Long days

So I’ve been slacking on the blog lately… It’s just been busy and hectic here in my world. Hubby and I have not been able to start the Love Dare thing yet. I was planning to get that going this week, but we found out that he had to go out of town again next week and then a couple of weeks after that. I reckon I’ll just plan to start it one day and we’ll have to manage it while he’s out.

I spent a few nights and Saturday morning getting stuff ready to take to the Kidz Klozet sale in Mobile. I dropped it off on Sunday afternoon. The sale is March 2 – 6 from 10 to 6 pm. It’s a great sale for first time parents/grandparents, and even seasoned parents. They don’t take anything that has been recalled and if a carseat is over 3 or 4 years old they won’t take it, so you know you’re getting something that is safe. There are over 850 consignors for this one and it’s a LOT to look at. So, you know, if you happen to be down this way… 🙂

B is still growing so fast. She is walking around like she’s been doing it for years. She took her first steps the day after her birthday and she hasn’t turned back. We had a couple of family portraits taken at the beginning of February and some of B for the whole “one-year” thing. We haven’t ordered them yet, or I’d have some posted for everyone to see.

The biggest thing that is going on right this second happens to involve my job, yet again. It is not a good thing and I only have until sometime tomorrow to have made a decision about it. Basically, they want me to either take a small (and it really is a small one) pay cut and work in a different position, or I won’t have a job anymore. They don’t think I’m working out where I am right now and want me to move. So, I have to decide whether I’ll take the position, or take the unemployment.

Believe it or not, it is NOT a no-brainer. Yes, I need a job. I have a family that I help support and we are just not in a financial position for me not to have a job right now. Or at least, not for long. I could be unemployed, but I’d have to be searching every day for a new job. And, I have some slim criteria.

With hubby traveling as much as he does, I can’t work past 5 in the evenings and I can’t work before 7 in the morning. And, since I do value my time with my husband, if I want to spend any time with him at all when he’s traveling, I can’t work weekends either. So, I have to have a job that works either 7 to 4 or 8 to 5 on Monday thru Friday. It’s hard to find a job like that around here. Especially one that would pay decently.

Speaking of pay, the pay cut for the new position is only by $1.00. It’s not a terrible pay cut. It’s about $40/wk that I wouldn’t get. It would be a bit harder to make ends meet, but not impossible. I also don’t know whether or not the job would guarantee me being hired on full time instead of staying a temp.

So – cons of taking new position:

1. pay cut

2. still stressful work environment

3. uncertainty about the temp thing

Pros of taking new position:

1. still have a job

2. possibly getting hired on and earning time off

3. still be able to help support the family

Cons of rejecting position and being unemployed for a while:

1. being unemployed

2. not being able to help support my family

3. staying stressed over finding a new job

Pros of rejecting position/unemployed:

1. no more stressful work environment

2. more time with my precious babies

3. more time… in general (when not hunting for work, of course)

I also need to mention that if I chose to reject the position, thereby becoming unemployed, I would take the kids out of daycare/after school care. I would love it, but in the event of a job interview, I would have to scramble to get someone to look after them while I did it, and then I’d have to worry that there wouldn’t be a spot available in daycare when I needed to put B back. (D’s kids club would always have a spot available)

It’s a lot to think about, that’s for sure. I sometimes wonder if we lived somewhere else, what our lives would be like there. How is the job market in other places? I just am really frustrated with the job market here.

I think that I have talked myself into just accepting the new position. A lot still rides on the whole temp thing too though. If I have to stay a temp for even longer or start over, I don’t know that it would be worth it….. Ugh, I have a headache just thinking about all of this. I have to go to bed now though… It’s going to be a long enough day tomorrow.

a new challenge

So, it’s not really a huge challenge. I know I’ve probably done some harder things. But, I love the Fireproof movie. True, the acting probably isn’t the best I’ve ever seen, but it has a really good message. So often we let little things keep adding up and they end up overtaking our relationships. When big things happen, we try to deal with them right away, but we can let the little things go on and go on… and they can end up making one really big thing that is too much for us to handle on our own.

Jack and I have a great relationship. Sure, we have our spats, but we’ve always had a great communication relationship and that helps out a lot when we are a bit miffed at each other. We recently watched the Fireproof movie again and it got me thinking, “what if we did the love dare?” In the movie, they were doing the love dare because the marriage was almost completely dissolved. There was almost no hope left for reconciliation between them. The Love Dare was supposed to help them rebuild what had been broken and start anew. Jack and I definitely don’t have anything remotely similar going on in our marriage. But, I can’t help but wonder if doing The Love Dare would strengthen what we already have. It surely couldn’t hurt. So, I went off in search of The Love Dare. At Wal*Mart, they have a 365 day devotional for couples in love dare fashion, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I looked at Target and found exactly what I was looking for:It’s the 40 day Love Dare, as used in the Fireproof movie. I am really excited to start this. Hubby has another out of town work trip scheduled for February 14 – 19, so we aren’t going to do it until he gets back from that, but I am really looking forward to it. We have been able to get to church for the past two weeks, so I feel really good about that. I’m still working on some other relationships that need the work and with God’s help and your prayers, that will work out too.

I have a prayer request that has nothing to do with all of this though. I have had some dental problems in the recent past. Before working at my current job, I just didn’t have the funds to pay for the kind of stuff that needs to be done. At least, not at one time. Now working a full time job, the money isn’t as big of an issue, but the time off is. I am still a temp for the next month, so I have no time off and I can’t afford to miss any more work. I am in danger of losing my job if I have to be out again before my temp status is up. I need prayers here. I really have to have some of this work done before this month is over, and I just don’t know how to do it. And really, I have spent more of my time in the last few years focusing on D’s health and now B’s health. I tend to think they are more important. Maybe that’s just the mom talking, but whatever. You know how we do 🙂