New nursing bras bring much joy and renewal! I’ve spend basically the last 2 years of my life in those nursing tank tops. They are super handy but after 2 years and with only 3 tops eventually they stretch, loosen and quit doing their job. Plus, with cold weather around the corner I want those girls more secure and insulated and I am sure others would appreciate not being greeted by glass cutting nipples right?

So we ventured out to the mall to get me fitted and to find me something comfortable and functional. Good nursing bras are usually kind of expensive so I was surprised to find good bras for about $20 each. The sales gal was even a pleasure to work with and she really helped me find some great options. So now I will not be putting any eyes out this winter. Bet you are excited huh?

In other news, N took a job this week. He is going to be delivering happiness this holiday season as a FedEx driver. Initially we didn’t think it was a viable job option but with unemployment you apply for stuff, interview and just keep an open mind. Anything is better than nothing right?

Initially the job was a part time holiday position but part time pay wouldn’t even begin to take care of bills so we kept on looking for better full time options. Last week N got a call from the hiring manager asking how his search was going, they really liked him and wanted to hire him still. It also turns out the job would now be full time hours for the holidays since demand is so high right now. And it is steady full time work until February!

N and I discussed and it looks like it will be a nice temporary financial relief for us and it wont impact his ability to get unemployment afterward if we should need it. Other pros include a quiet, low stress environment, alone time on the job, normal person hours and he’ll be able to listed to NPR on the radio all day! Ha, ha. He loves NPR.

On the surface it seems like a sad situation but it really isn’t. Bottom line was news reporting wasn’t in line with his personal goals. N is a nice guy so he doesn’t enjoy spending all day and night digging for drama that will make news headlines. Now the world is his oyster and he is getting to explore all the various freelance options out there in TV and also in print publications.

I am just excited that we will still be able to have him home in the evenings. You know family dinner and all that.

As you know, frugality has been the name of the game around here lately, even more so than normal with the lack of employment. Luckily we weren’t really overextending ourselves before so now that it is time to cut back on spending and live more cheaply it’s not a huge shock for us.

Our one year prepaid meat share sure turned out to be a super smart decision because it is one less thing we have to worry about paying for right now. Remember, we have 4 dozen eggs and 20 lbs of meat coming to us each month until next summer. So glad!

Also, with couponing and deal hunting we’ve purchased and stocked up on many cheap pantry staples. Then we’ve grown and preserved every bit of produce we could manage which gives nice piece of mind during hard times.

With the holidays fast approaching I’ve also been plotting ways to make for a cheap yet fruitful holiday season. I always craft and focus on hand making things but this year it is especially important since money is nonexistent.

Right now, one of my favorite places to shop is Goodwill, especially for repurposed craft ideas. Repurposing crafts are great from a recycling perspective, they are often less expensive than buying new and you get a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from the process.

In my recent repourposing endeavors I set out wanting to make some outfits for Everly. I managed to snag all sorts of sewing patterns and even yards of decent fabric for dirt cheap at Goodwill. I’ve already got some sewing books with fun gift giving ideas so scoring the fabric was a bonus for those crafts as well.

We also salvaged some older 70′s looking wooden wall decor that I thought would be cute and useful in Everly’s room. One piece was a wooden strip with pegs for hanging things. With new paint it will be a perfect place for Everly to hang her beads, tutu, hats and other dress up items.

The second piece was a decorative wooden square that I am repainting and attaching ribbon to. It will be her hair clippie holder, the ribbon is where the hair clips will attach and be stored. Both pieces are being painted brown and accented with pink and blue to match her nursery colors and theme.

We are exploring more and more ways to make due with less and we are actually having some fun at the same time. I just hope I’ll be able to actually complete all the projects I’ve planned for myself.

Do you have any holiday crafts or gift making planned for this holiday season? What kinds of things are you dreaming up?

Can you tell I am stalling about our possible temporary-new-chapter in life? Thought so, you are so smart… When things are more concrete (and I am not jinxing it) I’ll spill the beans. Promise.

Although we are now entering day two of unemployment, we aren’t crying in our milk or anything. It seems word is spreading to more and more people and everyone is really worried about how we are doing.

On Friday when we were broadsided at the end of the night it was bad times but over the weekend we did much discussing, brainstorming and networking. It’s not “all coming up roses” around here but it not “doom and gloom” either.

Things are uncertain and we don’t have much time to get another gig going but there are several good things that have already come out of all this.

Remember that vacation we were bummed to skip out on when I served up a whopping shitcake to you all? Well now we are enjoying unemployment an extended staycation. Yep, all three of us are home and free to do whatever the heck we want, for the next two months or until new employment comes along.

Remember that life’s priorities talk I shared with ya? Well N’s number one priority was to find a job that makes him happy. When we made the priorities lists we were thinking the job hunt would begin in a year or more… That meant sticking it out in the meantime and dreaming of the future possibilities… Funny how life works huh? Now he gets to go right to the possibilities and skip the dreaming and sticking it out. That is good right?

Other good things include me getting some help and backup in my parenting and homemaking duties. Shoot, I might even have more time and focus for writing on here now! Also, Everly will be getting more time with both her parents and not just her exhausted mommy.

We were joking about another one of our priorities on those lists we drafted. N’s work buddies jokingly call it “OTG” (off the grid), we’ll get to put our sustainable and frugal living to the real test. Can we really sustain ourselves using what resources we already have? You know the giant garden, the stockpiled pantry goods and all that…

On my priority list I was also questioning whether or not I would be able to lead a healthy, sustainable lifestyle when convenience and finances made it difficult. This is our test…

It’s like two weeks ago we drafted this list of life tests that not only related to everything we desired but now it ties those desires with the path we must take to achieve those things. Is that magical or what?

So now we focus on the immediate tasks ahead. Brainstorming job possibilities, keeping a open, positive frame of mind, putting ourselves out there in search of leads, enjoying the beauty of the days ahead, marveling in the apparent destiny of it all and trusting that things will work out just the way they are meant to.

Yeah, remember that job issue I was talking about? It’s no longer an issue because they terminated the contract. I am not naming any names (and would appreciate it of you refrained from doing so also) because of legal concerns, but I wanted to confirm to those of you that have heard through the grapevine…

It is true. Contract is terminated. Moved all the way out here for a contract and an opportunity that was essentially “gone back on” for one reason or another. One head honcho moved on (the one that initiated the agreement), the new head honcho drafted a signed letter and had his minion present it Friday.

No meeting with HR, no face to face with the big man and no regard for anything but the company’s bottom line. Insulting? Yep but not really that shocking because we already had a read on the people involved, we knew they weren’t particularly goodhearted. And it is a cut-throat business…

So, we have one less thing to deal with. Crappy job situation is settled! New job (or unemployment) here we come. We do know we can’t leave here for a few years. Since we bought a house and got the home buyers tax money…

So, Evansville isn’t rid of us just yet.  Bet that chaps some asses huh? Hope nobody got their hopes up about us leaving, though I am sure the thought crossed their minds…

Too bad, so sad…

Funny thing is our daughter is very intuitive. Last night before the news was broken to us she was messing around with these letters…

Kind of sums it all up doesn’t it?

Remember when I outlined all N’s job uncertainty in this post back on May 2008? Back then we still had no idea where his job search would take us and we were pretty worried that we would end up stuck with the status quo if no better offers came along.

We were barely making end meet, were financially frustrated, itching to start a family, had no chance of buying a home and were ready for a little more job security. Too bad my lady doctor said I was not fertile because of my low weight and N’s job told him they really valued him but could not increase his salary from here on out. That was 5 months ago…

Can you believe how much has happen in 5 months? Holly crap! N got the job in Evansville, IN so we started planing our cross country move. We got engaged 7 days before we were scheduled to move. We made the week long cross country move with minimal drama. We were in our new home for 3 weeks, were planning our wedding for July 2009 then we found out we conceived our first child! I just did the bills and we actually have several hundred dollars left over after everything was paid oh and houses are damn cheap here!

That really is a ton of stuff that fell in to place all at once for us. I guess it makes up for the 3 years we spend in limbo land huh? I almost can’t believe all has worked out for us in such a freaking short amount of time.

Now I just need to master taking photos of water already (I didn’t forget Wordless Wednesday, just a bit late) Lotus says anyone can do it and my camera has a freaking macro setting but my water photos suck big time. I guess you can’t have it all huh? Here are my crappy attempts and a funny video!

The last newscast is tonight. N will anchor it with several of his other coworkers. This will be the sign-off broadcast for the station, can you believe it? This particular chapter in our lives is very nearly over, it is very surreal.

We are obviously happy and excited for our new opportunities despite the inevitable sadness of leaving the past behind. We are also counting our lucky stars that we were ready for this fallout. It’s been quite the journey that is for sure! Many lessons have been learned and we are totally ready for the next door to open for us.

I am planning to go watch the taping of the last broadcast over at the station tonight. Then N and I will be attending the sign-off party the station is hosting for all the staff and key community members. Tonight will be a night of drinks, appetizers and saying goodbye to all we have met over the years.

It will be nice to get out of the house and get our minds off the packing and moving preparation I hate goodbyes though…

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4:42pm – Update

As I am straightening my hair N calls me and says we are under a tornado watch here in Flagstaff, AZ till 5pm. I guess we are getting some preparation for Midwest living huh?

At least in the Midwest they have tornado sirins, we don’t have those here in Arizona. Myself and all the pets will be hanging in the master bedroom together till the storm passes.

This post is password protected because some of N’s coworkers are nosy and vindictive and he really wants to keep this info private until he has the chance to tell his boss himself.

After we stressed out and had anxiety, my cycle got all jacked up with the stress, N’s was just walking around with his “poopy pants on”, we felt angry and unprepared, we sent out about 15 resume tapes, applied to 6 jobs online and the very next day we get the long awaited job offer.

It is exactly what we asked for in negotiations, we are thrilled and very relieved! It is for $55,000-$60,000 over three years, plus grooming perks, benefits after 30 days, $1500 in moving expenses oh and the cost of living is 10% lower there than it is here. Livable houses start in the $50,000 and go all the way up to $200,000 so we will totally be able to find something in our price range.

This pretty much sets the course for our lives this summer, we’re moving somewhere for sure! Now we just wait to see if any better offers come from other places as a result of the massive amounts of tapes we sent already.

We are open to any offer better than the one we are already sitting on but if we don’t see it in the next two weeks we’ll still have Evansville to fall back on, it is a totally acceptable offer to us!

Now I really have to get busy with packing and moving research! We were thinking of using a “you pack we drive” moving company, have one you would recommend? We are also thinking of trading the broke down Nissan for a running old beater motor home, or we will sell the Nissan and use the money to buy a used motor home…

Ugh, there is so much to do over the next 2 months but I am just so glad to know we will be doing this (for sure). Some direction is better than no direction, you know? So, life is about to get exciting for us again… I just know it is going to be a wild ride but I can’t wait.

He, I have committed the cardinal sin of posting about why I haven’t been posting but don’t worry it is not one big long whiny post!

I am feeling a bit better today! We are once again waiting to hear from Indiana, I wonder how many posts I have written about waiting for them to call… I found one here, here, here and here…

Anyway, N got a quick email response this weekend from Evansville about how they are putting together another offer for him. They said it was not 100% what he was expecting and that we could expect it on Monday (today). Now don’t hold your breath we have heard that before!

Over the weekend we were job searching/ applying machines! We burned over 10 resume DVD’s, labeled them, addressed padded envelopes to those hiring and today I am busting out cover letters for them so we can have them in the mail by tomorrow! N also submitted about 5 e-applications this morning linking to his online resume reel.

All in all we have applied for about 20 different stations all over the USA this week, that way if the Evansville thing doesn’t pan out we have our butts covered, plus we may get an even better offer from someone… I had a positive dream about the job search saga last night so I think my hope and positive attitude is back today.

We saw Sex and the City yesterday for fun, it was a good movie and we kind of related to it as we are still not married/ engaged but are long term committed. Speaking of engagement we were ring browsing (again) on Saturday and we both found a ring that was just perfect… It was a bit more expensive but N doesn’t seem to care about that…

I just want something unique and dainty, I am not all about the status of an engagement ring. Granted someday I will want a ring upgrade and perhaps a carat diamond, eventually, but I don’t think it is a requirement for engagement. He has different views.

Also, I just got word from a coworker that my presence is requested this summer at a Colorguard clinic I have taught at before. In previous years funds have been tight with the organization so they could not pay me to teach, I am not sure what is different this year but I am happy to get my mind off the job stresses and do something I love.

So, yeah… That is the weekend update in a nutshell! How did your weekend go? Oh, if you haven’t already could your vote for my mom in the lifetime tv photo contest? Thanks!

Teeni posted a book meme I thought was fun, I have done it before but it still amuses me and it takes my mind off all the job stuff that has really begun to wear on me.

Here are the rules for the book meme:

Step One – pull out a book on the book shelf.

Step Two – go to page 123.

Step Three – read and write out the 5^th sentence.

Step Four – tag 5 more people.

I am currently reading Snow Blind by P.J. Tracy… Here is my sentence:

“The four-wheel-drive light.”

Well, that was not as good as I thought it would be. Boo… Ah well, I tag frogpondsrock, Mrs. Who, Shamelessly Sassy, Memarie Lane and Life on The Ranch.

Oh and for those of you following the Evansville job saga here is an update, for those of you who are sick of hearing about it you can stop reading here.

The flooding is still an issue out there… We were emailed yesterday @ 10am stating “if you don’t hear from me today you will most defiantly hear from me tomorrow”. Well, we didn’t hear from anyone today, it has been almost a week since the first low-ball job offer and I am just getting sick and tired of waiting.

Are we out of line for being peeved about this? I mean I know the weather is a big deal right now but Evansville is not under water and all we want is a quick email or call with a second offer/ dollar amount. Last weekend we were told the second offer would be sent over on Monday, we waited patiently and sent a follow up email late Tuesday evening. Wednesday we were promised an answer no later than Thursday, now Thursday has come and gone… Still no offer!

I am irritable and am having trouble staying positive about it all, mainly becasue the clock is ticking and we don’t have time to wait. We halted the job searching after they were flying him out there, this was like a month ago so if this doesn’t work out we lost a month of searching time and only have another month and a half to get it figured out and find a new place to live.

Ugh, I am just sick of waitin’… Okay, rant over! Thanks for bearing through it, I feel a bit better now.