This dream sucks.

New job is difficult...not the work.  That's pud.

The hours are  miserable.  I worked first shift for the first 2 weeks.  I got up at 4am and left by 4:45am to make the 30+min drive in to arrive by 5:30am at the latest.  The line started at 6am and shut down at 4:30pm.  If I was lucky, I sat down 3 times a day.  No computer access.  Limited phone access.  At 4:30pm, I did my shift paperwork, and left around 5:15pm.  Arrived home a little before 6pm.  It was miserable.

Today I switch to second shift.  The hours are still long, but they are much more in line with my body.  I am a second shifter at heart, though this is more of a third shift position.  (I leave at 4:20pm, right after DH gets home, and will leave work around 4:30am.)  We are keeping the nanny, so I can sleep occasionally!, but it makes life much easier for both of us.  Now she doesn't have to drag the boys out when she takes the girls to school because I'll be home.  Sleeping hopefully, but home.  She doesn't have to drag the boys to basketball practice - which is HUGE.  That was one of the most difficult things I've had to do.  (Sit through an hour of #2's bball practice while keeping #3 and #4 off the court, away from the balls, away from the cement stairs, away from the balcony, and out of trouble.  My arms were numb the first week because I ended up having to hold #4 for over an hour.)

In other news....#3 is about 90% potty trained!  Last week he decided he was a big boy and wanted to wear underpants.  And now he does.  He is actually doing great with peeing.  His body is triggering his brain to go in and pee on the potty, and he does.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be triggering him when he needs to poop so that is often ending up in his underpants and he doesn't even realize it yet.  So we are asking hourly if he wants to try pooping on the potty.  He's done it, but it seems to be more luck than anything else...

Good news - I got my first paycheck in over 8 months last Friday, and it was more than I expected.  We should also be getting back a couple thousand dollars from our taxes.  (We both paid in married/0 for Jan through Jun, knowing I would be getting laid off.  Even though I had no taxes taken out of my UE, and DH switched to married/4 then, we still overpaid.)

We are looking at vehicles.  My old van has a blown head gasket which is going to start getting worked on this weekend.  But my parents have a REALLY hard time dealing with our decision to get another vehicle...when we could just fix the old one.  However, part of the reason I had to go back to work was so we could afford a vehicle that isn't broken...partly for my sanity, and partly for the insurance.  The benefits at my new job are just so amazing that I couldn't say no.  The insurance alone would keep up from bankruptcy.  And DENTAL!!!!!!!  (And 401K match that I've already signed up for.)  But essentially...I have to work.  And if I have to work, I make enough money that I don't need to be driving a busted ass vehicle.  The old van was my favorite.  But it's a 99 with 186K miles on it.  We definitely got our money out of it, and I don't want to get rid of it.  It's going to be around $400 in parts to fix it.  (Dad and DH will do it)  But I also don't necessarily trust it to be super reliable for the commute I now have.  So we're looking at vehicles and they seem so confused....