I probably shouldn’t be writing this right now but, I have a little bit of time on my hands and this needs to get done. I’ve owed everyone an update for a while now.

First and foremost, many thanks to everyone to offered their prayers and well-wishes. I do have a job. More specifically, I was recalled to my job. My Union did a wonderful job of preserving my job for at least another year. I am not unemployed. I can breathe a large sigh of relief over that one.

On the other hand, being unemployed would have put some time on my hands. For some odd reason, ever since this mess started back on April 30th, I’ve actually had to deal with more stuff rather than less. It’s funny. I get really busy once I’m hit with a lay-off letter. I think it was remarkably unfair of them to make me come to work while I waited for the results of all the bumping and restructuring and still have them dump more work on me than ever. The stress I’ve been going through for the past month and a half has been through the roof. It’s only now starting to ease off. And don’t get me wrong, everyone in the building was affected. Morale in the Municipal Building was at an all-time low. Lay-offs like that are terribly disruptive to a Township.

And that’s all I really have to say about that. I’m sort of taking the hint and looking for a new job. If you’re reading this and see anything productive for clerical staff with a BFA in Graphic Design, a specialization in Illustration and a minor in Art History, please send a job description my way. I’m actually looking to get out of the state of New Jersey. We’re expected to get another series of lay-offs next year and I may not be able to dodge the bullet.

As for the second thing that’s hit me lately, my brother’s home from Iraq. After nearly a year serving there in the National Guard, my brother has finally come home. I’m more than thrilled to have him home. However, spending time with him has been eating a great deal of my time. There’s a lot of stuff he wants to catch up on and I get dragged along for the ride. Just this Sunday I had to finally put my foot down and tell him I had to do other things. He was horribly disappointed. I appeased him by playing World of Warcraft with him. It was a compromise.

I’ve had other business that I’ve had to take care of as well. I had to renew my driver’s license and I’m preparing for a small trip to visit a bunch of friends in two weeks. I don’t want to bore everyone with the other little domestic duties that have cropped up throughout all of this. Apparently my mother has decided that I am also a home and garden redecorator. She’s constantly asking for my opinion on what she should do with either a room in the house or the flower beds outside. I’m rather flattered.
I need a vacation from my life. ~.~”

Finally, I’ve been fighting with my depression like crazy. Stress usually brings out the worst of my depression and the job situation has been horribly stressful. That generally destroys my creativity though I have to say my mathematical abilities skyrocket. It’s weird. It’s like my brain flicks some kind of switch and I go from being emotional and creative to logical and scientific. I much prefer the first. It makes me feel more like myself. The fact that it hasn’t stopped raining here in New Jersey since the beginning of June hasn’t helped my depression either. Things are starting to clear up here, in both the atmosphere and my life. I’m hopeful for the future.