I’ve been absent for quite a while. I’ve missed Suicide Awareness month in September. I’ve missed ADHD Awareness month in October. And here it is, now November and I still feel like I’m not really here.

Things have been kind of rough. I’m sure they have been just as rough for everyone else in one way or another, but I can only see and share things from my own perspective.

No one in my household currently has a job. Again. It has been almost a year. It’s amazing we made it this far. It’s interesting. Because of COVID, we find ourselves financially strapped once again, but also, the financial supports put in place due to COVID are the only things keeping us afloat right now. Well, that, and we’ve sold some of our things, gotten some help from friends and family, but we are doing it. However, I’m not sure how much longer we can last.

Living in California is expensive. We’ve seen the homeless population rise exponentially over these past two years and count our blessings that we are not among them. And seeing as we homeschool our kids, it means only one of us is able to hold down a job. My husband has taken up the reigns, but finding work has been nothing short of a test in endurance. We found out recently that there is about half a job per unemployed person in the state of California, and although my husband has put in applications reaching now into the quadruple digits, he has only seen a handful of interviews, and not one job offer. He has recently extended his job search to states outside of California.

Meanwhile, we’re just trying to keep our heads above water. Christmas is coming up and we barely have enough to cover December’s bills. Not sure what’s going to happen in January, unless I somehow manage to hit a huge surge in book sales. Which I guess is possible, but highly unlikely. More on that, tomorrow. Until then, we try to remain hopeful.