One Year.

A year ago I was in the home stretch week before my wedding. I was ready to be married and even more ready to be in Florida for the honeymoon. Life was good and that week in Florida was spectacular.

So much can happen in a year. So much to make you realize what marriage is really all about.

Since I've became a wife I've also became a stepmother, an aunt and a godmother. Also a person who is capable of caring for a baby for extended lengths of time (I hadn't ever been alone with a baby for longer than a few hours before). I've become that married woman who doesn't want her own babies and I'm okay with it, even though society tends to freak out whenever it comes up. I'm learning how to bite my tongue occasionally and just be supportive but also how to ask him for help when I need it. I've learned how the dishes are not a valid reason to be angry, ever.

In 3 weeks I'll become the solitary earner in our household. To me, this is the scariest scenario to date. Just when I had finally gotten to a place where our finances were not a constant on my mind worry, his company decides to downsize the graphics department and relocate it to an office an hour and half away. Yes, he'll file for unemployment and yes, I'm sure he'll get it, but it is only a percentage and then there's Kiddo's child support to pay and the court date for Little One is the Monday after his last day of work, which we are responsible for the court fees. And Christmas will be impossible and the possibility of not being able to stay afloat which is very real makes my chest tighten and my eyes water and the room spins and I don't even know where to start or what to do to make this better.

***

I have a job interview tomorrow. The money is better, the job similar to what I do now but (hopefully) with less of the BS. If it goes well and a job offer comes of it, I'm taking it and we'll be moving shortly after once again. There are more jobs in Columbus for Husband to pursue and as much as I LOVE where we live now, driving one hour both ways to work every day isn't very appealing. Things are bad, but could be worse, right? Right.

Just call us Gypsies.

I have dedicated some serious time in the very recent past to google maps. Why you ask? I'm trying to map out the best place between work(not my current place, but the state capital where a majority of Ohio's jobs are right now, where I may or may not have interviews in the next month, stay tuned), Kiddo and Little One (who live approximately an hour apart) and our families (which is hard since I'm from 30 miles north of Cincy and he's from 30 minutes west of Columbus).

There is no place that is a neutral good in-between place for us to be.

Right now, we are 30 minutes from Kiddo, 45 minutes from my parents, 1 hour from my niece, 1 hour 20 min from my in-laws and 1 hour and 45 minutes from Little One.

The closer we go towards the kids and his parents, the farther we become from mine. I have come to accept this, but it doesn't make the idea of being even farther away from them any easier....especially since I've become increasingly attached to my sister's offspring.

Even factoring out the distance to my side of the fam, it is hard to come up with the best place between the kids (in two different towns, mind you) and Columbus.

Then there is my need to be within a 20 minute drive to a Target that further complicates things, since its Blue Signed Department Store Country, excluding the ritzy burbs of the state capital.

I'm on the verge of suggesting RV living for us, because really, thinking of all the driving and the cost of gas to do that driving, makes me ill.

A friend on Twitter even informed me the particular Blue Signed Department Store welcomes overnight RV parking for free. Parking Lot-Sweet-Parking Lot.

I guess I need to accept the fact that we will be spending some major time in cars for the rest of our lives....and then start saving for something roomier but gas efficient, since my car hit 100,000 miles earlier this summer and really isn't all that great for Ohio winters.

It sucks to grow up.........

TAT: Totally Awkward Tuesday Job-Hunting Style

Hello lovelies! This is Totally Awkward Tuesdays, hosted by the genius TovaDarling and introduced to me by my pal Tabulous, both of which you should check out, along with all the other TAT's on Tova's page.

Today I will share with you my most awkward job interview moment (thus far I should say, for I know I won't be rockin' the job I'm at now for eternity and let's face it: job interviews are much like a majority of first dates: awkward at best).

But I, like usual, digress...

It was nearing the end of last summer and I had been on a few interviews prior but hadn't landed my first "grown up" job. The interview was actually a second interview with a small private university for an admissions counselor position. I was pretty excited about the job, especially since the school that eventually becomes my employer was taking eons to get back to me and it was nice to have another option.

Anyways...in this interview there is the Director of Admissions who had been present in my first interview with them. He is about 28 I would guess and there was also the Dean of Students or some other executive-type-higher-ed-40-something-man-guy (yeah I said man-guy, like a guy barely 40 who is still hanging on to his 30s type) too.

I was being my charming self and it was more like we were having a conversation than doing an interview, although I would tie back whatever we were discussing to how much I love working in higher ed (I worked on campus the entire time throughout my college career, both undergrad and graduate school) and lots of other BS to make myself sound nice...most of it is true, I do love working in higher ed, but you know how interviews are ;)

As we nearing the end, I asked what kind of time line they were on, (basically to see how long it would be before I was offered the job or not) and Dean of Students Man-Guy starts rambling about how long things take and the bursts out with "Oh! I wanted to tell you, because I totally forgot to tell the last person we interview with, we do a background check, but not a drug screen!" then he smiles really big and pauses.......and I had to choke back a nervous laugh just because it completely threw me...did he say that to see if I would react? Why would he tell me that at all? Is this 40-something-man-guy a stoner? Really??

Did they think if I wouldn't have passed a drug screen, I would have rejoiced in front of them thus giving away how I am a drug abuser looking to infiltrate their small university? (Side Note: I will admit, at one time in my life I would have not passed, but at the time of this interview I definitely would have but my past just made this more awkward and hilarious all at once.)

I played it off, and said, "Oh, okay"and politely smiled.

They offered me the job about a week later...but my present employer offered me way more money to turn them down. At least I got an awesome/awkward interview story out of it!