Moving the blog

I'm going to eventually get this website up and running as a real website instead of just a home for my blog. So, I'm moving my blog over to a blogger site for the time being (at least until I figure out what I'm doing). So the new blog is at:

http://acrazycatslife.blogspot.com/

My Kingdom for a Good Nap!

The end of the semester is a difficult time for students, but I forgot how bad it can be for us professors as well. I have been buried in tests and papers waiting to be graded for a couple of weeks now and it's only going to get worse. I'm giving tests next week and finals are two weeks after that. Plus I'm getting in another round of papers from both my classes next week as well. Remind me next time to not give so many tests and papers? At the very least I should give them all multiple choice questions so I just have to slip them into the ScanTron machine and voila! Instant grades. But no. I like to give students flexibility on tests and I'm a sucker for a good essay. Heck, I even give points for effort if the essay is 100% BS.

That stress alone is bad enough. Here I am (along with the Hubby) buying a house. We found a really nice townhouse, went through the offer/counteroffer battle, and now have a signed contract going through "attorney review." Most of this happened last week, which was supposed to be a nice short week with a relaxing four day weekend. Ha. Did I mention that we went through the whole mortgage application process as well? *rolls eyes*

Then on Monday, I'm heading to school early in the morning. I stop at a gas station along with way to fill up my tank. When I try to restart my car, I find that my battery is dead. The non-English speaking pump guys just had me throw the car into neutral (after many hand signals and me trying to interpret Spanish) and they just pushed me into a parking space where they left me. I was like "you're not going to help me?" All I needed was a jump start. I had the cables, so I just needed a donor charge. This was a busy gas station so I asked some of the people there. Not a single one offered to help me. One guy gave me this really lame excuse of him "charging his phone." What the frick does that have to do with giving me a jump start? Finally I had to call the Hubby to drive 20 minutes over to where I was to give me a jump. What a freaking nightmare.

Today, on what was supposed to be a nice peaceful afternoon of entering books into the system at the library turned into a headache. All of the incredibly annoying and very loud 7th and 8th graders who loiter at the library playing Runescape decided to come in today. Trust me, with one of these kids it takes a lot of patience to not smack them over the head with a copy of The Physicians Desk Reference, but four? Ack. I just envisioned myself banging my head against the desk.

Now can you see why I need a good nap. A good shot of vodka and some Klonopin might help too. Ugh.

Giving Thanks for the Craziness of it All

Wow. I can't believe I haven't posted in my blog since August. Even my cats have been more regular bloggers than me! LOL Why haven't I written? Simple. I'm too exhausted at the end of the day, but in a good way.

Both of my jobs are going fantastically. At the library, I got promoted to Adult Services Librarian with a bunch more responsibilities and a hefty pay raise. Plus, I try to work at least 25 hours a week there now if I can. I really enjoy the job and I love the people I'm working with. I even have a boss who is the greatest one I've ever had. I'll put it to you this way. My car was hit the other week while it was at the dealership. I had been depressed and upset about the whole thing. My boss actually called me up the next day just to make sure I was doing ok. What kind of boss does that? Man I'm lucky. Then again, maybe the powers that be are giving me some karmatic respite after the horrible bitch boss I had at my last full-time job.

The teaching is going fantastic as well. I am thoroughly enjoying it. My students seem to like me. And I just had a fantastic evaluation from the department (I got half "meets expectations" and half "exceeds expectations). Whoohoo! They have asked me to teach two classes in the spring so I'm totally psyched.

I think that if I had taken on any other type of job with different bosses, my depression would've really gotten in the way. For these past few months, I've gotten positive feedback, support, and pure enjoyment out of both of my jobs. How many people can say that about one job, nonetheless two? Yes, I still have bouts of sadness and I still get tired way too easily, but I haven't had an episode since I've started working (*knocks on wood*). This was a big step for me and I'm glad I took it.

Of course I can't just let things be. I have to add in the strain and stress of buying a house. Darren and I decided...ok, well it was really me who decided but he didn't disagree...it was time to look for a townhouse or condo for us. We're tired of where we live as the quality of the new tenants coming in has been going way down hill the past couple of years. Also, I'm sick of putting $1,200 a month in rent that goes to absolutely nothing. I want to use this money to get us a place of our own. Something that we can build equity in.

We've been looking in Sussex county, up in the mountains near the ski resorts. It will be a bit of a commute for the two of us but it's a lot cheaper to live up there and we can get more for our money. We actually just put an offer down on a townhouse, to which we received a counter-offer, to which we put in a counter-counter-offer. We really love the place but we can't afford to go much higher than our original offer. Since it's the holiday weekend, I'm not expecting to hear anything back until next week so I'm a nervous wreck.

The really sucky part about all of this is moving. I HATE moving. This will be my ninth official move in 16 years (I moved around like every year for the first few years). We're going to hire movers and such because I'm just too damn old to do it myself, and too out of shape. I just hope whatever place we do buy will be our home for quite some time.

When it rains, it pours...

I was so happy that I got my nice little job at the library, that I was completely freaked out about the phone call I received the night of my last post. The head of the history department of one of the local community colleges wants me to teach a couple of classes this upcoming semester. I had applied to teach there last semester but I had received a "thanks, but no thanks" letter from them. So this phone call came completely out of the blue.

At the time, I figured I would teach one class and work less hours at the library. There was no way I was going to give up my library gig since the people there are great and the hours are short. I wasn't going to give up an opportunity to teach either. I figured this would work out ok and not really screw up my disability 'cause adjuncts get paid %$@#. Hehe. Well, not at this college. I hope my jaw drop wasn't too obvious when the guy told me the rate of pay. It was double that of my last teaching gig. This is a big problem because if I worked both jobs like I planned, I would lose my disability.

After much thinking, crying, and enduring panic attacks, I made a decision. Because the government really wants to help disabled people get back to work, they have a safety net in plan. If I do go back to work and stop receiving my benefits I have a five year period where I can be reinstated if my disability stops me from working at any time during that period. So, I'm going back to work. I'm going to be teaching two classes and work at the library. It isn't much money overall, but it is more than my disability benefits and this will give me a chance to try to get back into the "real world." To say I'm scared is an understatement, but I feel like I have to try.

New Job and Dell Recall

Well I did it. I managed to get a...gasp...job. It's not a "real" job where I have to work 40 hours a week. Rather, it's a nice little part time job as a library assistant at a local library. I've been playing with the idea of going into a Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) program for a few months so I figured I should find out if I would actually like working in a library before I invest all that money. It'll only be no more than 15 hours a week which should be tolerable for my depression. I start today so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will like this job.

I don't know if you heard but Dell will be doing a big recall on their laptop batteries, in that they can blow up. Nice thing to know. Since I have a Dell laptop I decided to check out the information up on their website. This newest recall information isn't up yet, but there was a recall in December 2005 for a smaller lot of batteries. Lo and behold, my laptop battery is listed. Ya know, it would've been nice if they had actually notified me of this. It's not like they don't have my information. Bah. So, I ordered a replacement battery which will take "20 business days." Until then, I'm supposed to take the battery out of my laptop and use my power cord instead. Bah. School starts on the 6th and my new battery won't be in before that. Well, let's pray that my laptop doesn't blow up in the middle of Criminal Investigation or Introduction to Sociology. LOL.

Excessive Heat Watch

From the NWS...

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING...

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY EVENING.

HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO CLIMB TO THE MID TO UPPER 90S ACROSS THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY...WESTERN AND CENTRAL LONG ISLAND...AND SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT TUESDAY AND AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY. COMBINED WITH RATHER HIGH HUMIDITY LEVELS...THIS WILL RESULT IN HEAT INDICES CLIMBING TO BETWEEN 105 AND 110 DEGREES EACH AFTERNOON.

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH MEANS THAT A PROLONGED PERIOD OF HOT TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED. THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS... STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM...STAY OUT OF THE SUN...AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.

Ugh. Looks like I won't be going out much the next couple of days. What is going on this summer. Most of the country is suffering from a drought (except the northeast, of course) and we're all suffering from these horrendous heat waves. Ya, don't give me the global warming spiel. I know about it. It still doesn't mean I can't complain about it.

Think cold thoughts...

Summer has to be my least favorite time of the year. Why? I do not handle heat well. Some could say it's due to the fact that I'm carrying around an extra human's weight worth of fat on my body, but I know it's not that (it doesn't help though). Even when I was stick thin I hated the heat. I sweat profusely and I feel like I'm going to pass out if I'm outside too long. Every year like clockwork I suffer from at least one bout of heat exhaustion no matter how well I keep myself hydrated.

Today was my first case of heat exhaustion for the season. I wasn't even doing much. I was hanging out at the pool, reading, doing a little swimming. Nothing intense. Just relaxing on a nice summer day, right? Even though it was in the low 90s, this is the coolest it has been in a while so I wasn't worried. Right. After about an hour and half I started feeling a bit faint. Hmmm...did I eat breakfast? Yep. That's not it. I figured I would play it safe and head back inside just in case. The minute I stood up I felt dizzy and nauseous. Crap. I managed to get back inside and it took a good half hour of sitting on the couch in front of the a/c to get my heartrate back to normal and not feel dizzy. All the while I'm downing water like it's going out of style. I'm ok now, but I know I'll feel like crap tomorrow because of this.

I hate the summer.

So now I'm thinking cold thoughts and looking forward to a hopefully very cold winter...