02:28 - 15.08.07
Educational
Today in history Macbeth slew the King - Duncan - and so, the Scottish play was born in all it's glory and controversy.
Today in history one of my nephews was born, so I called him to wish him a happy birthday. From the background noise I would say he and his family were having a very good time. My brother-in-law bought one of those massive outdoor barbeque units and looks for any opportunity to use it. He and my sister also bought one of those outdoor swimming pools so they vacation in situ - more or less - each evening during the summer. Sounded as though their dog was getting more of the feast than the humans though. My nephew also was celebrating the fact that his employer is sending him to a post secondary program to upgrade his skills. The wages he'll make once he has completed the training are extremely good and what male doesn't like to play with fire and big tools. My sister and I chatted for a bit just catching up on health news. The cartilage on her knee gave out a couple of days ago, but the specialist can't track down the source of the problem. I had, synchronistically, just sent her an article from the Mayo clinic that touched on some of the symptoms, so she was pleased that she had an avenue of inquiry to pursue.
The print news here is full of stories about and ads for returning to school. It still causes me stress to think about it. With six sons to provide for on my own, this time of year was always financially brutal for me. Between clothes, school fees and the supplies required, it usually took me several months of wages to catch up to the rest of the bills I had to pay - just in time for Christmas usually. Sometimes the boys wouldn't even tell me about some of their field trips, because then I had to choose - even with two jobs on the go - between feeding them and educating them. When I was an at-home-mom most of my volunteer efforts were for their schools or the community services for same because I felt their education was the most important gift I could give them. It made me feel sick when I couldn't afford to put them through courses they would really benefit taking. It isn't something one can recover later when things are better either. I guess I just have to hope that they will get breaks such as my nephew just got from his employer. Can't hurt to pray for that anyway.
Today was a repeat of yesterday for me. Sending out resumes, housework and exercising - now that I have some energy back. Many of the job postings have requested experience on a particular type of software that I haven't used before, so I also spent some time working on an on-line tutorial for that skill. At least I can be honest and say that I have seen the screens and commands and am familiar with the terminology used. I learn that type of thing very quickly so maybe I can persuade one of the companies to allow me the opportunity to learn too. I did receive acknowledgement quickly from one application I sent out today and that helped my morale too.
Time for bed though now - the cats are getting restless.
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