Some answers

This week was hard, and I’m glad it’s over. It’s not that there was anything in particular going on. It was just a bad week. We all have those. You know what it’s like. And now it’s over. Phew.

We did get a few things done this week. The most fun news is that David passed the driving test for his California driver’s license!! Yay! We all knew he could do it, but it’s still a relief to have it over and done with. Congratulations, David!

We were also able to finally start the application process for David’s first USMLE exam. We submitted all the necessary documents and now have to wait—possibly several months—to schedule the exam. He actually applied to take the most complex test first, for reasons that are difficult to explain unless you know the process, so we’re hoping that sometime in the next eight or nine months he’ll be able to take that exam and maybe one or both of the other two.

One of the downsides of this week was hearing that it may be another two weeks before David receives his green card, and we’ve heard differing opinions on whether we can apply for his SS number before we get the green card. In any case, we’re a little wary of applying to jobs for him until we have his SS card in hand. So we’re taking a break from that for a week or two.

I’m still actively job-hunting. A friend told me about a possible part-time job at a church nearby, and initial feedback was positive, so I’m going to follow up on that this week. I’m also training to be an online teaching assistant for a college, which would be part-time, too, but still something. And a friend has offered to pass my resume on to a family friend who works in publishing. So… who knows? They’ll probably all fall through, but at least I don’t feel as desperate as I did last week.

Also, David is going to be taking the TOEFL this Friday(the Test Of English as a Foreign Language), which should help him if he ends up doing any academic training (grad school or nursing). And I signed up to take the CBEST, which would then allow me to apply to be a substitute teacher in California.

Other fabulous news is that David has agreed, after reading a very persuasive piece of mail from a very special person, that it’s not in our best interest for him to join the military. YAY!!!

However, we still have no idea what our long-term plans are for 2009, how long we’ll be in the area, whether or not to start looking for an apartment, etc. It’s frustrating to still be in limbo, but we’re trying to take it all one day at a time. I still have many more “down” days than “up” days, but at least I can put on a happy face for my blog-readers. :)