The Last couple of months....
April 19th, 2009
So, we’ve had a lot going on here lately. In truth, this story started really back in February? (Or was it January?) One night as Brian and I were preparing for bed I got a “feeling”….something that has been known to happen to me ever so often….I got a feeling change was coming. I knew that change had to do with the house that we were in & that more than likely it meant we would probably be moving. So I knew What, I just didn’t know Why or even When, only that we might & I didn’t even know Where. Got to love those big 4 W’s you learn about in English class.
Time goes on and that conversation is kind of forgotten; until March 3rd. It was just any normal day & I was sitting on the floor playing with Madison when surprisingly Brian turns the key in the lock & walks in. At first I think that he’s come home early with a migraine or something, then he hands me an envelope & through its plastic little window I see the name of the company he works for printed on paper that normally checks are made with. A chill tingled at the base of my spine & I’m sure my eyes were as round as a saucer. “Yeah, it’s what you think it is.” Our home, that we had thought was so safe from this economic struggle we’re currently in, had joined the millions of others that is being swept up in this rise of unemployment wave & crashed right down on our heads.
I’m proud of him though; Brian didn’t flip out or crawl away to a dark corner. Within hours he was already signed up for unemployment benefits & surfing the web looking for both information & his next job lineup. Although the prospects for the latter did not look promising at all! Brian had been with his previous company for over 12 years, so the seniority that he had gained & the paycheck that went with it came because of a long hard road that he had stuck to time after time. It wasn’t because of a degree or a certification & in looking around at was posted on job sites it showed that he was going to have to start at ground zero again! With a family of 5 that is just not some very good prospects staring you in the face. Not to mention, his field of work is one of the ones on the decline right now or at best just staying level. So what to do?
First up, Damage Control! Freeze those bank accounts, lock up the debit card, resort the bill priority, and adjust the budget. Also start brain storming on anything possible to make a few extra bucks, like garage sale…..or go through the DVDs & take them to the nearest resale.
Second, once we figured out the job line was dead end, we looked at alternatives. Maybe I could go to work at nights while he took a lesser paying job. Maybe it was time for him to look at a career change. Maybe it was time to look at a change period. And that is when it hit, the recollection of what I had said about change coming. Now we knew the Why, but what about the rest of the W’s?
Third, Brian started looking into colleges & how to apply for a Pell Grant. It was interesting what we found. Not only interesting but strange, because we started to see the timing of things start to line up. Like for instance in applying for a Grant it is best to do it at the beginning of the year. The timing was also great because it set us up perfectly to get everything done & be ready by the start of Fall Semester. Only what to do in the mean time….. So the more we looked at it the more this seemed to be the path we were going to take. Brian would go back to school & I would go back to work.
All of that was done in three days. Our emotions were on a tilt-a-whirl and what was 3 days felt like a week! But that wasn’t the end of it. We then had to work on Where and When. The first was the toughest & it has been more of a bounce house in the form of ideas going off in our head & Brian constantly searching out information on degree requirements, course loads, the schools that have them, the living arrangements at each school, the Public School systems for the kids, job possibilities, and a search on each one’s average % of work placement afterwards. That information has taken almost a month to gather, & sort through, & weigh, & ponder. If that wasn’t nerve wracking enough we had two birthdays to plan as well as Easter to celebrate all in the middle of it around budget cuts & savings. But now we have it….
What: We’re moving
Why: B/c the opportunity was presented & honestly it’s our best course of action.
When: Our lease is up at the end of June, but we may move before that.
Where: 1st to Dothan, AL, after that we are still searching & trying to figure out.
We still don’t know which major College he will end up, but it has been narrowed down to at least 3 & all of them are in the lower South East area of the US. By going to Dothan for a year (my home down), & attending the Community College there to get his basics out of the way, it gives us time to figure out better where we want him to be & our family. Not to mention, Dothan is also centrally located to all 3 schools & more. It has been a struggle trying to make sure we are doing the right thing, that the choices we are making will truly benefit all. It is hard also in the fact that where I am happy to be moving closer to blood family & excited that my girls will be able to see them more then once a year……I am also very sad & reluctant to leave the family of friends I have found here. It pains my heart deeply at the thought that I may never again see some of these people I have had the privilege to get to know over the last 10 years. Texas has been a blessing to me despite my fussing about it on multiple occasions.
“When one door closes, another opens”, it is the birthing pains of life. When change is on the horizon we tend to want to sink our heels in, whether that change is what we asked for or not. But I don’t want to be the one that looks so “long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” (~ Helen Keller) And I don’t think we are. A lot of secret prayers have been answered, prayers & worries I know I’ve had buried deep within my heart. Yet here they are, their answers exposed for all to see. Even Brian’s have been answered, for he had been trying to figure out how to maybe take some night courses & maybe get his certification in some type of minor Engineering degree before all of this started. Now he not only has that chance, but he can totally change everything he was doing & actually head in a direction he had wanted to go when he first went to school. So many opportunities await us, all we have to do is be willing to step forward and pluck it down.
But when we go, it will be with a heavy heart…..a bitter sweet ending. Hmmm, maybe this explains why the last few pages of a book are always the hardest for me. I’m ready to find out what happens, but I’m reluctant to let it go.
~akb.
So, we’ve had a lot going on here lately. In truth, this story started really back in February? (Or was it January?) One night as Brian and I were preparing for bed I got a “feeling”….something that has been known to happen to me ever so often….I got a feeling change was coming. I knew that change had to do with the house that we were in & that more than likely it meant we would probably be moving. So I knew What, I just didn’t know Why or even When, only that we might & I didn’t even know Where. Got to love those big 4 W’s you learn about in English class.
Time goes on and that conversation is kind of forgotten; until March 3rd. It was just any normal day & I was sitting on the floor playing with Madison when surprisingly Brian turns the key in the lock & walks in. At first I think that he’s come home early with a migraine or something, then he hands me an envelope & through its plastic little window I see the name of the company he works for printed on paper that normally checks are made with. A chill tingled at the base of my spine & I’m sure my eyes were as round as a saucer. “Yeah, it’s what you think it is.” Our home, that we had thought was so safe from this economic struggle we’re currently in, had joined the millions of others that is being swept up in this rise of unemployment wave & crashed right down on our heads.
I’m proud of him though; Brian didn’t flip out or crawl away to a dark corner. Within hours he was already signed up for unemployment benefits & surfing the web looking for both information & his next job lineup. Although the prospects for the latter did not look promising at all! Brian had been with his previous company for over 12 years, so the seniority that he had gained & the paycheck that went with it came because of a long hard road that he had stuck to time after time. It wasn’t because of a degree or a certification & in looking around at was posted on job sites it showed that he was going to have to start at ground zero again! With a family of 5 that is just not some very good prospects staring you in the face. Not to mention, his field of work is one of the ones on the decline right now or at best just staying level. So what to do?
First up, Damage Control! Freeze those bank accounts, lock up the debit card, resort the bill priority, and adjust the budget. Also start brain storming on anything possible to make a few extra bucks, like garage sale…..or go through the DVDs & take them to the nearest resale.
Second, once we figured out the job line was dead end, we looked at alternatives. Maybe I could go to work at nights while he took a lesser paying job. Maybe it was time for him to look at a career change. Maybe it was time to look at a change period. And that is when it hit, the recollection of what I had said about change coming. Now we knew the Why, but what about the rest of the W’s?
Third, Brian started looking into colleges & how to apply for a Pell Grant. It was interesting what we found. Not only interesting but strange, because we started to see the timing of things start to line up. Like for instance in applying for a Grant it is best to do it at the beginning of the year. The timing was also great because it set us up perfectly to get everything done & be ready by the start of Fall Semester. Only what to do in the mean time….. So the more we looked at it the more this seemed to be the path we were going to take. Brian would go back to school & I would go back to work.
All of that was done in three days. Our emotions were on a tilt-a-whirl and what was 3 days felt like a week! But that wasn’t the end of it. We then had to work on Where and When. The first was the toughest & it has been more of a bounce house in the form of ideas going off in our head & Brian constantly searching out information on degree requirements, course loads, the schools that have them, the living arrangements at each school, the Public School systems for the kids, job possibilities, and a search on each one’s average % of work placement afterwards. That information has taken almost a month to gather, & sort through, & weigh, & ponder. If that wasn’t nerve wracking enough we had two birthdays to plan as well as Easter to celebrate all in the middle of it around budget cuts & savings. But now we have it….
What: We’re moving
Why: B/c the opportunity was presented & honestly it’s our best course of action.
When: Our lease is up at the end of June, but we may move before that.
Where: 1st to Dothan, AL, after that we are still searching & trying to figure out.
We still don’t know which major College he will end up, but it has been narrowed down to at least 3 & all of them are in the lower South East area of the US. By going to Dothan for a year (my home down), & attending the Community College there to get his basics out of the way, it gives us time to figure out better where we want him to be & our family. Not to mention, Dothan is also centrally located to all 3 schools & more. It has been a struggle trying to make sure we are doing the right thing, that the choices we are making will truly benefit all. It is hard also in the fact that where I am happy to be moving closer to blood family & excited that my girls will be able to see them more then once a year……I am also very sad & reluctant to leave the family of friends I have found here. It pains my heart deeply at the thought that I may never again see some of these people I have had the privilege to get to know over the last 10 years. Texas has been a blessing to me despite my fussing about it on multiple occasions.
“When one door closes, another opens”, it is the birthing pains of life. When change is on the horizon we tend to want to sink our heels in, whether that change is what we asked for or not. But I don’t want to be the one that looks so “long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” (~ Helen Keller) And I don’t think we are. A lot of secret prayers have been answered, prayers & worries I know I’ve had buried deep within my heart. Yet here they are, their answers exposed for all to see. Even Brian’s have been answered, for he had been trying to figure out how to maybe take some night courses & maybe get his certification in some type of minor Engineering degree before all of this started. Now he not only has that chance, but he can totally change everything he was doing & actually head in a direction he had wanted to go when he first went to school. So many opportunities await us, all we have to do is be willing to step forward and pluck it down.
But when we go, it will be with a heavy heart…..a bitter sweet ending. Hmmm, maybe this explains why the last few pages of a book are always the hardest for me. I’m ready to find out what happens, but I’m reluctant to let it go.
~akb.