Well, surprisingly I did not land the 'mart' job!  I must've screwed up something in the second interview, but I'm not sure what I did wrong...  No matter, pick myself up and try again, right?  How many times did Edison fail before he got something right???

Food stamps are finally here! Yea! We can eat again! The best part? The card is retroactive from October to the present!! Woo Hoo!

We're still unemployed. :''(  Volde's job may or may  not happen because of an idiot giving a bad reference, even though the law states that person was only supposed to verify employment, not offer opinions or lies.

Anyhow, we've been focusing on getting workbook work done and over with.  We're doing all the easy stuff, and will work on the hard stuff after the Christmas holiday stuff is over and done with.  She's even taking work to bed with her so she can get more done ;)  I love that kid!

We walked to and from church this past Sunday, and Diana brought along a plastic bag.  I had no idea what she was doing with it, I didn't suggest anything, but she decided to pick up the litter we found en route to the church!  She was doing the community a favor, helping the earth, and making her world a more attractive place to be in.  She did it to boost the look of our neighborhood, which is a major city!  I was so proud of her for coming up with this on her own!  And needless to say she was supervised, so we weren't picking up anything dangerous or anything.  Just candy garbage, papers, etc.  No butts or glass bottles (the bottles were all broken anyhow, and we weren't prepared for that...).

I'm proud to have her in my family.

After so much headache, heartache, wallet-ache (I can invent works, too!!) and loan-from-family-&-friends-ache (see, did it twice!) it looks like a wonderful job is on the horizon for our family!

(SIGH of relief)

In addition to the fact that I've already interviewed with a "mart" company for the holiday season (TWICE!!) and they've checked my references, there is a good possibility that I will get some work to supplement our income of zero dollars in the past few months. (Other than gifts from friends, family and church members...)

PLUS, today, Voldemort went on a job interview for another trucking company because he's not worked since just before the election.  This one is a dedicated route, and pending his drug test and corporate approval (because the job's through an owner/operator with more than one truck) he'll get the job.

What it means: We'll be able to pay back the nearly $4000 we've had to borrow between our friends and family over the past year.  ($700/month rent, $100-$300 per month for heat and lights in our crappy rental house that has more drafts than a draft pick for a football league, $200/month for car insurance that we legally HAVE to have on our car... we've not been in trouble long, but it's obviously been expensive!).

We applied for food stamp help in the middle of October and have heard nothing.  They're "really backed up" and our caseworker has been on vacation for the last two weeks.  We're busy "starving to death" because she needed a vacation?!?  Unbelievable!  Thank God for our church family and actual family, or we would have actually starved to death.  Their guidance and willingness to help us obtain food bank info really saved us.  That and the groceries, ;)

Hopefully we'll still get approved for food stamps, because it will mean that we can catch up faster, instead of spending our money on food right away, we can fend off the utility wolves, you know?  We also would need to use some of that money for gas or bus tickets so we can GET to work, you know?  Not to mention uniforms and stuff like that.

Even if we don't get approval, hopefully we'll manage.  Our family will just have to wait for that money, though it makes for an awkward Christmas season...

IF anyone has resources this Christmas season, please consider donating to things like "Toys for Tots" or something like that.  I know our kids have only $100 spent between the two of them with a points reward gift card - from Volde's moving days when he would OTR and stay at a hotel.  When you look at toy prices and look at $50/kid including tax, we've ended up with 2 decent toys per child, and no stocking stuffers.  I may have to tell my eldest that there is no real Santa this year so she's not wondering why she got next to nothing for Christmas this year, or wonders what she did to upset Santa... (And she's been SOOOO good!!!)

Is it better to believe Santa stopped loving you, or know there is no such person, and your parents did their best?????  I mean... neither one's got the spirit of Christmas in the message.  Which one is the right thing to do?  Wait and see? Hope someone at church magically hears the spirit and shows up with a bag full of toys for them?  Or do I contact my local toys for tots program and see if we qualify?  Tons of unanswers.

Hopefully, something works. I just hope we don't have to ruin her Christmas by telling her on that day, should she ask.  Maybe we will get an armfull of presents from a well-wisher, or maybe the family will cover for us by getting stocking stuffers for THEIR homes, so we can  pick up the gifts and visit for a while... You never know.