Mother's Day is next weekend...

I have no freaking clue what to get my mom. Srsly. This bites. I go through this every year.

Everything she wants, she gets herself. She doesn't really "do" anything. She's not a huge jewelry person, nor do I have the money, ha. She doesn't read a TON, she doesn't knit or sew...

I'm wondering if I should just tell her that next Saturday, we're spending the day together? We haven't really hung out in awhile. Sometimes, she can just be a little...um, grating on my nerves, I guess. I know she loves me a lot and would do anything for me...but at times, I feel guilty because I almost feel like I take advantage of her and her generosity, even if I really don't. Like she gives, gives, gives, and I never give back? She always tells me that if she couldn't give, or couldn't do, she wouldn't, and that there will come a time where she won't be able to do things for me. I don't know what I could do for her now, or give her. Maybe just my time?

I wonder if some of this comes from her relationship with her own mother. My grandmother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when my mom was a little kid--she even remembers being 6 or so, and my grandmother being in the hospital. By the time my mom got married, she needed a cane, and shortly after I was born, she was wheelchair-bound. She lived most of MY life in a nursing home and died when I was in college. So, not very hands-on. I think my mom is just trying to do as much as she can while she's young and healthy...my aunt (my mom's little sister, who has 3 kids of her own) is the same way. Playing "supermom" because you don't know when/if you'll get sick. So sad.

I need a clone, or an assistant, or some thing...

Too much work to do!!!!!! Not enough hours in the day!!!!!!

Shouldn't speak so soon...

DH did some investigating last night about this potential job and the training, which would be in South Carolina--it's a federal position, btw. Apparently some of the training is pretty intense and we aren't sure if he'll be able to do it physically. Of course, this made him feel like crap and he's like "what else?" He's right--hasn't he been through enough already? First the accident, then the treatment at his last job, then the layoff? Doesn't he EVER get a break? He was also worried that if he gets interviewed by the state, for a similar type of job, it'll be the same case with the physical stuff. He wasn't sure if he should call the fed office and take himself out, or say nothing until it was imperative. He was SO ready to give up last night--talking about going to law school, back to get his teaching credentials, worrying that he'd be working at some factory job, with a masters.

So he called an old professor from grad school who works for the state division of the field that DH wants to work in, and a friend who also sort of works in the field and both of them said it shouldn't be a problem. The prof guy was like "why is this set up so tough?" He also relayed to DH that the state doesn't require this same type of stuff as the feds, so DH was feeling better...

THEN, one of the interviewers called this morning to tell DH to call at a certain time on the 12th. Wow. He felt a little better. I said to him that you never know...this fed website that you found might have "umbrella" rules and maybe not all of the jobs under the department are that strict. Plus, even though it's a fed job, they operate differently depending on the state. For instance, this position requires a firearm in some states--but not ours. Maybe it's the same for the training? One thing DH pointed out was "why didn't they state anything about the physical requirements in the job ad?" So maybe it's NOT as strenuous as that info lead us to believe?

He is feeling better now, but sheesh, it was tense last night. Poor guy. I just kept saying that I was sorry, but that didn't seem to help. Sometimes men need to TALK MORE and say what's on their minds and not expect their wives/girlfriends to guess what they want to hear from them! Yes, he did get a little upset with me, but we later talked--he wanted me to be honest about what I thought and not hide things, and I didn't want to be TOO honest for fear it might upset him. I ended up telling him I was sad about this info, angry at the job ad for not being upfront about this, just mad about his bad luck...so that was good, we got it all out there.

I'm a dork...

...who just learned how to put pics in her blog.

Way to go!!!!

DH interview update! Great success!

DH's interview today went really really well. He SO wants this job. He pretty much told them that much. He finds out on the 12th if he made it to the next round. Annoying, but oh well.

The downfall is...that if he gets this position, he'll have to go to SC for 6 weeks of training. He asked me how I felt about that. While I wouldn't like him gone, this is something he's really wanted, and waited for a long time, so I would support him. It's just SC, it's just 6 weeks, it's NOT Baghdad, Kabul, etc. It's not 6 months or a year. I think I could handle it. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I also asked him if he could come home for weekends or if I could go to visit. That might help. But I don't want to get too much ahead of myself.

Chanel No. 5

What is it with this perfume anyway? Apparently it's the best-selling perfume in the world, but I think it smells nasty. I'm reading this book about the perfume industry now and I was amazed to learn this fact about Chanel No. 5. I never got the allure--my grandmother and aunt love/d it. And so do millions of other women in the world. It's expensive as hell, too. I just don't get it.

So I disappeared for awhile...

...and everyone was worried about me. I disappeared from teh interwebs, that is. Not from real life. I belong to a private message board and was gone from there for about a week and a half. Very bizarre for me. But work has kept me so busy I haven't had any time to check in during the day, and then at home, I've been busy with home stuff. Everything is fine, though, and I'm sorry I might have freaked some people out. I haven't even blogged in approximately 2 weeks, either!

I started my "garden" last weekend. DH and I went to the local Agway and bought some plants: basil, two types of tomatoes, petunias, impatiens, two other kinds of annuals. I had some pots from previous gardening attempts, but I still had to do a Wal-Mart run and get MORE, plus tons and tons of soil. I must have spent around $150 on all of this, which is NUTS, but I figure that we're going to need this stuff when we get a house too, and we can re-use the pots and soil, so it's more like an investment. The plants themselves were pretty cheap, so that's good!

What SUCKED is that we might have had a frost last night. WTF it's MAY!?!?! Anyway, last night, DH and I covered everything in a big tarp and hoped for the best. This morning, everything looked OK. We'll see. Tonight I think I need to finish potting the plants that I never got around to doing last Sunday--ran out of time, pots and soil. This will make our deck a little more "lived in" and not so bare.

I have also been scouting around for some more furniture. Two weeks ago, when we took DH's grandma out for her birthday, I saw some lawn chairs that were marked "free" sitting on the side of someone's yard. By the time we passed the house again, they were gone! I should have snatched them up while they were there. Oh well. I'll check out some yard sales, too. I really don't need brand new stuff--as long as it's clean (or can be cleaned) and is safe, I don't care. We waste too much stuff in this country as is, and people always want NEW NEW NEW.


In other news, DH had an interview on Tuesday and wasn't thrilled with the prospects of that position. Not a good fit at all. He'd rather work directly with the population, and this job was more clerical. Today he has another interview for something that he really really wants to do, and I'm so excited/nervous for him. He would be SOOOO happy if this position were to come through, so please, send prayers, good thoughts, crossed fingers, etc.