I actually got 2 job offers today. I accepted one, and will begin teaching in a private school August 4. I am so relieved. No holidays, no weekends, no nights, no standing, and great benefits. The school I will work for was voted number 1 in the Richmond Magazine award. So, hopefully, if I can keep my sanity, I will keep the job. That was step number 1 for me. Now to the next step.

I realized that before, when I was working a 50 hour week up until this year, I probably didn't notice a lot that was going on. Being at home with my husband for a year in between jobs was the eye opener for me. Prior to this, I didn't see or hear him interact with others. I wasn't at home to observe a lot. So probably much has been going on, had I been home, I would have noticed before. (Well, ignorance is bliss, as they say.)

Thanks all for your support. I don't think I could have even made the attempt to get this job without you all. You all are life sustaining.

Val;
Great news...You are a perfect example of what we can do when we put our mind to it....

Val, good for you.....I know how important this is for you and it represents your independence and future. Congratulations!

Congrats to you, Val. You'll be doing something wonderful that you'll enjoy. It's great to get away to a job and forget what's at home for awhile.

Thanks all of you!

Bluedaze, my husband doesn't need anyone to watch him. Right now he is playing tennis. I'm not at that point (yet.)

Val, those of us who don't yet need anyone to watch our husbands need to remind ourselves to get out of the house once in a while. Mine just got back from a 1 hour 10 minute "hike". Pretty obviously, if he can get out for over an hour, I can get out for over an hour when I want to.

Yesterday I did. Today there really wasn't any place I wanted to go, so I stayed home and investigated something that was interesting me. I found my self feeling pretty joyful and relaxed by the time he came home.

Thanks! I'm a bit nervous, but will give it my best. I looked at the calendar today & saw I actually have 3 weeks before I start. Yipee! I want to go somewhere, anywhere but here. I am beside myself with glee. I was afraid to spend the money to go anyplace before I had a job. I might just get in my car & see where it takes me.

One of the REALLY good things about this job is that you wear khaki pants and any color polo shirt. Now that is just wonderful. I used to have to get dressed up, have a wardrobe of suits, etc. I went shopping at TJ Maxx & found a pair of khakis that were $79 retail for just $16. I hardly have any casual clothes, since most of my time was spent at work. But talk about easy! Just get up in the morning & decide which color top to wear. & the kids won't care if my makeup is meticulous.

I swear, once you focus on something, it seems to fall into your lap.

Yes Starling, I know what you mean. It somehow takes a lot of effort to get out. But once I get out, I feel so refreshed & renewed. My problem was, since before I was away 50 hours of the week and my husband was ALWAYS home (trading stocks/gambling our retirement) I have just loved this year that he has been out on appointments & I can be home alone. Just the shear pleasure of being in a space all alone without hearing the TV going. Sounds terrible, but I am always excited when I come home & his car is not here.

I know exactly what you mean about the TV is not going. When my husband goes out, I turn that TV set off as soon as he is out the door. Quiet. Peace. Not listening to a show I've heard a dozen times before.

Right now he is across the street with the neighbor who took him fishing last weekend. That neighbor who actually knew he was giving me two hours last Sunday and who doesn't mind Joe being there. And I've muted the TV set.

Val, your post reminded me about the other day, when i did have a day out at TJMaxx as a matter of fact, dont you love that store! well i was loading my goodies in the car and a guy well dressed came up and said he wasnt homeless and or criminal but he ran out of gas and had no cash. he didnt ask but i gave him 20dol and said have a good day. he was forever grateful and as he left he turned and said, ' i will pay it forward for you"..at the time it never occured what he meant til i went to the drivers license place with hubby in tow, oh my gosh, 100 people waiting in a hot room. and we with DH! i asked the counter man can i have a form i cant wait so long i have to come back as DH has AD and needs an ID card and will give up his DL.. he stopped what he was doing, and said, come with me, my grandmother has AD and i know exactly what its like! you will be outta here in 5min..." it was a miracle in my book to jump all those people and get it done in 10min/ :)DH had 3 fotos taken one he looks at his shoes, another a profile shot:) and finally the guy says this will have to do ! it was hilarious..boy, talking about pay it forward ...one good deed for another????? Val, you must do something nice for someone too after being 'forwarded' to your new job:)))))) divvi

I am totally "new age." Have been reading this stuff since I was in my 20's. I have crystals in front of my computer, because they take away the negative energy, or some such thing that the computer emits. I have had a session of past life regressions, & It was very interesting. Done by student of Dr.Brian Weiss, who has been on Oprah, who came out of "the closet" regarding reincarnation. Well, if anyone is interested, I have a lot of information. I will do something nice for someone, because so much has been given to me here. Last year, a woman came out of nowhere, told me her story, I took her to breakfast at the hospital, & gave her $40 cash, because that was all I had on me at the time. Saw her later, and I think she was a "con artist." Doesn't matter, it came from my heart.

oh and by the way, my whole home is based on feng shue?ie? husband flew decorator guys in give the house such a comfort feel. garden with running water, sun in a specific direction, pool with bridge like monets garden over it, running lion head statues for the water effects everywhere. and oh, everything is toned colors and hues and all so orderly and in pairs, 2 couches facing. two chairs , 2 tables, i love it!
it is so very calming, and always looks very modern. they did such a wonderful job at it..divvi

Oh, I'm kindred too. Tarot. Astrology. Not much Feng Sheu, but we did avoid certain lots here for similar reasons.

I'm really good at hiding it. I couldn't admit such a weird interest during my corporate Executive Secretarial days. One of the problems with being an Executive Secretary is that you have no peers. It was a whole lot easier once they made me a AVP. There were other AVPs in the company.

My sister was the family Astrologer. I learned mainly because it was fun talking about it, but because I was talking to a couple of people who were taking advanced classes, I never really learned the basics as well as I should have. Tarot is different. I'm probably pretty close to being an expert, or as much of an expert that anyone can be who doesn't read for other people.

The question is, what is divination for? What good is it knowing what is going to happen? If you know what is going to happen, what can you do about it? What should you do about it?

Doing and learning about many of my interests, including needlework, Ancient Egyptian History and English History and a bunch of other things is cyclical. I've been doing some of them since I was 11. But not all the time, and I can put things down for years and then pick them up again. I'm currently reading a book by Barbara Sher about people she calls Scanners. There is no question that I'm one of them. And my interest in this author is also cyclical. I still own her first book Wishcraft which she wrote in the 70s. It is about getting what you really want. <grin>

Actually I went back to Tarot to ask a daily question: What do I need to know today? Tarot is excellent at giving an answer to that question, and if you have a book or go to a good web page you can actually learn the cards this way one card at a time. I haven't done it for a while, but I can feel the desire to do it coming back. <grin>

A Scanner, per Barbara Sher, is someone who has multiple interests, and can't seem to settle on just one. Some of them, like me, pick the same interests up over and over again, and put them down again to pick up another interest. And the interests won't have anything in common. In my case my interests include needlework, history, and Tarot and Astrology. I was an art major in high school and collage. Never worked at it. Other scanners have a different pattern. They pick up an interest, get pretty good at it, and never go back.

My work history is pretty typical of a Scanner. I've sold Insurance, been an Employment Counselor, decided that if they wanted a secretary that badly when I had no one to send to some great jobs, I'd be one. I was a Jr. Accountant when you didn't need a degree to do that before my daughter was born. And I was better at it than people who did have degrees. I've programmed Access Databases and I've done data mining, again with no degree.

When I took several of those "what should you be when you grow up" tests in the late 70s, they all came out FLAT. No one or two things that were my dream job. That is also typical of Scanners. I opened the book two days ago and almost passed out from shock. The woman does not know me, but boy does she know me. I am so shocked to discover that I am not alone.

Errr.... It is possible that Joan should start a thread for this kind of interaction and move all of this over there. Maybe a thread about off topic subjects for us to just play in would be a good idea.

second that motion....divvi

Thanks Mary. I hit the jackpot at Talbots today. I found a yellow polo shirt (required for my job) & it fit perfectly. So I asked the sales girl if the catalog had them in different colors. She spent the better part of an hour searching the U.S. for these shirts (none left on the catalog) & came up with a place in SC that had all the colors. They were on sale for $15! I ordered 2 of each, yellow, blue, pink, lime green, pale orange. So in an hour I came up with enough polo shirts to last me, not to have to wash for 2 weeks. It is all falling into place. Now on to the search for the khakis, and maybe a place I can go for a few days to get away & relax.