I'm Not Trapped Under A Desk

Contrary to opinion, I did not fall off the planet but life has, and continues to be, very challenging.

I realize that, quite likely, no one has stuck around to read my ramblings and I'm totally fine with that. I have been stressed out for so long - let's see - since my last post which was 8 months ago around Christmas, right?

Here's a recap:

• Did I mention our basement flooding in the fall? I can't remember...that was AWESOME.
• Jeff's mother was so ill at the end of December 2010 she was, quite literally, at death's door.
• I worked on a contract that ended in January 2011 and then waited 2.5 months for unemployment to kick in. Meanwhile, mortgage payments and bills keep arriving - what gives?
• Unemployment kicks in and sticks around for only 13 weeks - EI Canada - you SUCK...I've been working 20 years and never needed EI because I couldn't find a job but they only count in the hours you worked in the previous 12 months. EI Canada - not only do you suck, but you also BLOW.
• Somewhere mid-winter, as in the coldest, freezing-ist part of winter, our furnace decided to take a vacation. And while I can pretend I'm not that cold, when your kids' fingers feel like icicles inside your house, it's a sign that we might as well set fire to the whole money-pit because at least then we'd be warm.
• Except that setting a fire would be wrong because we're already paying almost 3x as much insurance as we used to (3 claims in a 5-year period gets you screwed.)
• Did I mention that my (one of) mother was living with us until the middle of March?
• So, not only are the bills coming in one on top of the other, but there's also an extra mouth to feed, to shower, to launder...
• Oh, and here come all those bills again...

There's more, and I'm whining because really all of that above is not that bad in the grand scheme of things, but when it feels like we're constantly moving 1 step forward and 3 steps back it gets tedious.

Things are...tense...but on the upside, our sex life has never been better. So, you know, there's a silver lining in every situation!

Although I'm definitely wondering when we're going to get off the seesaw. It's making both of us nauseous.