And then Genevra and I moved to Carbondale, IL, five and a half hours south of Chicago. We moved to the place I once blogged about, into the home of Genevra's (now late) grandmother I once blogged about. (http://www.andybayiates.com/2004/08/where-did-andy-go-part-1.html)

My wife is five months pregnant. I'm looking for work. I'm rennovating an old Victorian (yes, I do wiring now). And I'm studying for my GRE's.

Pregnancy. Not such a big deal for the guy. That is, you don't puke or get really tired or throw out your back while shopping. And, unless you do a lot of celebrating you tend not to balloon.

Looking for work. Not so easy here. I've had two interviews so far. My mother in law suggested that I shave my beard and grow out my hair a little. I guess she feels that the Wally Shawn look is a tad more employable in the Heartland.

Rennovating. I, like Bob Villa, am from Massachusetts. My father was also a very handy guy, and an habitual addition-builder. Had he stayed in his thirties perpetually, he'd have built additions all the way to Lowell by now. I held flashlights for him often. I have watched a lot of rennovation shows. This is the extent of my schooling. I have been learning as I go but with success.

The GRE. It's funny. I have all the same weaknesses that I had when I was studying for the SAT. My reading is so slow (and I can't skim) that I get bogged down on the comprehension sections, thus hurting the rest of my verbal score. My math is atrocious. Since my practice verbal GRE score was about the same as my verbal SAT score, it means I've managed to improve with age. My quantitative is another story. I have become a math midget, forgetting at one point that 9X9 equals 81. I scored in the 13th percentile for math. Sweet.

I found a website that referenced a Hong Kong stress study that assigned numerical values to certain life changes. The higher the number, the higher your stress level may be in reaction to that life change.

The death of a spouse is #1 at 100.

If you add up all the changes going on in our lives right now, Genevra and I score a 165.

According to this study, Genevra could die and I could go to jail and I'd still only clock in at about 162.

I'll definitely take my current situation over death and imprisonment. But I must be doing well. Well enough to blog about it.

I admit that I'm spread very thinly. I'm not performing terribly well and/or efficiently at anything--the rennovating, interviewing, studying for my GRE.

I've always had a terrible time doing too much at once. Genevra is great at it. Most women seem to be. I, on the other hand, am happiest when I can focus on one thing at a time. Just today I was organizing my tools in the basement, and even though my nose was running, instead of stopping what I was doing in order to blow my nose, I chose to finish putting my screwdrivers in order, despite the giant pendulum of snot that dangled in front of my chest.

This tendency is not serving me well. Taking care of a house in itself tends to pull you in many directions. Rennovating (especially when the whole house from top to bottom needs some form of attention) can leave one in a constant state of distraction.

But I'm no 165. Not even close. This study is bunk or I'm a veritable buddha.

Now if I can just get this second job. (I'm still writing my column for Time Out Chicago.)

Well, one thing at a time.

Sort of.

Not really.