I feel shut up, and alone, and cold. Like a raindrop.

.... Ok, no I don't. But that, ladies and gents, is a line from my play which I am now HALF DONE WITH! (insert here: explosions of confetti and mad cheering) I'm really liking this writing, it's wonderful to have something to do with all these unemployed mornings. Which I am still working on correcting, but this economy has hit New York really hard. I found out that the husband of one of my employers had been laid off... luckily, I'd only babysat for them a couple times, and they had the courtesy to email and tell me why they were cutting back on their childcare. But still, times are hard. 

I do have good news! Remember the french family? I mentioned them a few posts back. As of this week I work for them full time on the weekends, but they're adopting an infant who's due in late april or early may, and when the bundle of joy arrives they want to hire me weekdays too! So all I need to do is scrape by on the kinds of jobs I have now and I'll be all set for years (fingers crossed). I'm really growing to like this family, now that they're getting used to me the snooty factor has gone waaaay down, and their daughter is really smart for her age. She just needs to be treated like a kid twice her age, and she's great!

On a side note, Manhattan parents fascinate me. This mother, for example, had never done home-science experiments. Ever. No vinegar and baking soda, no home-made playdough, not even paper mache! I mean, I keep this stuff for emergencies since kids in the suburbs have done it half a dozen times, but not here. She finds it endlessly fascinating that I don't need a "weekend budget" in order to entertain her kid for a few hours. Not that I don't appreciate extra money, but I figure the thrifty nanny is the one who's gonna keep her job nowadays!

I really have to find another job for the interim though, I just have too much free time and I don't do anything with it. It's like the vacation breaks in college, you think at first "a whole month for Christmas, and no homework! Awesome!" And then two weeks in you can't stop thinking "I have never been so bored... maybe I'll watch food network for three hours...or re-read that book..." And in times like that, your first instinct is never to do something actually productive. I have this problem much much worse than a normal person, and it's come back to bite me several times. As long as I have a routine of work that I don't hate, I'm fine! But give me too much free time and I sluuuuuuuuuuump. Like a luuuuuuuuuump. 

I am proud of myself on one account, though. For Christmas my brother Joel got me an Amazon gift certificate (awesome!) and instead of indulging on books, I used it to get myself some home exercise DVDs, one by the New York Ballet, and the other that's a combo Yoga/Dance thing. They look like fun, and hopefully they'll work. I also got a really beautiful faux-antique map of the world to hang on our still too bare walls.

I think I might have to take the plunge and buy a new winter coat. I already bought proper boots, but the broken zipper on my old coat is just getting to be too much. Plus I really hate the way I look in it. Plus I've had it since 2004, it's run its course, right? So soon I shall begin the hunt for a pretty girly trench coat, since I've been coveting one for years now, and I clearly really want it. 

I guess that's about it, nothing too mind-blowing this week. There'll be new pictures of the apartment soon, because I'm thinking of joining one of those home-exchange websites to try and find free housing for the Edinburgh festival, and the more pictures on those things the better. It could work, right?

Love to all!