Bad News, Good News, Maybe Both

Good news: SEO wants me back beginning Aug 23rd, until October something.
Bad news: That means there's no way I'll be working between now and then, as most assignments aren't that short term.

Well, I've already faxed off to the Trust for help with the mortgage and utilities, so two weeks without pay won't render me homeless/lightless/waterless. So I'm going to make the best of this and consider it a vacation. An unpaid vacation, yes, but at least time off from work. I'll use it to finish my LD scenario, learn more about CSS and Php, apply for jobs. Clean a little, even. Go to Gencon for the full 4 days (since my badge is pre-paid)...

This isn't really any different than being unemployed, but the stress level is lower. I've been having stress dreams all week... those vivid dreams where you think it's real until something too weird happens. I only have them when I'm under the worst sort of stress, and they leave me tired and disoriented.

Monday morning was your basic "oops, I'm naked" dream. Tuesday I've forgotten already, though I woke up suddenly and very upset. I think it had something to do with a gaming convention. This morning I was a civilian in Iraq and they were trying to evacuate us from a fire zone. I was running around trying to not get shot and worrying about how I was going to carry everything I'd brought, since they wanted us to walk/run/dodge some distance. On the plus side, in my dream I met Ginmar, a Livejournal poster whose brilliantly written posts from Iraq are on my daily must-read list.

I finally drove myself out to Curves to exercise today. I only went 'round the circle once, but I don't hurt too much, and will try to make myself do it again tomorrow. I'm hoping that exercise will not only reduce my blood sugar/blood pressure, but also relieve some of the depression and anxiety.