just the way I am…Nevertheless, this 2-month bout of unemployment=God send for my family.
2. I haven’t spent nearly enough time with my children during 2008 and for a few years before that. Why? Because of my employment. I do work hard to balance work and family, and sometimes I do a great job! But sometimes I do a lousy job, and family is far too important for that. So, occasional unemployment is a perfect cure! Thank goodness I had 2 months to think this through thoroughly:)
3. My husband and I had savings (though shamefully small) to fall back on. Not a ton, but enough. Remember, half of our marriage, we had employment issues (okay, he did, not me, and by “issues” I mean he had no job) BUT…the other half we have moved a thousand times and stuff=costly. So, it was hard to build savings. But we deprived ourselves of many nice things and we built one. And now we have spent it. HAHAHHHA. So amusing. Oh, but main point: We had it when we needed it.
4. My husband and I are officially employed as of Monday. Back to normal for us–on a holiday nonetheless. After a 2-month holiday, I won’t complain. But many people are not so lucky. This is disturbing me a great deal, and I keep trying to think of ways to help. I may have one or two ways to help on a small scale–but they may not help very much…We shall see.

So, I’m in one of my occasional (alright, almost non-existent) deep moods. In a way, our country, and apparently the entire world, is lucky to be experiencing this recession. We’ll learn to spend time with our families, help each other more, and once again after a few decades, college grads will be grateful for, not scornful about, their first jobs. People will be thankful for their possessions and not constantly trying to upgrade, outdo, redo, and purchase anew…

So, on one hand, I’m really thankful. Unfortunately, I keep coming back to this–ya know, some children are going to have a hard time getting a meal because their parents can’t find work. This thought is very difficult to cope with. It’s making me really sad. It also brings me back to the time when my husband has as much luck getting a job in the US as I’d have had at…say, landing Arabic jobs. (I don’t know Arabic, and he didn’t know English). Jobless times are hard times. I just want everyone to be okay!

But then I woke up at 4:00 am. Man, is this what happens when you go to bed at 10:00 pm? Don’t like it.

Then I noticed my husband was STILL not home from work. NO, he is not having an affair. (I know this because I do regular pocket, wallet, and car checks. Just joking. I would never invade my husband’s privacy. Only on Sundays, and only then while he’s in the shower or still asleep.)

Though I NEVER get mad about his late hours, I’m contemplating the possibility. His very long-term unemployment several years ago tramautized me into not caring how long he works for any reason ever, as long as he has a job to work at. But 4:00 am on Saturday? Perhaps it’s time to confront the trauma. (He’s also been working till 1am and later each week night for at least 3 weeks. New responsibilities at work–wants to prove himself.) Hey I get it, but 4:00 am on Saturday??

So, I spoke loudly, “What are you DOING? It’s 4:00 am! It’s SATURDAY!” And then he said he was working (yes, that’s clear), and he’s coming home soon. I kept thinking, “I think we need to set limits.”

But in order for limit-setting to work, the other party has to respond to the limits. See, that doesn’t happen in our house. Oh, I’ve set limits, and taken measures to enforce them. Bigtime measures. You don’t even want to know about them. My standards weren’t always this low, and I used to have lots n lots of energy to set and enforce limits. But my husband is not a “respond to limits” type. He’s not even a “clearly hear or understand limits” type. He’s pretty much limit-proof.

He said he almost has it under control. So I’m going to copy my husband and put this off for a while. Let’s see where we stand on the work hours next Saturday. If 4:00 am, I’m going to start talking strategies. Big ones. Like take the kids and move to Granny’s house. On the East Coast. And uh…uh…too tired to think about it. We’re going to go get ICE CREAM now. I’ll update you soon.

My husband, the kind, handsome, wonderful man he is, definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer. A very different drummer. A drummer who can be annoying at times due to being so unaware of and forgetful of obvious things, yet still feel thoroughly convinced that he knows so much about everything. Especially health, driving laws, and child-rearing. About once every week or so, he shocks me with some bizarre question or statement. I thought I’d list the 10 examples that come to mind–ALL 100% TRUE.

1) Using a seatbelt is dangerous. Also carseats are dangerous for children. (We have children. He abides by the law, but that doesn’t make me feel much better about either of these statements.)

2) Driving the speed limit on the freeway can be dangerous. Sometimes you have to go faster to be safe.

3) What’s my mother’s area code? (As in, his mother’s area code.)

4) Do you spell our son’s name with a “c” or “k” at the end?

5) How old are you? (As in, how old am I. He has known me almost 11 years.)

6) How many years have we been married? (He would probably be at least two years off if he guessed.)

7) Who is Angelina Jolie? (He rattled off this question in 2005 when she’d been very famous for many years. Also he works in the movie industry and was about to begin working on “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” when he asked this question.)

8 ) You know the Airborne you gave me to stop my cold? I think it infected my kidneys.

9) I can’t apply for another job yet. I still haven’t gotten a response from the last one I applied for 2 weeks ago. (This helps explain why he was unemployed for a very long time during our early married years.)

10) It won’t be hard to have a 3rd child. You’ll be fine. (Of course, as he works 9am to 11pm-ish most days.)

PS. His jokes are even stranger than his quotes and questions. They also cause people to stop and do a double take. You can read about those here and here.)