that thud is the sound of domy falling over after running around like a crazy women for the last couple of weeks.

i swear i haven't been ignoring my journal. i've been too tired, too sore, and too busy the last few weeks, so most of what i usually like doing - writing, journaling, web site stuff - has all been suffering on the wayside till i could get to it again. saxy's been out of town for most of the last 2 weeks, down by the florida border working, and i've just been running around trying to get things done with varying levels of success:

gwinnett county map: success, and probably the best thing i bought so far. i've been using it to get everywhere, and it packs nicely in my purse. i have it folded so it shows the areas i've been needing to get to the most. mcat originally gave us this big book of georgia, kinda like the thomas brothers maps, but i've left that to saxy. it's just a bit much for me to carry around and try to find my way with it. folding paper map is much easier to handle. lol

social security: failure. they only have 4 appointments early in the a.m. each day to change residency. it took a 3 or 4 hour wait for them to tell me that. i haven't managed to get back to take care of that yet. i was just too busy with other things and am now without transportation, at least for a little bit.

utilities: most of these were set up before we left cali. i set up our trash service a week after we arrived. and it took me a few to transfer the electricity to our name, but finally managed it, much to the relief of our landlord. lol

transfer of driver's license: failure. they are insisting on an original birth certificate with the state seal. like no one else could order one to show them. what's really stupid is i have a cali license - i never let it lapse despite not having a vehicle to drive. it has a picture on it. it's me. the birth certificate is kinda stupid if you ask me me. but, anyway, i called today on how to get one as quickly as possible and to make sure the adoption wasn't going to screw getting it up and will be doing that soon too. once i have the certificate, i can go back and try again.

extra records for kids' school registration: succeeded. took 2 trips to the health center since i didn't know i needed the vision/hearing/dental screening as well as the immunization records (both on special georgia forms that cost money, btw - *rolls eyes*), but we have them all taken care for all 3 kids now. speaking of which . . .

school registrations: depends on the kid. froggy is registered and pretty much ready to go. i just have to get her school supplies. i have the registration packet for jewel, but her open registration isn't until august 3. as for taz, i finally got the correct phone number for our mentor, but she hasn't returned my call yet. we don't even know which school he'll be in at this point, so we're still in the sorting it all out stage for him.

kaiser: i got the kids in and they now have georgia numbers, but that may not stick. it appears linnorm's company thinks it may be too expensive to cover them out of state (out of cali) despite the fact that kaiser exists out here too. this is a big concern for all of us since he's required to have insurance for them, but having to pay a private carrier to take care of the kids out here would probably be a near impossibility financially. as for me, i'd be screwed. kaiser was kind enough to allow him to cover me as a part of the family plan he already pays an arm and a leg for, but if he had to get another carrier for the three kids with us, there's no way i could be covered in that plan.

eh, i guess it's not that big of a deal for me. i've gone unmedicated for extended periods in the past before, i can do it again if i have to.

teaching job: i've got the registration packet and have paid for my spot in a workshop required for anyone who wishes to sub but doesn't have a teaching certificate. there's been a not so subtle push for me to get a certificate and teach full time, but hubby and i have discussed it and think subbing is the best thing for us. it keeps me available for taz (i dread his sick days this year - disabled kids tend to get sick more often than non-disabled, and he's in a new environment which also tends to lead to more illness for the first year or so), and allows me time for my writing (which is what i really want to do, as we all know). the flexible schedule is the biggest pro to it though. i could probably find writing time in my busiest day as long as i was used to being busy. (not being used to being so busy, i sort of have been just collapsing when i get home from running around.)

anyway, the workshop is no guarantee i'll get hired, but we're hoping. the pay scale for subs out here is nice and i could easily work just 2 or 3 days a week and bring in an extra $1000. we've already determined that any money i earn will more than likely go to getting the hard-nosed collection agencies off our backs. but we also definitely need a car. things are fairly local to our house, but still too far to walk, and the area doesn't have cali's bus system.

masters degree: i'm going to wait a year. see if being a resident helps with the fees. either way i'll still need loans to get through, but a year to settle in is a good thing even if it offers no benefits to my tuition.

desk: success at last. one of the reasons i haven't been doing much online is because my computer was literally on the floor. my hips and knees just hated it, so i took to doing what little i was doing laying on the futon (which doubles as our bed, at the moment) and using the pc only when i was ready to type things up. needless to say, i was computer avoidant for awhile there. but we got me a new desk this weekend, and saxy put it all together for me as soon as we got it home. he's such a sweetie. :)

beyond all this were mini-disasters: a leaking line in the garage that seeped through the wall and soaked out carpet . . . under my computer! took me two ours to move my machine and make sure it was okay, then to adjust saxy's machine so it was out of harm's way. and now we're dealing with a mildewing carpet. it's not bad yet, but it will need to be dealt with. we called on it, guess we have to call again. the a.c. broke down too, and we've had on and off trouble with the master toilet. saxy says that's fixed now though. something he did. i don't know how many times that flooded before it stopped.

the good news is i'm finally feeling like we're settling in. the financial end of things is still a little wacky, but i think that will be settling pretty quickly now. we have a couple of priorities we want to take care of: a washer and drier, a bed for saxy and i, and a car (that's more long term i think, but we definitely need a car); but after most of that we'll be able to make some kind of payments to our creditors whether i'm working or not. and despite having some stuff (ssa and driver's license transfer among them) i still need to take care of, things seem to be settling down to a dull roar, which is much more manageable than the hectic pace that has characterized the last couple of weeks. hopefully this means i'll finally start updating more again now that things are smoothing out a bit.

not that any of you missed me. ;)