Feeling a bit drained this week. Not sure what's up with that, I am yawning all the time and can only think that perhaps it is allergies coming on, been getting headaches here and there and waking up congested just enough to make eating breakfast a lighter affair...then I am starving at 10am when I know I can't lunch until 12 or 1.

I worked over the weekend and noticed it is not as stressful when the bosses are not there to breathe down my neck, but then there are some of the co-workers that just thoroughly irk me. Despite my not much liking the new shift, stress laden and chaotic, I don't see me leaving it anytime soon. I made my decision and will not be taking on that new job, I really would like a change and the money that comes with it, but I can't just throw away my chance at a pension with health benefits (I plan to retire well before I can claim Medicare.) The other drawback, the fuel and time costs just won't benefit me, especially when I am already exhausted and fuel is to move to $4/ gallon by summer's end. Now I just need to let my friend know and I am going to try to get my husband to let him down gently, he won't think I am serious if I tell him.

Sunday, Easter, I will be getting up and doing the immediate family thing: seeking out and sharing baskets, breakfasting and maybe egg hunting and then I will be off to a girls-only Easter lunch. My friend, L, is going on a historical adventure where she will be in need of a period costume and she has enlisted 3 friends to help her sew it. I have yet to try out my sewing machine since it came home and should probably do that tomorrow, tonight is too busy...

Speaking of busy, still haven't totalled up all last year's receipts for income taxes and I gotta get that done...I shall have to try that on Thursday as well.

Planning out the garden for this summer. Hubby has been labelling seed packets of when we should start them and he's been doin web research hoping to avoid the blossom-rot which plagued us last year. This year, we plan to try and grow hanging tomatoes and have be plotting to build a frame to hang them from. We also are trying to figure out where to put the pond since we can't keep the water plants sequestered in the living room all summer, they are already nearly as tall as I. If I had my druthers, I would turn the whole of the yard into a garden, but that isn't going to happen, gotta have some place for the dog when he is home and the front yard is not a good place, the city is on a nuissance dog hunt per last newsletter ( I am sure my neighbor would be calling every time he sees the dog out off-leash.)

Time to go ready for work, hopefully tonight I can get around and visit some of you friends, if not, know that I had good intentions.

Sunday, the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake debuted at my FIL's 70th b-day party. As expected, the cake was heavier than it should have been and I am completely blaming Betty on this one. I followed the recipe without deviation; it has to be Betty (Crocker)'s fault! In any respect, the cake was gone well before the party ended which at least meant it wasn't awful, even if it did have fruit with ADHD...or perhaps things just seem tastier after a few trips to the beer keg.

The party was deemed a success and the family played host to 100(ish) friends and family members who came from as far as 2 hours away. I made coleslaw and the aforementioned dessert masquerading as cake prior to arriving and thought I was done cooking, but oh no, I was dragged into the chaos of preparing fruit/veggie/cheese trays and punch. I can't tell how many liters of lemonade I made, but it was quite the undertaking. I tried to fix the punch that was passed to me mid-mixing, but it was a hopelessly tart case...hopefully no one knows I was involved in that fiasco. I also made coffee which turned out surprisingly well since I don't drink it that often and was very unsure of how many grounds to add when making a 50 cup batch.

As per usual, one of my BIL's good friends, who seems to love me like family, was trying to recruit me to move to the Detroit area, but in a new twist, he actually has a bonified job for me which pays money, good money. He gave me a very long auto salesman sort of speech and talked to my husband first about it. With my present job being a nightmare for my stress levels lately, a new job is very attractive, but at the same time, there is no where which is going to give me a pension when I retire with medical benefits that don't cost an arm and a leg. As someone who is vested in their job and has put in nearly 18 years with roughly 9 more to retirement, leaving to somewhere else is something to not take lightly. Especially a job in a different part of the state with rising gas prices.

The job he was trying to sell me on is a supervisory one which only requires me to be physically present a couple times a week since others will be there doing the grunt work and he will be overseeing most of the business from what I understand. They more or less need a Registered Nurse as a consultant and to deal with issues involving regulation. The family already owns one healthcare company and is expanding. My friend tells me that they haven't been getting any candidates whom they feel are trustworthy and is hoping that I will fit the bill and pass his father's inspection. The culture in which they were raised tends to not expand out of their family and friends in work because of trust. To tell you how hard he is trying to convince me to work with him, he offered me a company car to get me back and forth since the drive is an hour each way and says he can work with my current work schedule. In the event I were to come work with the company on a full time basis, he mentioned a salary of ten to thirty thousand more than my current earnings...now this makes me completely torn on what to do...I would be hired if it were solely up to him.

I think I am at least going to go down and meet with he and his father and whomever else I need to see and get a better feel for what I would be doing should I get/take the job. Supposedly, legal and accounting has been all over this job and things are squared. Being a family business, the interview might be more like going to dinner, my family with his which would be more up my alley, I hate formal interviews and I don't think that they show what a person is really like.

To be truthful, a new job now terrifies me, especially one so different and with me trying to keep the current one going, at least for as long as I can. So many variables, terrifying and attractive. I don't know how my son would adapt, don't know how I would adapt...I already bitch about my lack of free-time...but then I keep visualizing the dollar signs and everything is static again. What to do? What to do? ...I guess I at least have to go listen to say if it is possible to do or not. Even if I only do it for a little while, it would look great on a resume.

I think I need to invest in a Magic 8 Ball.