Oh so much has happened.
It's 3:20 in the morning, and I am wide awake. I think I drank too much caffeine between dinner and the rest of today, and I'm just very restless right now to top it off. It's too hot in the house, and that's not helping.
So, so much has happened in the past few weeks/months since I posted last.
After going to Delaware to attend the funeral of my first best friend's father-in-law with my other best friend (yes, I have two and they are like sisters to me), I went back to Frederick, MD to await the birth of my niece! They were inducing my SIL the day I was to come back, so I decided to stay overnight and hopefully meet the first grandchild of the O'Neil clan. Unfortunately, that morning I woke up feeling feverish, tired, and my throat was sore - and to top it off, a snowstorm was on the way for PA. Becky had mentioned having strep that was not responding well to medication, so I bid a very, VERY reluctant early goodbye to Maryland and went home.
The next morning I was not feeling any better- I had some PTO days to take for work, so I took a sick day. Now, keep in mind that I HAD TIME TO TAKE, and we'd gotten an email from HR stating that we were to stay the hell home if we even THOUGHT we had the flu. I thought everything was peachy. My niece was also born at 2:56 AM that morning! Breanne Lisa, weighing a strapping 8 lbs, 12 oz. Unfortunately I didn't get to see her until she was a week old because I was feeling sick still, and I did not want to chance it with a newborn (or new parents!).
Color me surprised the next morning when I went into work, and was met at the door by my manager and escorted directly into the HR office. After 5 1/2 years of service, I was terminated over an attendance snafu. Apparently our sick time now functions on a rolling year, and not enough points had fallen off my record from last year (I took some time off work because I was so emotionally distraught over the marriage situation that I could not function). I managed to keep my composure until I got out the door and down the street, then sat in my car and just bawled. Understand, I have NEVER, in my ENTIRE LIFE, been fired from anything. So this was a new and scary low for me. I applied for Unemployment the second I got home, and then started applying for jobs.
It was at least heartening to know that many people at my now-ex-work missed me, and I have been contacted by many other people as well stating they were upset about the issue. It has at least given me a very good pool of people to draw references from! I was not even allowed to clean out my desk, and finally got all my personal items in the mail Monday- half of which were broken, of course. Someone basically piled all the glass, porcelain, and other breakables on the very bottom - no "Fragile" sticker, nothing. No care was taken at all with my personal possessions. I'd mentioned filing a claim for them, but for all the good that would do me, I'd rather not waste my time.
Since then I have had two job interviews, one of which seems very promising! I was complimented on my excellent resume and qualifications for the position. But at the outset, I now have a $5k stock share check coming, $1800 in tax refund (possibly more, apparently I forgot to take a deduction for tuition the last 2 years! I am going to go to HR Block and see if I can't get that straightened out), and Unemployment. I've also picked up a fair bit of freelance writing work, and if I can keep up a brisk pace, that will fill in any gaps quite nicely. Aside from that, having no health insurance is really my only issue right now! My stress levels have gone from through the roof, to feeling much more chilled out.
Kyr and I are officially getting divorced. I am going to be filing the paperwork in the next week or so, then it's 90 days to sort everything out...and I'm a legally single woman again. There was a lot of hemming, hawing, and crying. Kyr was angry at me that I had "given up" on the marriage, and it finally came down to me telling him that I am not interested in fixing it. He was given chance, after chance, after chance, and he blew them all. It's been off and on friendly, then cold, then awkward. Things are on the move, and we're sorting them out as we go. I need to see a lawyer and get the paperwork signed, then it's off to the courthouse. I've asked a friend to come with me, because I'm sure actually doing it will provoke a lot of emotion.
And...I met someone. If by "met" you mean "Have talked to online and by phone, but have not met in person yet".
I had promised myself, fervently, that I was NOT, repeat, NOT going to enter into the dating world again for at least a year. Get back in shape, shore up those mental scars, heal myself, and then go on the prowl a pristine example of divorced womanhood.
John Lennon famously said that "Life is what happens when you're making plans." And of course, Life has a way of not following our plans.
I have a profile on Pounced, the Furry/Anthro fandom personals site. I'd changed it back in December to reflect my current status- single, not looking for anyone, but desiring friends. I'd gotten several messages, none of which panned out. One day, a short but well-written message appeared in my inbox, and I decided, What the hell. Might as well see who this guy is. It's so rare to meet a furry who is not only well-versed in social graces, but doesn't treat a personal ad like a sign hung on a woman's neck that reads "TOTALLY UP FOR SEX!". I felt like I should at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
A simple conversation turned into a long one. A long conversation turned into a very, very deep one. Every day, we talked, and got to know one another better. By the fourth or fifth day, he'd given me his phone number, but I was still feeling too cagey to call him. Finally, last week I sacked up and gave him a call. I was pleasantly surprised by a very sensual and sexy voice, and so far there is a ton of chemistry. He's older than I am by about 10 years (I'm 29, will be 30 in the fall), owns his own business (used my well-polished research skills to verify that one myself), and is a very accomplished person. I admire him greatly, and our conversations have ranged from terrible flirting to deep discussions about corporate America, hiring practices, science, food...you name it. I love talking to him, and we've sat for literally four and five hours just chatting about everything and nothing. He's divorced as well, for about two years, and we have had a lot of discussions about divorce, too.
I'm very much trying not to pin my hopes on any one person at this point, but I am really looking forward to meeting him in the flesh at some point, and seeing if the chemistry transfers into the flesh. He may not like me, it may be awkward as hell, or we may explode in mutual happiness. It remains to be been. But, it's given me a very real desire to want to move forward in my life. Bigger and better things await me, and I've spent too long trying to fix something that was broken beyond repair.