Friends,

This post is about doors (or lack thereof), vacuum cleaners, cats, husbands and life experiences.

I am trying to receive certification (job offer) to teach at a university that is fairly near me. To move to the next phase of the competition, I have been enmeshed in a three-week online course (audition). Please somebody, remind me not to go on a three-week interview again. The reason I have subject myself to this grueling experience has to do with having enough money to survive, until I turn 62 (how did that happen?) next July.

As many of you have heard me write before, I am married to a 68-year old three year old.

Since there are no doors on my home office, I have had to be creative. To make it clear to my husband, who usually operates on the premise, if I can see her, she must be available, I have barricaded myself into my work space. This involved moving a three-drawer file cabinet, to create a wall, and putting a chair with the following message taped to it in the gap between the cabinet and my work table.

EJ is currently unavailable. Please make an
appointment with my receptionist, Katie (our small,
fluffy, strawberry blond kitty).

Actually, I just realized as I was writing that he is suffering from cabin fever, b/c it has been so hot here. So he announced earlier he was going upstairs to vacuum. Yes, I am very fortunate to have a husband who cleans as well as Mr. Clean.

However, he is very rough on every vacuum cleaner, which has the ill fortune of being brought to our home. I think we now have five vacuum cleaners, which are in various states of disrepair.

Our latest purchase a Hoover tornado (I think this is the right name) has done very well until today.

Have I mentioned that my husband also loves to find excuses to drive to town. With our large pick-up truck, which we need to haul water, I have tried to train him to make less trips, with the high gas prices.

So at one point, after much banging around upstairs, he presented himself at my open door (on the other side of my office) and announced he thinks the new vaccum cleaner needs a small rubber part. I then said, we only had $19.80 in our checking account.

I can't believe it, he retreated.

Anyway, at a quiet moment, when all the dogs had finally settled down, my cat Princess, who never bothers me when I'm working at my computer, paraded in my office. She proceeded to jump into my lap, walk across the keyboard, making a string of x's on my discussion board response, and then sat on the desk.

Well I figured I had earned a break, so I wrote this post.

EJ