An update on our Unemployed, Too Broke for Anything status...

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First of all.. Thank you EVERYONE for your responses... I got a lot of great ideas from all of you! Since my posting last week, I managed to find a Mobile Food Bank on Christmas Eve sponsored by the Catholic Charities... it helped a little, but I ended up with a sack of miscellaneous stuff that was REALLY hard to make into a meal... I did get some canned fruit and juice to give to our 10-month-old and some cereal for our daughter and some bread for us to have toast.... it was definitely better than nothing! They also allowed me to choose a couple winter coats for my kids - which was GREAT! I ended up throwing them in the washer and wrapping them up real quick for my kids to open at Christmas! I have a friend on WIC that dropped off a gallon of milk at our house (if she didn't get 5 gallons a month for free, I don't know if I would have been able to accept... I'm still struggling with accepting things from other people that I feel I should be able to, somehow, provide on my own!) I also went to a food bank to see if I could get some basic things to start cooking meals again... they gave me 3 full boxes of stuff like sugar, flour, beans and canned veggies. (And also some toiletries) - What a great start to being able to prepare a meal! I had enough groceries now to make a nice soup for our family to have on Christmas Eve night - which is the 'traditional meal' for our family... The only thing missing now was MEAT! On Christmas Day, I experienced what every Christian knows exists... My parents, who aren't very involved in my life and don't generally give gifts to us on Christmas, gave my husband and I a huge bag of meat! It was great! I almost started crying! Some how, some way, they were inclined to gift us in a way that couldn't have been better timing! - It was truly something we NEEDED! We are both still actively seeking employment... no foodstamps or anything like that yet, but I'm sure if it gets to the point where we were just 1 week ago, we will find ourselves in THAT office trying to get assistance. - I thought for sure my husband was going to be hired this week... he called Monday morning to see if they'd made a hiring decision yet (after interviewing almost 2 weeks ago) and they said he was "definitely, DEFINITELY" one of the top candidates, but then proceeded to call him yesterday and let him know they hired someone else... darn... can't win, I guess... but, we're hanging in there... mailing resumes, filling out online applications, calling to follow up on hiring statuses.... I'm sure it will work out... I just wish it didn't have to take this long. We've been jobless for 31 full days now and it's getting old!!!! Thanks again for all the support you've given me (and my husband) - we couldn't be more grateful for the great friends on mylot!!!