Improvements

Eight pm Sunday evening J.R. returned home from a study group on campus. He no more than walked in the door when the following conversation took place.

"Hey Jo, don't hate me."

"Ummm... OK? What's going on?"

"Just promise me you're not going to be mad. Say it. Say that you're not going to be mad."

"OK. I'm not going to be mad. What's going on?"

"Well, I drove your car to the study group and.. well... just go look at it."

"............. J.R. what did you do to my car."

"Just go look at it."

"J.R. did you rear-end someone. I swear to God I am going to be so pissed if you crashed my car."

"Jo, just go look at the car."

I walked out the door only to realize that the light from the deck didn't really reach the car. I ran to the front of the car. Being pitch black I could see nothing. I bent my head towards the front of the car desperate to see the damage.

"J.R. I can't see the car. Turn the lights on or something."

HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK HONK

He set the car alarm off right as my head was bending towards the front of the car. Then he ran off laughing.

"Oh you should have seen your face. I got you so good! Oh that was priceless. You really thought I wrecked your car. Oh I wish I would have had a camera. Priceless."

As you can see... he has not lost his sense of humor. A week ago this would not have happened. Things in the Salzman house have not been pretty. Since we have returned home the stress levels have been high and the tempers fly. Maybe someday I will be able to write about what has happened in our lives since returning home, but now is not the time or place. The good news is that last week brought a change. J.R. dropped one of his classes which has lowered his stress levels considerably. He has more time to focus on his other classes and a lot more time to relax. Since dropping the class we've been able to spend real quality time together. Being able to hang out on the couch together and laugh together has made such an improvement in both of our moods.

We also made a change to J.R.'s antidepressant. The doctor said it would take about a month for us to see the full effect. It's only been a week and wow. For the first time in months J.R. is smiling, laughing, and joking around. His mood swings aren't nearly as drastic which is a huge relief. Before the medication switch I never knew when things would turn ugly. If things have improved so much over the course of one week, I'm anxious to see what will happen over the course of a whole month.

My stress levels have also dropped considerably since being done at Macy's. Not having to worry about driving to Eau Claire for work is amazing. Not having the pressure of selling and commission and all that fun stuff is such a relief. And even though I'm still working retail and I still have sales goals to meet and credit cards to sell, it's a much more relaxed environment. I know I'm going to be able to take the time off that I need to. And I also know that this store is much smaller and much more quiet. It's a good change of pace.

Change pages... I am happy to say that the last test score for sociology has finally been posted. 44/42. At this point I am still well over 100% in the class. Gotta love it. I was a little disappointed when I looked at the syllabus today and realized the paper I'm working on is only worth 15 points. It seems like a lot of time and energy to put into something that is worth so few points. Not only do we have to watch news programs, but we have to read multiple articles. Then we have to sit down and write comparisons on everything. I'd much rather sit down and write a paper about the effects of social isolation on children. At least that would be interesting.

Tomorrow I will be spending a large chunk of my day at the schools career conference. It's the first assignment in my business administration class that I'm excited to do. I have no problem putting on dress clothes and walking around talking to people about their company. It's always a good time to begin the networking process.

For now I'm going to drag my aching body to the shower. There is a lot to get done in the next five hours.