well, so much for that...

It has been a roller coaster month.  Beorn spent the first week doing a temp job an hour away.  The hours were long and with the commute, we hardly saw him.  But the thought of him earning some extra money helped.  And then, at the end of the week, the manager asked him to stay.  Hooray!  Full-time work after a year of unemployment!  I had some conflicting feelings:  the joy and relief of him having work combating the knowledge that he'd be making even less than he did at his previous job and knowing the struggle it would be to get by.  But, after a couple weeks, I began to question the whole situation.  Beorn wasn't scheduled much and at random times (including some graveyards).  Was this full-time or not?  When I asked him, I discovered that "full-time" had never been specified in the verbal offer.  Ok.  Hmm.  How can we get by on that?  He'd definitely need a set schedule to allow for a second job.  Then from bad to worse.  When he spoke to his boss, she apologized and explained that not only did they not have enough work for him, but that corporate had said she couldn't pay him the amount they had agreed on.  They still want to use his talents, but it looks like he'll only be working a couple days a month. 

So much for that...



And.

To add insult to injury.

Just when I'd reconciled myself to cat number five and become attached, we found Thomas' family.  Turns out he belongs to the family that used to live next door.  They moved away shortly after we moved in two years ago.  After a second move, they sent their two cats to live with someone else for a while - and that someone lives only about a mile away.  And then one of the cats went missing.  One of my neighbors got a call recently from the owner asking if she'd seen Nibbler.  The owner was hoping he'd make his way back to his old stomping grounds.  So... he'll be leaving.  We're just not sure exactly when.  The owner lives an hour away and her current situation won't allow her to have the cats.  She doesn't want to risk having him run away again, so it looks like we're fostering him until she comes to get him.

So much for that one too...