Luke and I fought last night. He was grumpy and I was anxious and such a combination always turns into some chemistry experiment gone awry. It�s like blowing up an entire wing of the school. We went to bed pissy, but made up a couple of hours later when we each rolled over and hugged one another. We lay like that for a while until he got amorous. I wasn�t sure how things would go, knowing that I couldn�t have intercourse, but it worked out well and I think it may have been our first ever non-penetrative mutually climactic experience.

I have an interview this afternoon as a care worker for a DD 14-year-old girl. I�m meeting both her and her mom and they seemed enthusiastic about meeting me. The daughter is nonverbal but sufficiently communicative with the aid of various mechanical devices from what her father told me. I�d be part time, alternate weekends and the occasional backup. It pays $10.90 an hour, so I think it would get our heads above water. I would also be able to take another p/t thing if I wanted to. I also finally got a call this morning from the youth counselor place I applied to online and they�re sending me a hard copy application. The only major drag is that the local position is nights. I�ve pulled all-nighters before, but never in a work setting and certainly not on a regular basis, so I don�t know if I�ll take it if they offer it to me. I also received an application in the mail today for working part time with autistic kids. I have to fill that out and send it along. So, I have no les than four very real prospects in the offing and I suppose I�ll be able to pick and choose amongst them. I also just found an ad for relay service operators that starts at $10.50 an hour with paid training and I would be able to choose my own full time hours. One of Luke�s former co-workers works there and seems to enjoy it. He�s since been promoted, but knowing that it�s a decent job is certainly a benefit.

Whenever it is that I manage to wrangle a decent gig and get some money in, I�m buying the 4th season of Buffy on DVD (It doesn�t come out for another couple of weeks) and a new pair of shoes each for Luke and I. His are falling apart and mine aren�t far behind. I�m not a big shoe whore and can be found wearing the same dirty white Skechers sneaks about 98% of the time. I imagine that with the warmer weather coming, I�ll break down and buy myself a new pair of all-purpose sandals. Cute, but not so cute that I can�t wear them on a day-to-day basis. The ones I have now are about 5 years old and so full of various smells that when I pulled them out of the closet the cat spent no less than 20 minutes sniffing them. I know he was rejoicing in the plethora of stink that lives there. Concert mud, preschool playground, Vineyard beach, and goodness knows what else.

I�m looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow with no interruptions. Luke is cooking tonight so I will have the chance to try and decompress from what has been a very stressful few days. When I called Luke to tell him that I would be able to spend his lunch break with him I almost started crying when he asked how it went. Spending the time with him midday realty helped, though. He let me complain and I was just happy to be able to see him. He didn�t want anything to eat, so we just got drinks from the caf� and sat in the car with the windows open.

As far as I know, we are definitely not going up North this weekend. The girl Luke called about the shift swap ahs already had it taken care of and I doubt he�ll be able to find someone else within 48 hours. Oh well. I didn�t particularly care to make the trek in the first place and it�ll save us plenty in gas money, not to mention not having to breathe smoke the entire time since most of the family smokes. Were I a smoker, I would be more than obliged to attend, but I don�t drink much and I don�t smoke ever (never even tried), so the entire atmosphere isn�t the most relaxing. I find that with every new trip up there, I am more sensitive to the smoke than the time before, to the point that I have a hard time sleeping with the lingering pall of stench hanging around me.

I suddenly feel so tired. I am running on less than 7 hours of sleep and that simply doesn�t work for me. I�ll be lucky if I�m able to remain awake for the rest of the day. I know that Luke doesn�t mind when I nap, but it can make it harder to sleep later on when it�s actually time to go to bed.