Thursday, April 24, 2008

The good, the bad, and the merely insane

Good news: Well, we must be insane, because I have an appointment with my RE (short for reproductive endocrinologist - the same doc who helpd me get pregnant with J) on May 21. We decided time was a-wastin', and given my age and history, there was no point in continuing to try by ourselves for three months or six months or whatever if we seriously want to try for a child. I ain't gettin' any younger! Eek! Yay! Eek! Yay!

More good news: Elementary teaching positions have now opened up at three of the elementary schools in town (including the one closest to our house). Brian sent in his applications as soon as we knew, and hopefully he'll get some good news from that.

Bummer news: Brian got a $229 check as his refund from the electric company. It was made out to his ex, as the bill was in her name - he never changed it because they required some insane amount of cash to change it (which is why my bill is still in Kevin's name). So he tried signing her name and depositing it - our bank said no, because his ex wasn't there. Follow lots of calls to the electric company, in which they say they can't reissue the check because it's already been issued (um, how 'bout stopping payment on the first and sending a new one in Brian's name?), and long story short, the only real option is to have his ex (who no longer has any ID with Brian's name on it because she's remarried) write a letter to our bank explaining the situation and saying she releases her right to the check, signing the check with Brian's last name and with her married name, and asking them to let Brian deposit it. So he did - sent a letter for her to sign, sent the check, and sent a self-addressed stamped envelope for her to return it to us. He mailed it yesterday. Today he found the self-addressed stamped envelope and nothing else in our mailbox. So, where is the letter, where is the outside envelope, and most importantly, where the HELL is the check?! We can't afford to eat a $229 loss, and TXU (electric company) may say, "too bad, so sad," even if the postal service lost it. And how the hell would just that come out? And it's got a signature on it to where the bank won't cash it, so I'd think anyone who tried to cash it would be turned away. I'm hoping it fell out and no one recognized the name on the check, so they just put it aside to see if someone would come claim it. I know I left my debit card at the post office once, and they held it for me, so I don't think anyone at our post office would be dishonest enough to take it. We're hoping that the outer envelope just came unsealed and stuff fell out. *sigh* We could really do with having that back.

Other bummer news: Still no sub assignments for Brian, not since the one last week. With him having applications in with four area school districts, I'd think the phone would be ringing just a bit more. I know at one of the sub training sessions he went to, he was just about the only certified teacher there. Wouldn't you think that would count in his favor? I don't know why nothing is coming in, but it's not, and I'm starting to get antsy. Brian is, too.

More good news: J got a 100 on his first spelling test last week! And he's had a slew of green days and good days at the Y program lately. That makes me happy. He still has moments at home, but at least at school, things are going well. This makes me feel like the few dietary changes we've made so far are paying off.

Tonight is J's kindergarten program. He's going to be an army ant, and is really excited about it. They're having it professionally recorded, so I'm buying a DVD copy rather than carting the video camera and hoping I can get some decent shots. I can't wait to see it - I'm sure J will do fine, he always seems to do well in front of a crowd.

4 comments:

Nell said...

Wow thats weird about that check. You probably just should have signed it as her over to him. Does that make sense? Anyway, I hope something turns up with it.

Good luck to Brian on the job front!

Lisa @ The Plain-Spoken Pen said...

Makes sense, Nell, except they'd know I wasn't her - they know me, and they wouldn't deposit the check because she wasn't here herself to say that that was her signature. The blessing and curse of living in a small town, people know who you are. LOL

Traci Dolan said...

First, congrats on your marriage!!! WOOT! Sending good vibes for good jobs.

justkc said...

Lisa, has Brian tried going in to local schools and leaving a flier with his info? When I was teaching we would occasionally have subs who would ask to put a flier up in the teacher's lounge with their name, #, grades they could sub, special experience, if they are available last minute, blah blah. Occasionally someone would even come in with a whole stack and put them in our boxes. We got a really great sub that way - he was on our campus many days of the week because everyone knew his name, he was familiar with our school and we knew he could handle our students.

Good luck!