recently

We moved. Into a mortuary. Don't be too jealous.

It's actually been a couple of weeks since we moved, and yes, we have dealt with some dead bodies, if you were wondering. Now that we're settling in and getting used to making a living off others dying, let me tell you about it.

This might require some background information, though, because, dear blog, I don't think you know about our lives recently. Here's a run-down, in outline form:

• Tim got a bunch of rejection letters from PhD programs that he applied for. :(
• Baby Shepherd made his appearance as a living human outside my womb. (You knew about that one, I think.)
• Tim graduated with his master's degree. :)
• We were given a move-out date (late-September) for our student apartment. Apparently you can't live in student housing if you're not a student. Sounds like discrimination to me.
• My 12-week maternity leave ended and I resumed full-time work at the beginning of July. (I am totally remote, though, so I get to stay home with the baby. And we can live wherever.)
• On the 4th of July I was afflicted with some sort of gastrointestinal infection and stayed most of the night in the ER because other healthcare facilities were closed. Some Independence Day.
• Tim started looking for a job.
• Tim wasn't getting anywhere in his job search.
• Our dear bishop's wife helped Tim find a job teaching at our local community college. He's not teaching English, as he would hope (that is what his BA and MA are in). But he's teaching! It's a great start because teaching factors heavily into his career goals.
• Tim decided to take a class as a non-student at the U. He wishes they would've offered this class when he was a student because it fits in so nicely with his research interests (it's about border spaces, if you wanted to know, but let's not get too erudite here . . .), and it's awesome.
• We found out a funeral home near Tim's job lets apartments to poor, young married couples. We called about it and "interviewed."
• Close to our move-out date, we were offered the apartment and job.
• We moved to a funeral home.
• We didn't have internet so I took some forced vacation time.
• Tim started working at the funeral home in order to earn our keep. Custodial/maintenance-type things, mainly. He washes their cars a lot, and thus he sometimes drives a hearse.
• Also we sometimes answer the phones when the office is closed. People sometimes call when other people die.
• Tim sometimes goes and picks up the bodies of the dead.
• I watched an eye bank employee "recover" the eyes from a recently deceased man who was being stored in a freezer. A freezer for dead bodies.

We weren't really sure what to think at first. At first, we were thinking about death a lot, and we weren't sure about it. Were we cursing ourselves by willingly inviting the grim reaper to be our roommate? But we think we are gonna like it here. We sure love cheap rent!