That’s good to know on the willow oak leaves. We have 2 enormous willow oak trees in our yard and boy do they make a ton of little leaves. And I’ve thought of collecting it and using it as bedding. But haven’t noticed taking forever to decompose. But that’s probably because we blow them into a huge pile then mulch them to smithereens with our lawnmower.
I'm sorry to hear that you got bad news at work. Didn't want to hijack the OP's thread, but did want you to know that I hope things swing back up for you soon!