One week later....

And my mood has not improved.
It's been up and down, and I haven't been a depressed bitch for a solid week, but things are still bleak.
No idea how we're gonna get outta this money trap....
I had resigned myself to doing some kind of day care during the day, but then it occurred to me Summer will be here soon.
Not judging by the crappy cold weather, mind you, but by the calendar.
(We got 2 inches of snow on Saturday, and it's been below 40 for a week!)
I'd just get into the swing of working someplace, and SJ and JM would finish school.
THEN WHAT??
I'd never be able to afford even discounted care for all three of them (JA alone was gonna be tough), so I think I'm stuck with nights.
I figure I gotta work at least 20 hours a week to make it worthwhile, so if I want my weekends free, that's gotta be 4 hours a night.
When is that gonna happen?
JN is rarely home before 6:00, so I'm thinking 7:00 would be the earliest I could commit to being somewhere regularly.
That means I'm getting home from work around 11:30 (at the earliest), my normal bedtime.
Home from work at 11:30 means I won't be in bed until 12:30 or so, which means a not-so-nice Mommy for JA the next day.
Even if JN could promise to be home so I could get somewhere by 6:00, I'm not home until 10:30 (at the earliest)....forget any time spent together.
He's been keeping a similar schedule this past week since things at work got restructured, but that should be done now.
As much as last week sucked, it was only temporary....
We'd be doing it every day, every week.
*sigh*
My head hurts.
See why I haven't been here?
Nothing to do but bitch and whine.
JN's talking about joining a band again, which would be great.
He'd enjoy it, time spent apart would be minimal (a couple times a week), and the money would be the same (or better) as what I'd pull in twice as many hours.
We need some kind of solution soon.

And to cap it all off, my MIL is coming this week! Yay.
The original plan was for my MIL & FIL to be here Friday lunch through Sunday morning (they wanna see SJ's final choir concert Friday night).
A short, sweet visit -- very painless.
Well, now my FIL can't come, which means two new wrinkles that suck:

1. My MIL doesn't drive herself, so we gotta take her to and from the train, of which the nearest station is 1&1/2 hours south of us. ONE WAY. I thought JN was gonna pick her up, but he now says he can't, so I'm stuck doing it on Wednesday. Which means I gotta make arrangements for SJ and JM to go home from school with someone else, I lose a whole day I thought I had to prepare for her visit, and it's gonna be near impossible to make dinner, do the boys' homework and get them to bed at a reasonable time after we get back. GREAT!
2. Which brings me to the next point....she's decided to extend her visit. Why stay for just a weekend when you can stay for 5 days?!? She's now arriving Wednesday afternoon, and leaving Sunday afternoon. Despite the obvious "oh great, my MIL will be here even longer!" thing, I'm wondering what the heck we're gonna do all day Thursday and Friday while the boys are in school and JN is at work. I normally get things done around here and mess around a little on the computer -- THAT ain't gonna happen. I've gotta play hostess. I'm lost on this one. (And the ultimate capper....we were thinking we might be able to get out for a night while she's here and get raunchy [which we *badly* need to do], but I'll be getting my period the day she arrives. Life is just dumping on us and laughing at this point.)
   

So all in all, I'm really looking forward to this, can you tell??
Her visit is well-timed too, with no money to speak of....should be loads of fun.

I do apologize -- I said I'd be in better spirits when I came back, and here I am, shitting all over you again.
But I wanted to let you know I'm alive (mostly), and probably won't have time to be here over the next week....I'm spending these next two days gutting the house to the best of my ability.
At least the Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Brewers this weekend -- that was SWEET.
And Easter yesterday was nice....we had a great egg-hunt here and a nice day at my mom's.
But WOW, is the rest of this week gonna suck.
Spring Break is ending today, and reality is crashing back in with a vengeance (that 6:15 alarm tomorrow morning is gonna be PAINFUL).
I will really try to have something better to talk about next time....
I really will.