I could not make this shit up.

OK, so even though I don't like the idea of sucking on the tit of the government, I also don't like how I haven't found a job in Austin yet, and being a one-income family sucks. So back in October I read on the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) web site that you may be eligible for benefits if you relocated to be w/a spouse. I filed that in my head. November rolled around, still no job, and so at the encouragement of a friend, I decided to file.

I filed a week or so before Thanksgiving, and this is still not resolved.

Because the last place I worked was in Illinois, I had to file through IL. TWC could not take my claim, so I had to call the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). I filed and waited for my info in the mail.

Info came in the mail right after Thanksgiving. I had to do a phone interview with somebody to further explain my situation. I had to get a letter from my husband's employer, on their letterhead, saying when he started his job. I had to write up a little something and they were to contact my employer.

Fast-forward to about two weeks later, I guess. More mail. This time it told me that I was eligible to collect as long as I met the eligibility requirements.

Um, OK.

They also sent me another letter at the same time (in a different envelope, of course) requesting another phone interview, which was scheduled for Dec. 21st. In this letter it was apparent that they decided my husband is in the military. But I had to give them a letter from his employer, and that clearly was NOT on letterhead of any branch of the US Military.

So that interview on the 21st never happened-they were supposed to call me and never did. And because I was in Galveston at a cookie-making sweatshop, I didn't call until now.

And have been on hold almost 30 minutes. I just pray that my cell doesn't drop this call.

All I want is a yes or a no.

This so is not what I wanted to do.

Just called TX Workforce Commission because I decided to break down and see if I can file for unemployment. On their web site it says that you may be eligible if you moved to be with your husband or wife. But now I have to call IL, which I am sure is going to be 10,000 times more annoying than calling Texas.

I just want a job. As a planner. Hopefully making no more than $10K less than I made in Chicago. I am trying to be nice to the universe. Please universe, send it back to me.

All I can think of is Jen Lancaster in Bitter is the New Black when she's like "I can't file for unemployment, I'm a Republican".

Off to try to call IL. Yeah.

Today, I thanked someone for a rejection e-mail.

Because this e-mail was from an actual human, not an automated system. And this person responded IN THE TIMELINE THAT THEY ORIGINALLY STATED. Go figure. So, it was a rejection (fourth of the week) that was actually personable and classy. Imagine that.

So in other news, my sweet baby sister sent me a Sephora gift card for my birthday. I am not quite sure when it got here, because most of our mail goes to Scott's office and he's not alway so great about brining it home, but I noticed a pile on the kitchen table yesterday that had two cards for me in it, both from her: 1st one was a thank-you note from her shower, 2nd was the birthday card w/the Sephora GC. I am having such a shit week that don't you know it, that GC made me cry. I call her and get her voice mail and am all "You shouldn't have done that. That was so sweet. You're about to have a BAAAAAABY!" Punctuated in sniffles and all.

She had a doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon, so we didn't chat long, but probably from this point she'll be going to the doctor every week. Even though she's not due until the beginning of next month, she could be a mommy at any time now! Which is just crazy to me but I am looking so forward to it. I just wish that that baby (oh, and the parents!) didn't live all the freaking way in Boston!

My dad and Nancy are giving me a RT ticket on Southwest to go visit at some point, so the up side is that if I don't have a job next month (perish the thought), I can go see my niece or nephew pretty soon after its arrival. Which is basically the only thing I have to look forward to if I don't have a job. I will be a much better auntie when I DO have a job. After all, how am I supposed to BUY THINGS FOR THIS BABY? I figure the kid isn't going to know me very well, unless I can be The Aunt who Sends Cute Things. ;)

Anyway...TGIF. This week has sucked. Bye-bye, sucky week. Next week has to be better. Right? RIGHT.

Job searching SUCKS.

I. HATE. Being. Unemployed. And I hate even more the fact that I left a city with lots of meeting/event planner jobs to come to Austin, where somebody basically has to die for a meeting/event planner job to open up and even if that happens, often the successor has been hand-picked anyway. And I hate that the salaries here are so much lower than in Chicagoland, generally. Yes, the cost of living is lower here, but many of the job postings I see show salaries that are disproportionately lower. :(

Throughout this whole thing, I have been doing my best to STAY POSITIVE but sometimes I just need to gripe. I know I am not the only job-seeker out there, and that I have not been unemployed the longest.

What really started this need to rant was a job rejection e-mail I just got. It went as such:

Dear Ms. MORGAN: Thank you for your application and interest in opportunities atthe University of Texas at Austin. We have reviewed your application based on the job related criteria for the posting, XXXXX. We regret to inform you that you were not the candidate selected to fill the position. We appreciate your interest and encourage you to pursue otheropportunities as they become available atthe University of Texas at Austin.

What I wish I could say back to them:

1) Of course I was not selected for the position-I wasn't even interviewed for it.
2) I was seriously overqualified for this position anyway.
3) It would have been a 50% salary cut from what I was making in Chicago.

The one positive thing-this is the fastest response I've ever gotten from any job w/the government. And I've gotten to where I like canned rejection notices-at least it is a status update. A status update of any sort these days is not the norm.

I am sure ranting as such is unprofessional, but I am sorry-this job search is really tearing me down right now.

Add to this the realization that if I don't get a job this month, it's probably not going to happen until 2011. Yikes.

So besides trying to browbeat my husband into returning to Chicagoland, which is futile, I move on and keep on looking and doing the things I know I am supposed to be doing. And I keep hoping.