Posting!

I'm going to try to post more often, as this site is a source of revenue for my family. If you don't know what I mean, I'm not really allowed to tell you what to do. I just know that I'm not allowed to click on my own ads, ever. CHECK THIS OUT:

http://ask.metafilter.com/24986/What-to-do-when-Google-suspends-you

A friend of mine said, "Sounds like you're having a fantastic week!" And that was only Tuesday. As most of you know, my husband lost his job on January 31st. I'm not going to waste too much space here, but I will tell you that Dan WAS the bread-winner, and his employment provided us with health, dental, vision and FSA benefits. All of those went away immediately on January 31st. We need to bring in money as soon as possible, and reduce spending NOW.

Here's what we've been doing:

1) Looking at EVERY way we spend money and figuring out how to reduce it.
2) Eating everything we already have, including the emergency tuna.
3) Taking fewer and shorter showers. I had never thought about my water consumption from an economic perspective before, just an environmental one. We are blessed to live in an area with no water shortage, and with good, clean water. I just never thought about how much we get charged to flush the toilet or wash our dishes before.
4) Unplugging energy-suckers! We have a clock-radio in Vi's room for no reason at all. Unplugged. We keep our coffee maker plugged in all day. No more. All of those little plugs with (what are they called? transformers? that can't be right) box-thingies on them suck energy all day. Who knew? (Probably lots of you did. Hmph.)
5) Driving less.
6) We withdrew Vi from daycare, since Dan is home all the time. That was a no-brainer. It is one of the saddest parts, for me, since I had such a long, drawn-out struggle with child care. We had finally found the *perfect* place, and now she's losing her spot in the program.
7) Dan applied for unemployment. This will be a rather long process, as the system is flooded with applications right now. In Maine, the unemployment rate is around 7% right now. I have a friend who applied over three weeks ago and still hasn't received a check.
8) Dan applied for a few jobs, posted his resume, and is calling on all contacts for ideas. He has a list of his former customers with whom he had a good, long-term relationship, and will be contacting them for suggestions, thoughts, prayers, and brainstorming. He is in touch with a long-ago customer, from his coffee shop days, who works as a truck-driving instructor. He may have his Class B trucking license in a few weeks - I'll keep you posted.
9) We are working on the health insurance issue. My biggest fear is, of course, for Vi, who is just getting over pneumonia. Her course of anti-biotics will be done tomorrow, and I worry that the infection will come back. Dan points out that keeping her out of day care will avoid "kennel cough." :-)

Most of all, we have been laughing. Don't get me wrong - we are terrified and I am still having bawling fits. But, Vi is at this age - 18 months, now - where she is a total ham. Everything she does is cute, silly, funny, goofy or intriguing. She has really kept us from crawling into bed and hiding. With an active toddler, that's not an option at all.

We've been doing a lot of brainstorming and long-term planning. Dan is still interested in going to college, but says "I can't wait two or four years for a paycheck." Being an apprentice for an electrician piqued his interest. 2nd shift jobs are a realistic, short-term possibility.

So, my question to all of you is, what should Dan do? Please let us know if you have any ideas for him, for us. Anything at all - no idea is stupid.

Thanks for all your support as we navigate this time in our lives!!