Updating and Merry Christmas!

I hope by now everyone knows that the unemployment extension for 2 months has been passed and is law! Yippie! This means, according to the unemployment department, that because it is an extension of what is already in place, when they file for my extension on January 6, 2012 I will be eligible for 20 (!) more weeks of unemployment benefits. This is time enough for congress to put together whatever schedule they're going to and I won't be out of benefits before they make a new schedule. My hope is that they keep the 99 weeks but I keep hearing it will be 79. If this is true I will have another 33 weeks past and it will take me into November, 2012 which will give me another 9 months to find a job on top of the 6 I have already had. It gives me time to wait until the sheriff's office is done and makes hiring decisions. While there is no guarantee I will be offered a job (lots of hope, though!) at least I can wait and stay living in my house and paying my bills.

I had said I would put up my Christmas tree if I had an extension or job. Well with only 2 days left I decided that hauling it downstairs then back up again in just that short time wasn't worth the physical effort. I have a beautiful little ceramic Christmas tree made by a family member which I have had out most of the month. I light it every night. I am actually thinking I will keep it out year-round to remind me of the blessing I received at Christmas this year of the extension to allow me to, hopefully, find a job before my benefits expire again.

I obviously could not buy gifts for anyone this year. I made a convertible cowl for my mother that is like a scarf that goes around her neck but you pull the back up as a hood. I had told her that would need to suffice as her Christmas present. I sent my brother, grandson and daughter $20 cash (and $20 for my grandson's 5th birthday which is TODAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!). My mother had sent it to me and said that she felt bad I couldn't do anything so she wanted me to have a little money to give them so the cards wouldn't be empty. Yes, that made me cry. I probably could have done that myself. I do have a little savings set aside. I also have money put aside that was given to me for my birthday which I could have used. She didn't want me to do that. Yesterday after the good news I was visiting my friend Amy and she wanted to go to the movies. I bought her ticket and told her it was part of her Christmas present. I made a convertible cowl for a friend here who is always cold as her present, too. I made coasters for another friend. I have no money but I have yarn and can knit and crochet.

I feel truly blessed this Christmas season. I will be able to stay in my house and keep looking for a job to KEEP me in my house. I have loving family and friends. I even have some presents waiting to be opened. A friend from college who has known me for 38 years sent me a present and card so I would know I was thought of and missed. Thank you Jeannie!

I sit here this morning drinking my favorite coffee,writing this on my clunkly old computer in the warmth of a house that has my name on the deed and mortgage. I am warm within my heart. I am feeling loved and cared for and wanted. Not just by my friends and family but I feel that God has hugged me and reassured me that things will be alright.

Christmas is a season of miracles. May you have your share, too.

Merry Christmas everyone!

An Email

I sent the following email to Tom McClintock, the congressman who represents my district.

"My benefits expire January 6th. Thanks to no extension I will lose my home, be forced to move 3500 miles to live with and be supported by my elderly mother. I interviewed for a good job but the background check takes 2 months. I won't be here when they finally are able to offer me the job. I will lose everything I have worked for my whole life. All because with 35 years of experience and a bachelor's degree I could not find a job in California in 6 months in a county with a double digit unemployment rate. I'm sure you'll have a merry Christmas. I'll be preparing to leave California, my friends, my house, my belongings, my hope and my dreams. I'm a conservative Republican. Maybe that will be a positive when I move across the country. I am sorry you care more about politics than the people you are supposed to represent. As Lily Tomlin used to say as the phone lady, your response is "We don't care. We don't have to.""

(Am I angry - damned right I'm angry!)

Thank You Congress - A Very Un-Merry Christmas

This will indeed be a very un-merry Christmas for me.

First let me say thank you to the members of congress who so diligently worked to ensure that their paychecks would still be flowing at the beginning of the new year. While they sit at home with their families admiring the large stacks of expensive presents under their trees, or perhaps for some, new cars in the driveway, I will be making my own list but not for presents. I will be making a list of what few things I will be able to save out of my house before I have to turn the keys over to the bank and the rest of my belongings to friends or charities.

Next let me say I appreciate how concered the members of congress are for the millions of unemployed Americans. Yes, in an economy where unemployment is in the double digits it IS possible to get a job that pays a liveable wage within 6 months. It must be MY fault that I have no job.

Thirdly, I would like to thank congress for making me financially dependent on my 77 (to be 78 in February) year old mother in a very cold climate. I am sure she pictured the last years of her life as the sole provider for her 55 year old daughter.

Fourth, and final, I would like to thank congress for allowing a diabetic with bad arthritis and no health insurance to go live in that cold climate where within a few years I will be crippled and living in a wheelchair.

I am sorry, members of congress, that I brought this upon myself. My bachelor's degree and 35 years of work experience just aren't enough.

Please enjoy your warm homes and the food you will eat. From the beginning of 2012 and until she passes away, mine will be provided by my mother. You have created no jobs which will allow me to take care of myself. You have provided no extension of unemployment benefits which would have given me more than the 6 months California gave me to keep looking for a job.

Oh, one final thank you to congress. Because your politics were more important I cannot stay in my house long enough to find out if I will have the job I interviewed for in mid-November which needs to do an extensive background check which takes probably 2 months. I cannot wait out until you pass an extension in, what, say February? Or perhaps that will be how long before I could possibly have word on that job. By the time they try to call and offer me the job I will be gone because I cannot live on $0.

Thank you for a very un-merry Christmas members of congress. I know God will provide for me as well as my family. At least I can count on them for POSITIVE support. My thanks to you will be reflected in my voting in November. I'm sure you won't care, though. You'll still have your homes, your cars, your money in the bank and good credit ratings. You'll still have insider information to use to make even more money. And you'll still have the American dream which you took away from me.

Merry Christmas Congress and thank you. I always dreamt that I would spend the last years of my life mired in depression and poor health and dependent on family for food and shelter. You have made my dream come true.

Just Before Christmas Update

I haven't done an update lately and it's just a week before Christmas so I suppose I should write something.

No word from the Sheriff's office. Who knows how long they'll be or if I'll ever even hear from them. Asking at the county only generates a "we're working on it" response.

I had applied for a secretarial job with the Office of Education but in June I had interviewed with them for a similar job in a different department, up against only 3 other people, and didn't get the job. Probably because I stupidly asked about things like benefits and it was obvious that they did NOT want me to ask questions. So I am thinking perhaps the BCOE (Butte County Office of Education) saw I had interviewed, read the notes and will never give me another chance. I was very depressed after getting the email from them that said, "no thanks".

So basically there was nothing positive happening. I did find one job to apply for that is a half hour commute one way but pays enough to support me and the commuting. The application should get to them Monday. This is the first job in a month and a half that I could apply for that not only did I qualify for but it paid enough to live on.

Congress has extended uenmployment extensions for another two months. I believe they are using the current plan. If this is true, when my benefits run out and I get an extension it will be for 20 weeks. I am calling the unemployment office tomorrow to verify not only this but to make sure I don't have to do anything to get the extension or, if I do, what I need to do. My benefits expire January 6th.

I will spend Christmas with Susan and her family. I feel terrible that I cannot purchase Christmas presents for anyone. I couldn't do anything for Matt's birthday, either. He turns 5 on the day before Christmas. And I forgot to send his parents an anniversary card so I need to apologize for that. Their anniversary is Christmas.

My mom sent me a box with some wrapped presents to put under the tree. My dear friend Jeannie sent me a present, too! And Amy says she has something for me so I will go pick that up when I am in town Wednesday. I wish I could do something for her. She is very supportive of me through all this mess.

Even if the extension only takes me to the end of February it's something and a help. I will keep looking and applying for work.

I did not put the tree up or do much in terms of decorating. I did a small amount. I have my ceramic tree out and light it every night. My presents sit on the floor in front of the little table holding the tree. I had said that if I had a job or an extension before Christmas I would put up the big tree but my knees have convinced me that going upstairs to haul the tree down is probably not a good idea.

Oh, and here's something fun - one of the springs came off my recliner which lifts the foot rest. Hopefully my friend Alma will be here sometime to help me fix it - she said she would but she's very busy now between part time work and volunteering. I am glad she has found a way to work, volunteer, have enough income and be happy. Sure hope sometime it's my turn!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a nice New Year. I have a reprieve for a while. Not sure if it's 8 weeks or 20 but, as I said, anything helps.

Here's hoping 2012 will bring me the blessing of a job. And good things for all!