How Do You Spell "Relief?"

U-I. That is, unemployment insurance.

When D. earlier described why we have every day to work on the house, he made it sound like we were oh-so-casual about our employment situation. Which isn't true.

I've been really nervous about whether I would be approved for unemployment. Because I quit my job. To move to Smallville. For D's new job. And everybody knows that you can't collect unemployment if you quit your job...right? Well, it turns out you can. Or rather, I can. Because I fit into an eligible category: voluntarily terminated employment due to spouse accepting a job in another state! Hoo-yeah.

For the last month, I've been really worrying over whether they would approve me. And today the second check came. Even the first check didn't convince me, I thought maybe it could be a mistake. But today, I breathed a big big sigh of relief when I opened that check for the standard allotment. It's two-thirds of my old salary, which means we still have to be frugal and we are still indebting ourselves for our beautiful home. But you can't complain that much about being paid to renovate your house! And blog about it. That's the good life.

Now just don't tell the legislators in BIG State. I don't think this is what they had in mind when they approved the Unemployment laws. And they probably don't want to know that I applied over the internet while on vacation in Seattle.

Which isn't as egregious as the last time I applied for (and received) unemployment. Three years ago, I used an internet cafe in Volterra, Italy to fill out the forms online!
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I was realizing today that time is probably the decisive factor in why we didn't attempt to sand and varnish the floors ourselves. We have a tight deadline of eight more days to get a healthy list of projects done. It's not like we're sitting downstairs eating bonbons and watching soaps all day, while the guys are sweating away sanding. We're sweating away, masking, plastering, sanding, priming, and painting. We're running around town, doing errands and getting situated in a new town.
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But we did get a chance this afternoon to get out and head over the the Library's Used Book Sale. D. was disappointed with the fiction selection, but I was in hog heaven. I have a fetish for collecting vintage/retro interior decorating books (and craft books and cookbooks). The kitschier, the better. I just love those crazy pictures what what was high style (or cuisine) in 1973 or 1956. I find them very inspirational. They remind me to avoid whatever is so trendy right now, because in a few years, it will look like this:


So I made off with quite a haul today. I'm also planning to go back on Saturday to pick up the 1971 "Encyclopedia of Interior Decorating," volumes A-S, when everything goes even more on sale. Yee-haw!