Hard start

It's not that I forgot I had a blog...

It's that I've had my ass handed to me and then put back where it belonged a few times in the last few months.

We arrived in Portland on the hottest day of the year. We moved into our new place - third floor, no air conditioning - and were very uncomfortable the first night. The second day was just as hot, so we decided to bail and head to the coast where the temperatures were in the 70s. We camped near the ocean in Tilamook and had a lovely time. But, the desire to get settled was too great and we headed back to the city.

It was still hot. The entire state was sold out of fans and air conditioning units. Sometime during that first week I managed to get a staph infection on my arm. It was incised and drained, packed and I was on antibiotics. It was first thought it was MRSA, but turned out not to be. Then, a few weeks later, my husband got a staph infection that required two surgeries. He was off work for a month while recovering.

Looking for jobs became more important than ever, and I took the first job I could find as a caregiver for minimum wage. I was just happy to have a job, but I continued looking for a better job. A long story short...I finally found a great job and my husband made it back to work. Things are somewhat back to normal.

In the beginning of our stay in Oregon I was afraid that I had made a terrible mistake. I knew it was a bit of a gamble to leave school and move to a new state without a job, but it all worked out in the end. And, during that time I learned first hand how poor the economy has become, and how thankful I am to have a good job. These were lessons that I needed reminding of and I'm very happy it has all turned out okay.

It was a rough start, but I still love you, Portland.