Tuesday, November 30, 2010

My fall blues

So this past fall has been one of the worst. A VERY close second to the fall when
HE left, but back then I was skinny and had a job! Technically this all started back in June when I was laid off along with about 80 other paraprofessionals in my kids' school system. I thought something would turn up, but it didn't. So after Wildwood, I started looking for work. And then my heating system/hot water heater died. Kaput. I found a great plumber who replaced (and modernized) it over the course of three days for a cost of several thousand dollars!! Fortunately, I am an extremely frugal woman, so I had the money saved for an emergency. Back to the job search- I had an interview, but the times of the job didn't work for me (kids' schedules!) and then I had another interview scheduled but the woman called me the morning of and cancelled so fast all I could do was stand there dumbfounded with the phone in my hand. Third time- bingo! I got a job working in a high school cafeteria. My experience at Vovcha was what sealed the deal for me! Lucky!! Wahoo-a high school cafeteria! Just where I wanted to be!! So, that job was ok, but it was 45 minutes away, 80 miles round trip, and it was KILLING both me and my car. I ended up quitting that job after about a month. I really wanted it to work, but I was a zombie. I even forgot to pay an electric bill- that has NEVER happened before.
My new heater started sputtering and making all these gurgling noises...So I called the plumber and when he came over to check on it it was pouring rain outside and my kitchen started flooding. From under the dishwasher. So literally, as the plumber is looking at my heater, I am wet-vaccing my floor. Thankfully he fixed the noises without too much fanfare. Next: My Car. It's about 10 years old and it started making this disconcerting rattling noise in the left front tire area whenever I hit a bump or a pothole or a driveway. I had it checked out, and it ended up taking two and a half hours at the dealer and would cost $1470 to fix. I passed on that- not enough money after the heating costs. That night, I finally checked one of my kids who had been scratching his/her head for weeks and, sure enough, I found lice. YAY!! Not knowing how to really deal with them, I did the shampoo, combed out the live ones, sent this child to school, and promptly had to bring this child home and pick out each and every nit, by hand, from the hair. I had never known about this. I proceeded to pick for a total of about 10 hours over the course of THREE days!! I had a breakdown early on day three. Like hyperventilating-crying breakdown. My child ended up comforting ME. On election day, I get in my car with the kids to go vote and the car wouldn't start. There was nothing there. No click, no beep, no lights, NOTHING. So we had to walk to vote and to the YMCA for swim practice. I had the car towed the next day to the dealer- the same day that I was registered for a job fair in East Hartford. My mom had to come up to help and take me to the fair. Nothing came of it, but my car needed a new starting fuse. For like $50!! YAY! Monday Nov. 15 I go to run some errands and notice that my back right tire seems very deflated. I gingerly make it to the place where I get my oil changed (somthing that I did myself EVERY SINGLE TIME these past 10 years- wink-wink..)and the nice Ecuadoran man says- "Oh, jou haf a nail een jour tire." Oh- great, a F***ing NAIL IN MY TIRE!!!!!!!!!!!! I go to TownFairTire and proceed to sit there for, yes, two and a half hours!! (That seems to be the time for waiting this fall!) For a patch!! Thankfully, that only cost $4.19. But I left there smelling like a freshly paved road. Now remember, in between all of this crap, there is American homework, Ukrainian homework, saxophone practice, hockey, swimming, "What's for dinner?", raking leaves, etc. I am totally exhausted, frustrated, and scared of my car. But at least I have hot water. Now I have to go clean my gutters so the impending storm doesn't flood me yet again. Huzzah!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Hello, and welcome!

Hello, and welcome, to a new blog!! After taking some months to think about it, and after talking to some enthusiastic family members at my Thanksgiving dinner, I've decided to begin writing again. Obviously, it won't be about camp food. Hopefully, that day will come again next summer when I can go back and continue Vovcha Chow.
But since people were interested in what I had to say, and were entertained by how I said it, I figured I'd give it another shot. It may interest some of you, it may not. It may interest people you know- I'd love it if you spread the word!!

So, for all intents and purposes, I am a single mother. Whoa- I probably just lost half the readership! But hang on- there will be something here for lots of people! Because not only am I a single mother (and I hate that term!), I am a Ukrainian single mother who is unemployed and trying to figure out how to take her kids to hockey and swimming and Ukrainian school and Plast (scouts) and do homework and OK- enough italics.. practice the instruments and raise those kids to be good, polite, motivated and happy. Does that sound like you? Single or not? Or maybe you are a grandmother or grandfather to kids of a single mom? Or maybe your neighbor is one? Think about it. There are about 5 million single mother blogs out there (I googled it!) and I am adding to that, but maybe my take could be something new. So, welcome all, come on down to my blog, read it, laugh, don't laugh, think- let's see how it goes!