Stressed. Need A Job. Not Qualified.

Mr. H and I work for my in-laws. They own a custom home building business out of their home. They have been doing this for 30+ years. I quit my job in July of 2005 and I have been working for them ever since. My duties are vague. I am considered a consultant. What the hell does a consultant do? I'm sure whatever "they" do, I don't. We are both on the payroll and get paid regardless of what we do. Sometimes I go to the grocery store, I make gift baskets for clients, I take trips with her, I look up stuff on the Internet, etc. It's basically an assistant job. We are both allowed to work from home as long as whatever they need done gets done. It's fairly simple, but the in-laws make it so effin' difficult. They drive me up the crazy wall. I know my blood pressure goes up when I am around them. My MIL is bipolar. She will deny it til she's blue in the face, but she is. Her doctor diagnosed her with this a few years ago, but never told her. Maybe because he was afraid of her...who knows. She has a very strong personality, and she can turn anyone into a pushover. That's just the way she is. But I swear she's crazy. She'll be fine one minute and completely upset and cussing the next. If you do anything for her, either it's the absolute best thing in the world and it could not be better, or it's complete shit- try again.

Our recent trip was like this. The ride up there was great, the ride back down- not so much. She was pleasant and friendly, making jokes, socializing etc. On the way back she took a crazy pill. She seemed fine as we left, but a few hours into it and she was angry. She huffs and puffs and releases huge sighs when she tries to make a point. I ignore her. If you're not driving just the right speed, if it's too hot, or cold, if the roads are bumpy, if something is not her way, she's a beeotch. I hate to talk about my MIL this way, but she stresses me out. The last few hours of our trip were hell. Literally. My FIL sat in the back seat with me and had the heater turned up all the way for hours. I was cooking. Anyway, MIL was pissed at who knows what (for hours) and kept taking it out on FIL. When she's mad, she takes it out on him- always. Something can always be traced back to him (no matter the problem). When we finally got home, she went inside and left us and all the stuff in the truck, because she was pissed. We unpacked everything- suitcases, coats, pillows, blankets, cameras, purses, coolers, etc. Everything. She was inside checking the messages left on the phone. She went to go sit in the living room and watched us unload. Mr. H and I then had to load up all of our stuff and the pets in our vehicle. She sat in the chair and observed, giving us the silent treatment. As we were leaving, she starts speaking to us. The car is on and running, the pets were in the car waiting and she wants to carry on a conversation!!!

Mr. H get so frustrated when she does that. It was already approaching 11 pm and was annoyed with his mom and he didn't want to listen to her bitching anymore. My FIL walked us out. He asked Mr. H to stop arguing with his mother. Another argument started. Mr. H stated that it wasn't right for her to be bitchy and take it out on everyone, and my FIL defended her. He said she's stressed and doesn't feel well. He always sticks up for her even when he's usually the target of her rage.

So my question to you is: Is it an admirable quality for him to defend his wife no matter the circumstance? or Is he just a pushover?

On another note, work has been slooooow. My FIL is showing signs of al.zheimers, like his father had. We haven't taken on many jobs because of this. He is essentially the brains of the company. Mr. H and I just do what they ask, and offer input on occasion, but he does all the contracting. My MIL draws up plans and does all the designing. Either we work together, or we don't at all. Because of this, money has become a stressor. Since they have some time (since they aren't doing any jobs for others) they have decided to renovate their bathroom. (FYI-Not a good idea of you're trying to control your stress).

Because work has been so slow, I have been casually looking for another part-time job. I love kids and since I can't have any of my own, I thought I would look for nanny jobs. I have been looking on C.raigslist. and found a few I was interested in. I interviewed with a lady a couple weeks ago who has 2 children (5 and 1). She only needed someone to watch them on Saturdays from 9-1. We had a great interview (I thought) and I emailed her about her decision to hire me and she emailed back saying she didn't think I was qualified to take care of a toddler. That hurts. Why couldn't she just say she found someone else? Why did she have to insult me by saying I wasn't qualified? I think it hurts more because my babies died. That makes me feel as though I wasn't qualified to be a mother. If I'm not qualified to take care of her children for 4 hours, then how would/could I take care of my own? I know what she probably meant was that I didn't have the experience, but that's not what she said.

I found a couple more ads that interested me and I have interviews with them tomorrow. I spoke to both of them and they seem super nice. One lady has a 14-month old boy and she needs help caring for him (3 days/week - 4 hours/day) since she works from home. Another needs a sitter for her 4 kids one night a week from 7p-2a. It seems like a long time, but they will have already been fed, and they go to sleep at 8:30. So, really I only have to watch them for about an hour and a half. The pay is average, but at least it would give me something to do and I could get away from my in-laws. Both of my interviews are tomorrow at 5 and 7pm. I wanted to bake them some cookies, but didn't want to seem like a brown-noser. I like to bake and I often bake stuff for people just because. Do you think by taking them baked goods, I am showing them my personality? or Do you think it makes me look like a kiss ass? I would never bring cookies to a professional job interview, but I felt like this was different, because it was so personal. What do you think?