Today W felt like learning about the US presidents so we found some *gasp* flash cards lying around and read them off one by one. He knew Washington, Lincoln, and Clinton, and knows our current pres is Bush. He then moved on to Play-Doh cutouts and some reading games online. He insisted on bringing the entire set of flash cards to school to show everyone, and later on the teacher told me he laid them all out on the floor and made up games for the class to play. This teacher is right up W's alley. She allows the kids so much freedom and is very patient, kind, and soft-spoken. I feel that makes up for her knuckle-biting massacre of the English language. (lol)

J made brunch - bagels and hard-boiled eggs - and ate while checking her emails and changing some pictures on her website. I found a math worksheet website later on and printed out some stuff I know she enjoys, mainly adding fractions with different denominators, changing improper fractions into mixed numerals, and reducing the answers to their lowest form. She likes to sit on my lap and tell me all the steps out loud. We got the High School Musical DVD so she watched that afterwards while singing and dancing along.

We all drove J to dance, picked up B at the train, drove me to work, B drove back to dance, brought everyone home, made dinner, and drove to pick me up. I know it sounds like a lot, but we're melding into a nice routine. I plan on doing more, like making dinner early so it can just be reheated and making sure the place is picked up before they all get back home. I'm doing a lot better, but I could do more. I feel rejuvinated at 9:15 when I get home and feel like doing something fun with the kids. Since they're kinda tired at that time, reading together is perfect for all of us.

One funny thing I forgot to mention about the weekend was that the hotel was directly across the street from a Walmart. Now, Sam Walston had always been adamant about there NEVER being a Walmart in NYC. And I have only been in one once, all the way out in Riverhead, Long Island 13 years ago. So, for me, to see this American icon of a store directly across the parking lot was very exciting. I hurried over there on Sunday afternoon (while J was dancing) and spent 2 hours and almost $200 on "stuff". I was in a Walmart. And there was the happy face who slashed the prices and the workers in their blue jackets (and some with red jackets). It was cool.

J and W spent a while with Play-Doh this morning while I cleaned a bit. J perused some of her Algebra Workbook for Dummies and gave me the play-by-play as she did a few problems. Then went and played with HTML codes for her websites. In the afternoon, we went to the snack truck by the park and got shaved icees again. I have such a thing for crushed ice. When I was pregnant with W, I craved it so badly that B would make some for me every night by dumping 2 ice trays into a clean pillowcase and smashing all the cubes with a meat tenderizer mallet until they were all crushed. Then he'd put it all in a bowl and hand it to me with a spoon. Ahhh. That's love, baby. Eventually I bought a machine.

We all picked up B at the subway at 4:30 and got myself to work by 5. I have been making a point to start off on the main avenue - 15 blocks from work. I like stopping in the deli for a soda and a snack and taking the nice long walk. B then drove back toward the dance studio, got the kids some pizza, and brought W into his hip-hop class. B and W always come back to pick me up at 9pm. The girls stay home (B's aunt is right downstairs). At that time there is no traffic and he's there in 10 minutes. I love my new job. It's exactly what I like doing, in addition to base pay there are weekly bonuses based on merit, the perks (free stuff you get as an employee) are incredible, and the office is beautiful and well-stocked with all flavors of coffee. It's still weird, though how this happened so quickly. I've been a SAHM for 12 years so "going to work" still sounds odd to me.

We're back! What a long weekend. J had a blast - especially since 2 of her best friends spent the whole weekend with us. There was a parent orientation on Friday and then the kids learned new routines for 4 hours. On Saturday morning, rehearsal started at 8am and went all the way through to 3pm. A makeup lesson and a lunch break were thrown in there too. On Sunday they had a wonderful photo shoot on the beach 40 minutes away. We got there at 7:30am. All the kids (about 80 altogether, from all over NY, NJ, and CT) wore white outfits with a "bohemian" flair. They shot the kids in groups of 20 all over the beach. Then they changed into bathing suits, jeans, cowboy hats, and bandanas for a second round of photos. At noon we left, got the kids changed and they had dance from 1pm to 5pm. On Monday there was one last rehearsal from 12:45 to 2:30. The first performance is in July, I think.

On the evenings after dance, we all went out to eat, swam in the pool, went bowling, and just had a great time. The kids also ran around to each others rooms, did a lot of jumping on beds, and practiced dancing in the hallways. My camera's broken, so I'm waiting for my friend to send me an email of all the pictures she took.

I was late for work on Friday. The traffic was terrible and I ended up in the wrong direction at one point. I ended up leaving J in New Jersey with another mom and I stayed home so I wouldn't be late for work Saturday morning. I hated to do that, but even if I got back there it wouldn't have been til 10:30pm and I would have had to leave by 6:30am. J would have been sleeping the whole time I came back. She was fine, though and loved sharing the hotel room with her friend, A.

J, W, and I went to the NY Hall of Science this morning. We just love that place! We went with a few friends (their kids were off today for some reason) and had a blast - until the deluge of schoolkids got there. There must have been over 30 schools there at once. When it got too crowded we split. W got to school on time and told his teachers all about his morning at the science center.

Work is still fantastic.

Tomorrow, J and I are off to a very long weekend of dance. We're leaving around and won't be back til Monday. She's so excited! I'm nervous about going back and forth to work, but I'm getting lots of help from the 2 other moms who are going. Thank goodness for them!

W brought me his 1st-grade workbook to do with him this morning. He learned what a verb is and that adding "ad" "at" and "an" to p, m, and b, it makes different words. At 8am we drove K to school together and saw that our little purple flowers were all closed up. It was early and cold and the sun hadn't gotten over to the area yet. In the afternoon when W got home from school, the same flowers were wide open and looked totally different from that morning. So he asked questions and we had a cool talk about why that happens.

J and I were getting back in the car after going to the store and we saw a dead pigeon in the parking lot. She asked if she could go over and look at it. Now, the old me would have said she was crazy, that's disgusting, we're already in the car, etc etc. But this time I said, Sure, go ahead. I realized that a lot of different thoughts can stem from seeing a dead animal. I mean I was always curious like that, too. It felt good to catch myself loosening up a bit. :)

She bought a dry-erase board at the store. At home, she drew on it, wrote some stuff, and plans to hang it up in her room. She and W put on last year's dance recital DVD and danced and sang along together. I rearranged all of J's books and workbooks. Now it's easier to see what's what. She's not taking much of an interest in books of any kind lately, so I'm trying to make them more appealing. She has been reading magazine articles and informative webpages, though. If it has to do with dance, she'll read for an hour. So, I'm not worried.

I had work and the kids had Musical Theater. I picked B up at the train, dropped off the girls, drove to work, and B (and W) took the car back to class. I'm so glad work is only 10 minutes away. And he picked me up again at 9. Things are looking up for us. Even my sister has a new guy, a great job, and is getting her life on track. I just feel this is really the beginning of the "new me".

Work is going amazingly well so far. I anticipated a lot more problems with the timing, but it's working out. Now I gotta figure out how I'm going to get through this Team Rave weekend. B has a half-day Friday, so J and I will leave early and get there by 2 or 3 the latest. There's a parent meeting at 4 and J starts dancing at 4:30. I have to leave there before 4:30 to get to work by 6. Thank goodness this is only 1 hour away. Then I'll get back to the hotel by 10:30. We're sharing the hotel room with another dance mom so she'll watch J til I get there. In the morning, J has dance at 8am, so she'll go with the other mom and I will leave for work at 7:30 to get there by 9. I should probably give myself more than 1/2 hour leeway in case of traffic, but I just have to hope for the best. During these training weeks, I can't miss any days or be late.

The recital rehearsal went very well. B did a fantastic job in my place. Normally I'd feel sad that I wasn't there, but I know B knows what he's doing and besides, I've seen these dances dozens of times. W was in his element on stage and can't wait to do it again. K loved it too and all her friends from the 12 y/o dance company were cheering for her. The recital is in 3 weeks.

Today was the last day of CCD for the year. B took the kids to a pet store and almost came home with a hamster. I would have brought it right back. I had a hamster as a child and hated it. LOL. We have a bird, that's enough. Then they all went to the park for a while. B drove the girls home later on and took W to the supermarket with him. I got a lot of cleaning done today. It's so much easier when I'm by myself in the house! J did some painting, wanted to find out why a tea bag doesn't steep in cold water as fast as hot water (anyone know the answer?? I know it floats in cold and sinks in hot, but why?), and did some more computer website layout creations. When I was clearing away a pile of paper clutter, I saw a notebook that I thought was one of our blank ones. To my surprise, I saw several days worth of very recent journal entries from J! She's keeping a journal! I put it right back and I won't mention it. And I won't read it either. (but the one page I did read was very well written, with perfect spelling, grammar, and punctuation. LOL, Shhhh).

First day of work was A-OK! All the new employees had orientation for 2 hours. The guy spent the first 20 minutes going over company procedure and policies and the next hour and a half telling all about the free stuff we get. Put it this way - it's a huge company with a lot of connections EVERYWHERE. I would work there just for the free stuff alone. And they give you extra money all the time for all different things. I really can't believe how perfect it seems. I'm being cautious, though, LOL! I actually can't wait to go back tomorrow.

J and W played Monopoly this morning. I was cleaning but made a point to hear what was going on, lol. J was banker and W's job was to add up the dice after it was rolled. He really got into it and I kept hearing J say, "yeah, W, that's right!". Then they played Hangman. W was spelling out and guessing words and doing lots of handwriting practice! W and I then went to brainpop.com and watched movies about penguins and chocolate. He even took the quizzes after the movies and remembered almost all the information! Today he said my shirt smelled "familiar", told me what he remembered about the water cycle (I didn't even ask, I swear!), and aced an online sight-word quiz. He reads pretty well now, but won't show anyone. I don't think he's confident about it. His teachers don't even know he can read. He's that kind of kid - he won't reveal what he can do unless he knows he can do it well.

J and I are going to the NY Hall of Science sometime next week. She's been dying to get back there. I may keep W home from school so he can come too. Tomorrow, B is taking all the kids to the recital rehearsal for the day. They all get to practice all their numbers on the stage. Next weekend is Team Rave so J and I will be spending the whole weekend at a hotel together, and she gets to dance (with several of her best friends!) for 8 hours a day!! She's thrilled and can't wait. LOL. I think we may also be going to Six Flags in June. I love this time of year, I get so inspired to get out and about.

W had a school trip to the farm today. I got a phone call from the recruiter that I needed to come in again to get my picture ID taken. She said it's no prob to bring the kids. So J and I got ready, picked up W as soon as the schoolbus dropped him off from the trip, and zipped out to the office building. It went well - fast and the kids were great.

Later on, we all hung out at the dance studio while J had class. W played with the other boys who were there. They played wrestling, manhunt, and Spiderman (it's weird how boys just like "boy stuff"). I got them pizza and I got to chat a bit with the other moms. One mom was talking about paying bills and said the only bills she wants to have are the ones with zeros on the end of it. And W looked at her and said, "Like hundreds?". I was LMAO.

I sat there listening to all the moms lamenting over the tons of research papers their kids have to do that are due this and next week. They complained about not having enough time, the subjects being too hard or boring, the stuff they have to buy, and all the work they'll have to do to help the kids. I suppressed the urge to say, ha ha. But I am so damn glad that crap is behind me. J researches now because she really wants to know about something. She creates elaborate projects because they're fun. The only fantastic things I remember doing as a child were the ones having nothing to do with school. I wrote lots of stories and poetry on my only-capital-letters typewriter, created my own silly newspapers, worked on math and word puzzles, made up plays and commercials that I would record, imagined my room was a jungle (or another planet, or the bottom of the ocean, or a fancy restaurant), etc. I loved free time. And there's no better time in life to have tons of free time than when you're a child. You have no worries, no major responsibilities, and the whole world is so freakin' fascinating.

I got People magazine today just to read the article on Unschooling. It's short, but good. It basically says that unschooling is cool and it works unless you're a disadvantaged kid in an unstable family with no community support to help you master the basics. From my own experience, though, I notice that most people who label themselves "unschoolers" are intelligent, creative, and dynamic forces in their childrens' (and others!) lives. They have so much passion, patience, and confidence that it's hard to picture their kids ever failing at anything. It's the way of life I dream of and strive for.

I had to meet with the job recruiter to fill out more forms. Jeez, they're really thorough. J stayed with MIL, who, as usual, gave her the 3rd degree on what "work" she's doing. I told J to just tell her she finished for the day already. MIL will never understand homeschooling, let alone unschooling, so we just try and get out of the subject quickly. After I left the recruiter I had 30 minutes to pick up J, pick up W from school, drive J to an early dance rehearsal, drive back to get K from school, and go home. Then a little over an hour later we went back to dance for K's class and the parent number which is right after. W somehow ended up in the Musical Theater number - so all 3 kids are in that one. This is going to be a crazy recital.

B had a gig tonight in Greenwich Village. It's a new place for them. My mom is thinking of moving back to Queens (yay!!), so maybe I can actually get to one of B's shows someday soon! It's been way too long. I miss seeing him sing. I just fall in love with him all over again watching him on stage. LOL!

J's been doing a lot of computer stuff lately. Layouts, HTML codes, photo retouching and collaging, and tons of research on whatever piques her interest at the time. She and W are playing lots of games together and they're really getting along well. I've noticed a lot of sticking up for and helping each other at the playground, too. I just can't wait til summer when I have all the kids home. My mom has been so supportive of all the homeschooling and dance goings-on. She said she can't believe how amazing and wonderful the kids are and she gets so teary-eyed just talking about them. She is so proud of them (and me!) and can gush about them endlessly. Hey, I can listen to that all day! LOL! I'm so glad she finally gets it. It's nice having someone to talk about everything with (besides, B). I hope she moves back soon.

Yesterday J, W, and I went to the playground and got orange shaved ices. They are called "raspados" (or chorados or piraguas depending on what country your from). I'm addicted to those. J had dance in the afternoon and at home, W brought me his alphabet workbook to do with him. He made me a beautiful Mother's Day card at school, as well as a painted jewelry box (with "jewels" glued on) and a little bead bracelet inside.

I joined Flylady again and plan to get uber-organized very soon. With work starting soon, I want to not have to worry about that. OMG. Work. That sounds so weird.

J had dance this afternoon, too. They went over the solo montage and the finale for the recital. The owner, S's mom, and I hung around after everyone was done, had a beer, and talked for over an hour. The girls were in the dance room making up their own dance for us to watch. They called it "Rotten Twinz" and danced to "Kids in America", LOL. The owner is excited for W to do a solo next year. She may want to use the same song their using in W's hip-hop class because he'll be familiar with it. W says he'd love to do a solo at a competition. I am a bit nervous about it, though. We'll see.

When we got home, B took W to the store and picked up some stuff for dinner. They spent a couple of hours in the backyard playing with the neighbor's dog and W rode his scooter while B cooked.

I would like to stick with some sort of plan this week. A morning cleanup, a trip or two, some art projects, a science experiment, the library, some readalouds, and the tv off during the day is enough for now. Spring Fever hit hard this year and we're feeling a bit lazy lately. I know J will be happy about that.

Job Update: B got his hours switched! We are good to go!! Wow, huh? I'm so excited! The only thing is, I have to somehow let them know I need a week off in July for dance Nationals. shit.

Speaking of dance Nationals, J's paperwork for being a semi-finalist for Title is due tomorrow. I wrote the bio (boy, 50 words is just NOT enough!), will fill out the size chart and info form today, and started to panic about the headshot. My mom thought we should really have them done professionally (this IS Nationals, you know). Yeah, right. How am I going to get this done in a day??! Then I remembered about a friend of mine's husband who is a professional photographer. I called him this morning, and was at their house in an hour. He had his whole living room already set up, took about 20 pictures, and within 30 minutes had gorgeous 5x7s ready for us. Woohoo!!

W decided he's finished with baseball and K decided she's finished with the school play. Whatever. I'm not going to force them to stick with something they hate (although I did try). They both would never quit dance, though. All of them would rather be there than anywhere else. I gotta ask the dance studio owner what drug is in the air over there that makes my kids (and lots of others) never want to leave. LOL!

Job Update: I got it. I have to go in on Monday to sign some forms and I start on Friday the 19th. But I'm still waiting for B to hear if he can switch to 8-4. He should find out sometime this week. I can't believe this is all happening so fast.

Here's some fun learning going on: Yesterday, J and I were examining our garden flowers, got the field guide, and looked at all the different parts of the flowers. We read that flowers usually have both male (stamen: anthers and filament) and female (pistil: ovary, style, and stigma), and talked about how the female part gets pollenated and seeds are formed from the ovules in the ovary. The fruit develops from the ovary (which holds the seeds). We talked about how insects help the pollenation process and how some flowers have only one "gender" and must be wind-pollenated. We talked about how seeds are dispersed on the fur of animals, on birds, and when animals eat the fruit, the seeds are in their droppings. We have several kinds of flowers in the garden and she brought a small, purple bell-shaped one upstairs to examine further. She really loved comparing the actual flower to the picture.

Today W was watching a cartoon, ran over to me, and asked me what a nerve in your body looks like. He jumped on my lap and said we should go to Google and see pictures. He asked what the words that label the parts say - so I named the dendrites, axon, myelin, etc. We looked at more pictures and learned there were many kinds of nerves - optic, facial, sciatic, laryngeal, etc. We talked about what nerves do and what happens when one is damaged. He asked so many questions (and I avoided any kind of teacher voice, lol). He then said, "Ok, that's enough for now. But keep the page open so we can look at it again later". How freakin' cool is he?

Second interview this afternoon went well. I guess I'll hear from them hopefully this week. Still need to see if B can switch his hours. I'm nervous about that, but if it's meant to be, then it's meant to be.

Musical Theater class was great today. The number is just about finished and ready to go on stage. The owner saw W and asked him if he'd like to have a solo next year and compete in competitions. He would so love that. She said he's definitely got plenty of rhythm and very good timing. She even knows who she wants as his solo coach - it would be the guy who teaches his hip-hop class. This guy coached a boy on J's team who has won Platinum at every competition we've gone to. If I get this job, I would love to be able to open up these kinds of opportunities for the kids. K wants more advanced classes and I'm sure J's team will have more dance days/hours added. I'd have more than enough to take care of that, plus plenty to put towards bills, and more outings.

My mom prefers we use that money for a bigger apartment. I can understand, but that would mean double our rent and I don't want to live our lives struggling to pay the bills and having to then limit the experiences my kids can have. I grew up kind of poor, had no extracurricular activities, and always felt guilty if I needed money for something because I knew my mom didn't really have it. It sucked and I don't want my kids to feel that guilt - but to still understand the value of a dollar. Back then, we had fun running around the block and the neighborhood, showing up unannounced at friends' houses, playing ball in the street, and just coming and going as we pleased. Kids can't do that safely anymore (maybe it wasn't safe then either). The apartment and backyard is only so fun. Anyplace else there is to go not only requires I'm there too, but it requires at least some money. I'd rather live in a smallish apartment and be able to experience this city in every way we can, than a big apartment watching and worrying over every dime. KWIM?

We're home!

I'll start off with the job interview. It went really well. I filled out a lot of forms, was asked a lot of questions, and will have my references and background checked. I was asked about the **cough, cough** 10-year employement gap and when I told her I spent that time raising 3 kids, she was actually impressed. I am scheduled for a second interview tomorrow afternoon. I think that's a good sign. I guess people have to go through and initial "screening" before being cleared to be sent to the direct boss. I'm happy - but somehow not really overly excited. B still has to find out if his hours can be tweaked a bit. I'll post another update after tomorrow's interview.

We spent the weekend at our last regional dance competition of the season! It was the biggest one yet. There were 23 different studios there from all over New England. At this one the dances score Bronze, Silver, Sterling Silver, Gold, or Platinum. J won Gold for her solo and she qualified to be a semi-finalist at Nationals for Title. Woohoo! Out of J's 4 group numbers, 2 received Gold and 2 received Platinum. One got 1st Runner-Up for High-Score Production (whole company, 5+ minute number), and one received Overall High-Score Large Group AND Junior Ultimate Champion (which means J's group tap number received the highest score out of all the 73 Junior numbers - from 5 to 12 yrs old - of this regional!). In total, the studio received 9 Platinums, 12 Golds, and over $1000 in prize money (for overall high scores in almost every category) that will go towards dancers' costs at Nationals. What a weekend!!

The hotel was wonderful, too, as usual. The kids all hung out in the pool all Friday afternoon and all had pizza in one of the moms' rooms. We parents all brought lots of cocktails (lol) and had our own little party with margaritas, pina coladas, rum punch, and plenty of cerveza (in honor of Cinco de Mayo, of course!). We got to bed pretty early considering, since the kids had to be at the theater by 7:30am - fully costumed and make-up'ed. Saturday was a whole day of competing and awards and we got back to the hotel by 7pm. All the kids hit the pool again together for a couple of hours and had dinner together again after that. At one point we had thirteen 9-12 y/os in one room just relaxing and talking about what a great competition it was. K likes these kids way more than her school friends (and I prefer them as well because they are so much more of a positive influence). They treat K as if they've all been best friends for years (even though K doesn't compete) and I find that so uncommon - especially at this fickle age. My girls just really LOVE these weekends. I believe that all the parents love them too! LOL!

Every morning J and I check out the daily Reference.com email to see what the day's topic is, what holidays are recognized around the world, and what happened on this date (events, births, deaths). We read them aloud together and usually end up doing further research on one or more topics (just because it looks interesting). Today we happened to read a sentence about the Panama Canal and this led to a terrific discussion. We pulled up maps and learned about the shipping industry, oceans and their difference from seas and gulfs, Drake's Passage, Cape Horn, isthmuses, the Erie Canal, measuring miles and kilometers, canal locks, and world trade. We also saw that today is Rhode Island's Independence Day and the date Peter Minuet landed on Manhattan island in 1626 (and a few weeks later bought it from the Algonquin Indians for the equivalent of $24) - which sparked discussions on the colonies, England, and some US geography - and how world trade was like then. We can find connections between all kinds of subjects. I think the best way for people to gain a deep knowledge about the world and how it works is to somehow see how everything can have a connection to something else. Learning really stays interesting that way.

I didn't do anything I needed to do today. I had planned to pack, go through all J's costumes, get my outfit ready for my interview in the morning, and put away 3 feet of laundry on the basement table. Nada. I just can't relax today and yet I can't get myself to get anything done. I'm nervous and excited about going on this interview and I'm nervous and excited about J's competition - this is the one we're going to for Nationals also. I'll be fine by tomorrow night. LOL.

Job update: I called and followed-up with an email stating that yes I'm still interested and we're all set for a Friday morning interview. B will be home with the kids (since we're all leaving for the competition later that day). They expect a "professional appearance" so I'm going tomorrow with my sister to buy a business suit. I probably won't be required to wear that everyday if I get the job, but it's better to professionally overdress at a first interview than underdress. I still need to know if B can possibly work 8-4 instead of 9-5 so this can actually be do-able. Otherwise I need to ask if this position's hours are flexible. B says it's a 50-50 chance he can switch. I think there's a 10-90 chance that this job can. Won't know til we ask, though, right?

So, this morning W and I played around on beginner reading websites. Then one site we found was just a big worksheet that he wanted me to print out for him. There were about 24 examples of spelling and writing 3-letter words on the page. He spelled "fox" and wrote it, then cat, then dog. Then he was done writing, but wanted to spell things for me out loud without writing, so we did the next few: pig, jet, and bed, and he'd had enough. He knows "cvc" words very well. I know if he was in Kindergarten they would reprimand him in some way for not wanting to finish a given page of work. A lot of kids hate this boring crap. It becomes so clear to me how J went from wanting to do nothing but read and write (3-4 years old) to wanting to do anything but read and write (right after Kindergarten). It still pisses me off.

J and I drove out to the dance shop to get some toe thongs and foot "undeez". We were by her old dance studio and saw the owner (who was J's ballet teacher 6 years ago). We both waved through the window and she came running out to us amazed at how tall J got, reminisced about when J was 3-years-old, and asked if she could still do that great straddle split. We talked for a good while. She remembered us immediately. At the bookstore last month, J's 3rd-grade teacher had no idea who we were AT ALL. No, really. She had the dance teacher 45 minutes a week, for 9 months, 6 years ago. She had her 3rd grade teacher 30 hours a week, for 5 months, 1 year ago. That tells me a lot. I'm so glad to be a homeschooling mom.

I've done it.

I've applied for a job.

I've been planning to eventually go back to work. B and I talked about it briefly last week and I loved the idea - IF the hours were right. This means it could not interfere with my homeschooling and it paid well enough to be worth it. B emailed me something he found the next day. It's a part time office job for a very big company. The hours are M-F 6-9pm and all day Saturday. Except for the occasional weekend competitions and once or twice per year wedding, these hours are fine. And I would make well over $1000/month - which would make life a lot easier. I emailed my resume (that I made up from scratch and whipped together in less than an hour), and a kick-ass cover letter, and the next day I got a reply that they want an interview. So, in about 30 minutes, I'm going to call. I can't believe this is happening so fast. I haven't worked in 12 years. Please send big prayers my way that this will work out. Thanks.