The saga continues …

When I was a teenager, I begged God to give me an interesting life. I certainly got one, but I should have been more specific. I was picturing something like an astronaut or opera singer. 🙂

It’s been an interesting week in all kinds of ways. I’m trying and failing to remember the beginning of it. I think I might have actually worked on my book at some point. So that was a good thing.

I also had another interview. It was for an appointment-setting job for a solar panel company. It actually sounded kind of cool and the money is great, but it involves a lot of face-to-face interaction, which sounds nice and also terrifying. I’m keeping it on the backburner, IF we stay in the area. More on the IF later.

My next big task was to create and upload a couple videos for Chinese English-teaching schools. I anticipated work of an hour or two, and the reality took two whole days. I started with technical difficulties on their end, shed a lot of tears through the middle (which is not a good look on video), and persevered to the end in spite of numerous challenges of shooting video inside a truck. Some of these challenges included: CATS. Anyone who has cats knows what I mean. They are unable to mind their own business. Another challenge was the inability to run the AC while filming because of background noise. It was 100 degrees outside. Dripping sweat is also not a good video look.  Oh, and the Blue Angels are in town for the air show, so I had jets screaming overhead every 3-5 minutes.

But I finally succeeded in creating a dramatic re-enactment of the Three Little Pigs, complete with great huffing and puffing. Gratifyingly, I got an immediate and positive response minutes after I sent it off. So I’m on to the next phase in the interview process. I have a day or so to study practice videos, then I will give a full hour English lesson to several Chinese adults pretending to be five-year-olds. If I pass that bit, I give three probationary lessons to actual Chinese five-year-olds, and if that works out well, I’ll be hired. I’m very optimistic at this point, but will need a new computer because my old laptop does not have the specs to run their software. I’m borrowing Ben’s for the moment, and fundraising for a refurbished one to get as soon as possible after hiring.

Ben has been applying to any and all trucking jobs and has had several interview requests. What’s weird though, is that he’ll get an email asking for an interview, he responds, and then it’s crickets. He did get an offer to drive truck for the potato harvest, but starting September 1. Not really helpful right now.

Throughout all of this I was feeling really crummy with what felt like a super-painful ear infection, so on Friday I went to the doctor. I don’t actually have an infection, but my lymph nodes are inflamed, probably due to stress and jaw-clenching that comes from stress. So I got antibiotics and something for anxiety, which is already working, thank goodness. After just a day and a half of both, the pain is gone, and I’m slightly less basket-casey.

Having chill pills on hand was useful, because we heard yesterday morning that the finance company is indeed interested in repossessing the truck asap. We’d tried contacting them over the past weeks but they never responded to us, continuing to harass the step-mom whose name is on the loan documents. So we told her to tell them we’re getting out as soon as we can, and will turn the truck in then. We’d hoped to put off apartment-hunting until one of us had real work, but we can’t wait any longer. Cheap apartments are plentiful around here, but not so much if you have pets. Still, we have applications in anywhere that seems feasible.

But we’re also trying something else. Our long-term goal was to get out of trucking and into an RV. Maybe now is the time. It’s not ideal, but would solve the pet-unfriendly landlord problem, and we could live in family members’ driveways indefinitely. So we did a bit of shopping yesterday and found a nice used RV that should be in our budget. We also got approved for it, but not at the payment we want, at least not without jobs. The salesman seemed VERY eager to make a deal however, so he’ll continue to finesse the financing when the banks open on Monday. While we wait for him to work his magic, we’ll keep looking.

We’re also putting the truck trailer up for sale. Getting rid of that quickly would solve a number of problems. So, fingers crossed we find someone looking for a deal on an old, but well-cared-for refrigerated trailer.

I’m really hoping by the end of the week I can report good news all around. Thank you so much for the ongoing well-wishes, prayers and contributions. It’s all appreciated, and is keeping us going through a tough time. <3

The story so far:

Why I’m taking a break

An Update

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