OUR HOUSE BECOMES A HOME

I left you in the last post at the end of our first day in our new home in New Mexico. Bear had disappeared, and we were going to set out on our job hunts the next morning. There was no time to waste if we were going to succeed in this new adventure!

The Secret was continuously at work. (Remember The Secret? That's what this series is all about.) I knew we would be fine; I visualized a positive outcome in the job hunt, and knew we'd get jobs immediately. And we did.

Nothing fancy at first; we weren't proud. We were willing to take whatever was available the quickest....when you take as big a step as we did, you don't sit around waiting for "the perfect job"....empty days do not pay the rent! My daughter got a job at a fast food place, and, since I had years of experience as a pharmacy technician and in doctors' offices, I answered an ad for a tech at a large pharmacy chain. The pay was abysmal compared to what I made here in Ohio...NM had a high cost of living with a low wage rate.....but, like I said...empty days do not pay the rent, so I took the job....with one stipulation: I told the manager that, with my experience, I was worth more, but I understood that they didn't know me and I needed to prove myself. I said I would give them one month, and then, if they were happy with my performance, I would expect a substantial raise. If I didn't get the raise, I would have to quit. They agreed, and I would start the next day.

I went home and began to put the house more in order, unpacking the rest of the stuff and taking care of Joey while Maureen, my daughter, went to her job that evening. She was going to work nights and I would work days so that one of us would always be available to take care of Joey.

While I was putting some things away in the front room, I thought I heard something....like a small, plaintive wail. I opened the front door, and there stood Bear, sporting a much smaller middle, his long hair in need of some brushing, but otherwise none the worse for wear....and obviously hungry. It had been two days. First things first: he darted past me and ran into the kitchen, looking for food, which I immediately provided for him, along with a nice bowl of clean, cool water. After he had a full belly again, he allowed me to pet him.....but not before he made it clear that if we EVER put him through such a long trip again, he was done with us for good! Bear had a way of "talking" to us with a series of little sounds and we learned which ones meant what pretty quickly. He was definitely ticked off, but willing to forgive...after all, we did have food and a warm place to stay...and a cat's gotta do what a cat's gotta do. (Picture him sitting up on his haunches, paws out in front of him and turned upward, weighing his options. "Let's see: staying in the wild and foraging for food, being cold and hungry....or......forgiving the stupid humans and being spoiled, pampered, fed and sleeping on a nice, warm comfortable bed.....yeah. No contest.")

The next day, I went to work at my new job.

Time to leave you again....but, please come back. There is still much to share with you.
It is 4:08 p.m., August 9, 2008.