Wednesday, February 28, 2007

When Life Hands You Lemons... Gonna Need Sugar. Lotsa Sugar.

Mark turned twenty-nine yesterday. His job gave him the most unusual birthday present: his two-week's notice. Yup, Mark's been laid off. (If you had told me five years ago that both my husband and myself would lose our jobs due to down-sizing before the age of thirty, I would have laughed myself silly.)

We're both holding up fairly well under this. The DDJ is investigating whether they can afford to take me back full-time. Mark's working the network he's developed in his few months at this company (with the full support of all the higher-ups; I think they might feel even worse than we do about this). We're both scrying all job opps in Phoenix and in Tucson (one bonus to living in Casa Grande is that the north side of Tucson is about as far as downtown Phoenix, once you count traffic). We're poised to start calling in favors and/or flipping burgers, whichever's going to make sure we don't default on our very first mortgage. Mark's got some unexpected, unbudgeted poker winnings that he'll try to increase. I've got a couple of short stories that need some revision and might be able to bring in a check and a pub credit eventually.

In short, we're stressed but committed and able to keep this roof over our heads and food in our mouths. My big fear is that, in the quest to keep the cash flowing, we'll both have to start sacrificing our dreams (poker and writing) or twisting them into things we never wanted them to be (desperately needed income sources instead of fun, fulfilling hobbies/vocations). So my goal in all of this mess (other than adjusting my work situation to get us more money ASAP) is to keep our dreams as pristine as we can.

Also heavy on my mind is making sure we don't sacrifice too much family time in the Search for More Money. What good is providing for Drew if we become strangers to him? So I'll be focusing on keeping quality time with the Boy a high priority as well.

I suggested a magic wand for a problem at the DDJ the other day. I could think of a few other applications at the moment.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kellie, I'm so sorry to hear about this. I am glad his company is willing to work with him - that has to allow for even a tiny sigh of relief.

Lots of positive energy and crossed fingers coming your way.

Kellie said...

I appreciate the good vibes. Hopefully it will trigger the universe to get us over this mess before it's even begun.

Anonymous said...

I'm so distessed for you all. If there is anything I can do for you, especially monetarily--I'd only be too happy to help. My prayers are with you all. P.S. I have a feeling that things will be all the better for you shortly!!
L-AG

Kellie said...

Thanks, Aunt Gayle. We appreciate every scrap of support, prayers, and good energy we can get. We've been working our network and cranking out some killer cover letters. I know it will work out, and I do hope it's much sooner rather than later.