Monday, October 27, 2008

But the Christmas knitting...

On the other hand, my Christmas knitting is going along quite well and on schedule for the moment! I've even figured out just how I am going to distribute the gifts. I don't know if the family will like any of it, but it should be a fun experiment. :)

I'll post some pictures here eventually, maybe when it's all knitted up.

What a (insert approproate expletive) week!

I was over the moon last week with the success of my first pattern posted on Ravelry. To date, over 150 people have downloaded my houndstooth scarf pattern there and a few more here. It is an awesome feeling! So, my confidence up, I contacted an old friend to see about borrowing a substantial sum of money. M's legal issues may result in his being jailed, possibly as soon as January, so I desperately need to make some preparations for my future. This friend had previously offered to lend me the funds necessary to take classes in order to get my Java J2EE certification. I emailed him and asked if the offer still stood. He emailed back in a less than promising manner so I assumed it was a "no". I told him not to worry about it, that it wasn't a big deal, but I was crushed. That was last Monday.

Tuesday, things are going as usual; M left for work a little early and I got up a trifle earlier than usual, but that was because I expected the old friend to call and make his refusal official. (He works nights so early morning calls are more practical for him.) He did call, but not until M had arrived home with the news that he was out of a job. Great. Things were financially just about to look up for us since his oldest child will be turning 18 in November, so no more child support and his car will be paid off in December... but I guess that would have been too easy. He did get a reasonable severance package, so things aren't as dire as they would have otherwise been, but it's still not good news by any stretch of the imagination.

Then my phone call came. The old friend said that he would loan me the money after all. As grateful as I was, I couldn't exactly talk to him long since M had just been laid off and needed me. Still, on the off chance that he ever reads this, Bruce, you truly are a life saver.

So M was at home all week, which I both love and hate. It's so hard for me to get any of my usual work done with him here. Still, it's kind of nice having him around. Saturday he had agreed to accompany me on my errands (which I had put off all week). As always, we took his car since it is in much better shape than mine (oh, my poor car... but that is a story of another day). The dry cleaner we use (had to get his suit interview ready) is basically next door to the apartment complex. So we went and picked up his suit and then his car just...failed. I don't know, it's supposedly something about a vacuum leak. Apparently it's okay once it's warmed up. I certainly hope so since he took it today to an appointment with a headhunter. Keep your fingers crossed that it is going well. With any luck he'll have a job by this time tomorrow. God, I hope so. Please.

It just seems like in the time we've been together (3.5 years come Nov. 1) we have had more than our share of crap like this happen. I am so sick of all the drama and waiting for yet another shoe to drop. Oddly, considering the rest of my life, none of the drama has been mine. His legal stuff, his job problems, his freaking kids and ex-wives, his car repossession, his house foreclosure... I must really love him a lot to stay through all of this. Or maybe I just figure that eventually things will have to start going our way. Surely this streak will have to end soon?