Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Just To Let You Know

I've survived the bus route so far.

I'll put up a more in-depth post later because I'm just picking Sarah up from my mom's right now. I just wanted to let you all know that I was still alive, and yes, the kids are still intact.

(And so is the bus)

(And so is all the public and private property that I drove by)

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Starting Over

It's strange, this whole starting over business, because for one thing you totally underestimate the sheer amount of stuff that it takes to begin running a home from scratch.

When we first started planning the move to our own place, my husband offered to drive out here and bring the kids and I our stuff from the apartment we had in California. John said he didn't need it because he's staying with his mom right now, so he said he'd drive out in our truck with a trailer and then fly back to California. It seemed like a perfect solution because the kids would get to see their dad for a few days, it would keep me from having to buy a ton of stuff all over again, and I would have a car (he's got his own car back in California).

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make it out here, so he's planning on selling the truck and sending me the money for it to help us get set up.

In the meantime I've used up the money I had set aside to get Alex a bed, a card table for us to eat at (my parents lent us two chairs), a papasan chair for the living room, and some cheap area rugs so the kids don't totally destroy the carpet. My parents, God bless them, practically had an entire kitchen set up in the attic from one of their boats. So that took care of silverware, dishes, a few pots and pans, and some kitchen utensils.

It was really nice to not have to buy anything for the kitchen.

For the time being I'm sleeping on an air mattress that my parent's are letting me borrow. They had a spare metal bedframe up in the attic, we laid a piece of plywood on it, and put the air mattress on top.

Voila! Instant bed.

Sarah already had a crib and a changing table that we had gotten at the consignment store a few months ago, so she's taken care of bedwise too.

Our landlady is really sweet, and when we moved in she told me that she had a whole basement of furniture that prior tenants had left behind. Angela said she thought that there was a couch in there and we were welcome to it if it was in good condition. She and her husband, Tom, moved it into the living room for me last week.

It's tan, circa 1970's with an odd textural pattern, but hey, I'm not going to complain about a free couch. It's also got a fold-out bed in it which is really cool in the totally unlikely event that I ever have guests over.

So, it's kinda bare-bones, but we're set up. My grandma said that she would be willing to sell me her washer and dryer when she moves in a few months, so that's taken care of, and we have all the essentials that we need. I'm really, really grateful for all of the things that we've been able to get for the house, we've got all of our 'needs' taken care of. I'll just have to take care of the 'wants' when I can.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Watch Out World!

I'm driving a schoolbus.

The school informed me that I needed to get my CDL license and that I would probably be given a route. No, you don't have a choice, and if you don't take a route you won't have a job either. Thank you sir, may I have another.

Yikes.

I was told in the beginning of the year that I wouldn't have to drive a bus because I was working in a special ed classroom and I had 30 hours a week. Full-time staff isn't required to drive a bus. Well, apparently that provision is flexible depending on the needs of the school. In other words, if we need you to drive, your gonna drive. Great.

So, starting today, little ol' me will be driving a schoolbus. A schoolbus! I was afraid to start driving a normal car! I didn't want to drive so much that I postponed getting my license until I was 18.

Lord help me.

To make matters worse, I rode the route with the old driver and the new afternoon driver (I'll be driving mornings) on Friday. Our bus, is a fossil. This was the bus in the bus lot that the trainer took us on for five minutes, just to show us. He walked us on saying the words, and I  qutoe: "Oh, you'll never have to drive one of these, but I want you to get a look at one just in case."

Thanks Bo.

To top off the fact that we're driving this wreck, we also found out that there is a really bad turnaround on the route. The road we have to turn around on is unfortunately very accurately named Point's End.

It's one lane.

With a lawn on one side and trees, shrubs and mud on the other.

You have to execute a five-point turn in a bus. A school bus, for those of you who are curious, weighs in at 32,000 lbs, is 8 feet tall, and 40 feet long.

40 feet.

And I have to do a five-point turn in it. AHHHHHHHH!

Hang on a second while I stop hyperventilating.

Ok, I think I'm alright now. The only saving grace is that I'm driving so early (6:15) that there won't be anyone on the roads, and I'll be able to do my turnaround before any kids are on the bus. The last thing I need is a bunch of Highschoolers witnessing my humiliation and my destruction of private and public property...

Wish me luck, and if I don't write for a while you'll know that I'm out looking for work.

~ Jen

Saturday, February 14, 2009

I Haven't Dropped Off the Face of the Earth.

Well, maybe technologically speaking I have.

We moved into our own place on the 24th of January! It's a cute little blue duplex about five minutes down the road from my folk's house, and the kids and I love it.

I just don't have internet access there, and I probably won't be able to afford it for a good, long, while.

Which would be why you haven't heard from me in a really, really long time...
We also don't have a washer and dryer, so every Saturday after Alex's basketball game we schlep all of our dirty clothes over to my parent's house and do laundry. Geez, I feel like I'm in college.

So while I remain unconnected internet-wise, I will write posts at home the good old-fashioned way and post them on Saturdays.

At any rate, it has definitely been an adjustment being on our own again. I do love it though. I have my own room (thank goodness!), and the kids are sharing their own room. Oddly enough, both of them seem very happy to be in a room together. Well, not that Sarah can protest much, but Alex actually loves sharing a room with her. He's never liked being by himself, and I suppose that this is perfect for him.

Mornings are a bit of a logistics problem because we try to let Sarah sleep while Alex gets ready for school and eats breakfast. We've settled on him picking out his clothes the night before and setting them out in the living room. In the mornings I get him up, we sneak out of their room, and he gets ready in my bathroom. All in all it works pretty well.

So wish us luck guys. We're on our own, and so far, we're doing pretty well.