Luke got up this morning and went to work as usual, while I saw him off and went back to sleep. Still lying in bed, but fully awake, I hear someone come down the stairs, slide open the door further, and the familiar jingling of keys that says it�s Luke. He threw his stuff down and I asked why he was home, if he was feeling all right. He lay down next to me and told me that an ongoing problem had come to a head (while he was on vacation a couple of weeks ago someone was in the shared office and stole some porn magazines) as well as the fact that they said he hadn�t been keeping up with stuff (he still has some holiday crap that needs to go out), so they suspended him with pay until further notice. I was heartbroken for him. It wasn�t as bad as when he was laid off, but it was still hard to hear, hard to comfort him. He curled up in my arms and I just held him as several tears ran onto the pillow.

While we were hanging together down here, I got a phone call, but didn�t hear it ring, so a message was left. I listened and it was R from the Sow�s Ear telling me to call her back at home. I called and she told me that she wanted to hire me and that I should come in on Tuesday and Wednesday for some training. It doesn�t pay much to start, but it�s better than the $0 I�m making now. She was so excited that she kept stopping mid-sentence and saying, �yay!� At least I know that she really wants me to work there.

I was happy, of course, but this also causes me some anxiety. My last job fucked me up � a lot. My boss was the worst on earth and the work itself was hard � harder than having to heft one-ton blocks all day everyday. It was taxing physically, as well as mentally and I guess that I still fear something similar. I know that it�s just coffee and yarn and some really great people, but the great worry still lurks.

So, I have a part-time job while Luke�s hangs in limbo. I know they won�t fire him; if they were going to do that, they�d have just done it today, so I told Luke to just look at it like a little extra vacation since he�s being paid and wanted time off anyway. To celebrate my new job and console him, we went shopping and to a movie, as well as grabbing some lunch. I got 2 more pair of Hello Kitty! unders (these have rhinestones) and 2 pair of Powerpuff Girls ($1.75 for 2!!!). We got some Blow*Pops for Luke, too. I also got some new sneakers; adorable white Skechers with sparkly blue accents. I never thought I would be able to own glittery sneakers past the age of 8, but now I do. I also can�t believe that in the past several years my feet have significantly shrunk in size. I wore an 11 when I was 17, but since then, I have gradually worked down to a 9 �. It�s really kind of creepy, especially since feet are supposed to get bigger as you age.

We saw Lost in Translation and I found myself liking it in spite of myself. I had been really loathe to see it because I had already heard M&G quoting bits of it so much it made me want to vomit, plus, the critics have loved it so much that there just has to be something wrong with it. I tend to think that critics are just regular schmoes who like to force their opinions on everyone and then get paid for it. You can�t go to school to be a critic, you just have to watch a lot of movies/listen to a lot of music/eat at a lot of restaurants and there isn�t a particularly great amount of skill involved in any of that. I mean, I know a guy who used to run a website that had a fairly good following and what did he do with his real life besides see an assload of movies? He delivered pizzas by night and did telemarketing by day. That kills me. Why should I be listening to what he thinks about movies when it�s just what he thinks?

Enough of that.

Luke and I have also been talking about the W word a little lately. He wants to run off to Vegas and I would like to run off to Ireland. I don�t want a huge fucking ordeal with big poofy dresses and a horde of guests and people to outfit. I want something simple. We�ll have to run it by the parents at some point what with not wanting any hurt feelings and hoping to get a chunk of cash with which to do it, but I don�t think we�ll be having an engagement to speak of. I already have a ring signifying my commitment and I don�t need a giant rock sitting on my finger to say that. This won�t be happening soon, mind you. We�re thinking at least a year away, but it�s nice to know where we each stand.

See? I told you it was a crazy day.