lately time seems to be flying by faster than i can keep up. can i tell you what i've done the past 2 weeks? for one week, maybe -- there was A LOT of work to be done for the editing job as we head into a new release date. i'm still not done with everything that should be done, but at least most of the remaining stuff is little things. lately it does seem i have more to do but am getting less actually done. i know some of that is related to the general upheaval in our home recently -- adjusting to a toddler in the house isn't easy in a number of ways even if you aren't the one parenting said toddler. we also have the sick going around -- kitten and baby cat both caught nasty colds, and froggy seems to be trying to fight one. and my responsibilities in the house have increased in general because saxy's job has taken over his life...and still pays shit. he can't quit, though, there's just not a whole lot out there, and we're already worried about kitten finding work in the current economy. so lately i don't just have a full plate, i seem to be juggling more than one full plate. and i still couldn't tell you exactly what's making things so crazy...a little of everything, i guess.
kitten and baby cat arrived safely, obviously, very bright and early on the second. i drove out and picked her up by myself. she was also met by a few friends who had a playpen for her and diapers and a few other things she needed because not everything could come on the plane. they had to come up to the house to get those things to her since they parked on the way wrong side of the airport. we haven't pushed her into hunting down a job yet -- she and baby cat have a lot of adjusting to do, not the least of which is the 6 hour time difference (right now the plan is for her to start applying around next week, apply for f.a. in january, and start some kind of school come next fall). baby cat has been having a bit of a time of it, and we've tried a number of things to get her switched over. at this point all we can do is hope it eventually happens. she was sleeping through the night before moving out here, but is now waking up in the middle of the night again, which i'm sure has to do with getting adjusted and acclimated. this is where a summer arrival would have been best, though, since her fussing wakes up froggy (who is a much lighter sleeper than i realized), so now froggy is really tired a lot of the time.
still, it has been nice watching kitten revel a bit in her new found freedom. she's no longer alone and trapped in her apartment, and she actually has friends in the area who like to come out on weekends. her weeks have been pretty quiet so far, other than the adjusting, but we hardly see her at all on weekends. and, yes, she usually takes baby cat with her unless it's late night dancing/drinking. the only damper on things is trin, who is still playing stupid games despite the distance (his newest gripe: he doesn't want her paying us for rent and food; i realize the moron would probably get a free ride from his parents, but we just can't afford that, and she'd be paying more than his child support if she had to get her own place right now. really, he's an idiot). i really worry about what he's going to try to sneak into the divorce paperwork. since we can't get her out there to fight it, there won't be a whole heck of a lot she can do once he files.
jewel has also had some exciting changes of recent. she's been dating this young man for...maybe a year now? and he has been incredibly good for her -- she's maturing in the way we had hoped for, but in her own way. she's still a bit flighty, and with the last psych profile she had showing some spikes into the autism spectrum, i doubt that will change. but she is realizing she needs to finish school somehow, looking at colleges and considering a career, and seems to have settled into a less volatile young woman. and now...she's engaged. she and rhed won't be setting a date soon -- they're moving into a new apartment and, like everyone else right now, have to deal with the financial aspects of life and the fact that everyone's getting less hours and all that (although, she also recently scored a promotion, so, yea, she's doing really well), but we heartily approve of rhed. he's really helped her sort her head out in the way we wanted to but couldn't seem to.
froggy got nothing less than a 'c' on her last report card. considering the whole summer school thing, i am very pleased. she's taking her school very seriously. and i think she'll do better once things settle a little. she's always been the one to take awhile to get comfortable with new routines and whatnot -- even taz adjusts faster than she does. she'll need a full year in her new school to be settled enough to see her grades go up (she seriously seriously wants all a's). with the upheaval in the house and her being a light sleeper, it's going to be a bit of a rough ride for her for a bit. she does love baby cat, though, and we've made it clear to kitten that she can't rely on froggy to take care of the baby all the time like she did when they were here before. so far there's been no blood shed or major arguments between the girls, but they are siblings so i'm sure it's just a matter of time.
taz seems to be the only one whose not really got anything major going on. he's putting on weight (we'll find out how much more he's gained next week), doing well in his new school/classroom, and seems to have adjusted to kitten and baby cat being here fairly quickly. he even sleeps through the baby crying at night. (and he's the one i'd expect to have the most trouble.)
next week is thanksgiving, and i'll be honest, i don't see it happening for us. we're trying to figure out just how to manage our usual christmas dinner, and that's going to take some real financial finagling. we're still robbing peter to pay paul after the period of unemployment -- it seems we're never caught up enough to implement our $25-50/paycheck plan to keep the bills paid. usually there's someone who needs everything now and that means no one else can be paid. it's very frustrating. and it looks like the job is playing games with the paychecks by giving saxy a good week where he makes $150-$200 more than the weekly salary, then making sure he doesn't make salary the next...which means his checks are averaging out to about $400/week -- $50 less than what he made in construction. plus they're taking out $6/check for his work shirts -- a few they never mentioned and doesn't seem to have an end date in sight (we're talking $144/year for TWO shirts!). almost every week he has to ask them about a new wrinkle in his paycheck. it makes the whole situation even harder because he has to keep the job unless/until something better comes along...and that probably won't happen in this economy.
in the meantime, i work my editing job (i've earned a very small amount -- not even enough to meet the minimum for me to actually receive it yet) and play hausfrau i'm doing the laundry now, cooking, and grocery shopping (which is amazing -- saxy doesn't trust me near a grocery store, lol; but it's got to be done and he has next to no time for anything). i'm also the manager of the schedule and have something like 3 or 4 various doctor appointments on the board for me and others. some days i'm lucky to get any editing/personal writing done. and those are probably the only days i could give you specifics on what i did.
with everything that's been going on, everything that's on my mind of late, i probably shouldn't be surprised that time is flying. i can't say i'm unhappy about it much -- in another month we'll be having some kind of christmas (though i'm guessing a very small one), and a week after that, year over. with how bad the year has been, it can fly right away and i really won't miss it. at all.
