Facts of Life

by Heidi on July 15, 2009

Or the one where bad things happen to good people.

This, my friends, has been…dare I say it, the worst week ever. I won’t go so far to say that it could get worse, because we already said that and it did.

Saturday, I was blessed and showered with love at my bridal shower in Connecticut. We came back with a car full of “stuff” and left feeling excited and eagerly awaiting the arrival of response cards for our wedding.

Sunday, we drove home…seven hours. We picked up our darling puppy, and unloaded our car in about a gazillion trips.

Then. I walked into the bathroom. There was roughly an inch – maybe more, but not too much more – of standing water. Our toilet had been running all weekend. The lever that maintains the water level had malfunctioned and sprayed water out of the top all weekend. The carpet, leading into the bathroom was sopping wet. The carpet in the bathroom was sopping wet. As was the carpet half way into our living room.

We took the appropriate steps, calling our maintenance guy (who promptly told us that there was “nothing he could do about it.”), called our home owners insurance who dispatched a crew to take care of the sodden carpets. They arrived at 1:00am. They finished removing the carpets at 3:30am. They came back and installed high heat dehumidifiers causing our apartment to be 104 degrees (F) the next morning and aside from checking the mail, we haven’t been back since.

*sigh* We’re staying in a hotel till tomorrow when they take the dehumidifiers out.

But it gets better. And by better, I mean worse.

I feel like Jenn Lancaster in “Bitter is the New Black” when she loses her job and then a few weeks later her then boyfriend, now husband, loses his as well. They get evicted, she fights with unemployment and now a few years later, she’s a NY Times best selling author. What luck! Can I have some of that luck?? Please? Because the first part of that? Totally happened to us yesterday (and I wouldn’t mind being a NY Times best selling author either!!)

I don’t think I need to spell out the rest. But yes, a very unfortunate turn of events that I don’t have any desire to go into because I’m trying…to keep my blog as PG as I can and no one got any where by calling someone they barely know mean names. Those who know me, know how difficult this is. It makes it even more difficult knowing we invited his employers (and coworker) to the wedding. Invitations should have been received Saturday. And this is what we get? *sigh* I won’t even get started..

In other news, with this unfortunate turn of events, we’re contemplating all of our options, including a possible (though not decided definitely) move to Connecticut – if anyone has any job leads (any at all!) send them my way. (Gal pals in DC, no need to freak out yet, I’m not going anywhere as of today. Or tomorrow.)
Ideas I’m toying with…

*virtual assistant (a la a pal of mine..)
*teacher (seriously. I’ve had this urge to teach since I was in high school, I just never persued it. I’m kind of wondering if I should…)
*continue trying to freelance though I’m finding less and less that I’m enjoying it, I do enjoy writing but mostly on my own – I like to write what I want to write when I want to write it.
*Pursue a business of my own – not sure what yet. But I do have a website venture in the works. More details as it progresses.

Any other suggestions? I just…hate not knowing what I want to do with my life. I hate feeling in limbo, like a failure. I just have…zero confidence in my ability to “land a dream job!” as so many 20 somethings dream about. I don’t know where I lost it…I just…did. I want to be succesful, I just have no idea how to get there or where to start.

So in the words of Ben Folds….

“…Woke up way too late
Feeling hung over and old
And the sun was shining bright
And I walked barefoot
Down the road
Started thinking about
My old man
It seems that all men
Wanna get into a car and go
Anywhere
Here I stand – sad and free
I cant cry and I cant see
What Ive done
God. . .what have I done

Dont you know Im numb, man
No I cant feel a thing at all
cause its all smiles and business
These days
And Im indifferent to the loss
Ive faith that theres a soul somewhere
Whos leading me around
I wonder if she knows
Which way is down. . ….” {Evaporated by Ben Folds Five}