First, I have some housekeeping to do. To those of you who took the time to check on me in my absence, making sure I was okay, sending positive thoughts, thank you. It means a lot that you cared enough to contact me.

 And I'm sorry I disappeared. I've been dealing with loads of the usual unemployment depression: first the job loss, then the painful interview process, getting turned down for jobs that I was perfect for, filing for unemployment, watching your available weeks dwindle ... If you've ever been unemployed, you know the drill.

Also, I've been doing freelance writing to try to make a little extra money. So basically, anytime I felt like writing and had a few minutes, I felt too guilty to write for "fun" when someone was willing to pay me.

It's certainly not enough to live on, but it helped. If you're interested, it's textbroker.com. It's a little slow to get started, but once you get a 4-star rating for producing quality work, the pay gets a little better. Then you start to build clients who will ask for you directly instead of sending work to the general writer pool, and that pays a little better, too. I've been writing web copy for a UK company almost full-time for the past few months.

And now to the subject of my post. I GOT A JOB TODAY!!! and there's even a second job that is taking me to lunch next week to discuss an offer. I think I'd like the second job better, but the first job pays about 25% more and is working at home. No commute, no gas expenses, no daycare expenses ... with a kid in school, soccer, and other activities, I can't turn down the money or the convenience factor.

But should I still try for the free lunch next week? :-)