You Never Think It Will Happen To You

Unemployment

It happens to a lot of people. It has happened to friends and family members. It has even happened to people I've worked with. But you never think it will happen to you.  And we certainly never thought it would happen to us.  My husband lost his job two weeks ago.  Fran worked tirelessly for his company for seven years. He arose at 4:30am to drive almost an hour to get to work by 6:00am, and worked a solid twelve hour day for the duration of his employment, only to drive almost an hour home. He felt pressure to maintain these hours as he was the sole breadwinner for us as well as the manager of this company.  As a stay-at-home mom to our wonderful little boy, I too had my job to worry about, but worried about him more working so many hours and exhausting himself for the sake of providing for his family. He was let go without a breath of notice. He never missed a day, never broke a rule, never put his feet up on his desk while sipping coffee for one second while managing the business. So to lose his job was quite a blow...to his ego, to our finances, to our employment status. But we vowed from second one that it would NOT be a blow to our family.

You never think it will happen to you. Then it does. And everything in your life changes. But one thing I've learned through all of this is that you are only as good as the way you react to situations. If we crumbled and fell apart, our lives would too. People we've told about this have complimented us on our positivity, even only two weeks out. We know it may take time to find another job (one of us plans to stay home with Reese). We know that I may be the one to return to work on a teacher's salary. We know that Fran may have to find a job that pays significantly less. But we are FINE with it. When you are faced with a crisis, you choose to either rise or fall. We choose to rise.

So we are now on to our next chapter. A new job, maybe a smaller house, a smaller budget, and lots of new experiences as a family given the gift of some time together. We can deal with that. It's all in your attitude and how you deal with things that come your way. 

Let's Try Out This Blogging Thing...

I love to write, but I am not a writer.  I am a stay-at-home mom with a lot of ideas and little time to put those ideas on paper.  So I thought I'd try out this blogging thing I hear so much about.  I thought maybe one person might get something out of it.  That one person may be me, but I am okay with that.  I just thought I'd give it a shot and see what came out.  

In setting up this blog, I had to complete an "About Me" section.  Even after knowing myself for thirty-five years, I found it hard to sum up what I am all about in just a few short sentences.  This is how I would describe myself if given more space.

I am the mother to the silliest and sweetest little two-year-old boy, who makes me laugh every single day.

I am the wife of a fabulous guy I met in college, who I am crazy about.  

I am the daughter of my brilliant father and charismatic, driven mother.
I am the daughter-in-law of caring, supportive golf fanatics.

I am a sister to two awesome siblings and two fantastic sisters-in-law.

I am the aunt to the cutest little curly-haired boy you'd ever meet.

I am a friend to the most fabulous women I know. 

I am a die-hard HOKIE!!!!  Only Virginia Tech fans could possibly understand the significance of being a Hokie.

I am a runner.  Not a fast one.  Just a runner.

I am proud to say that I'm organized and love organizing things.

I am a lover of television.  There...I said it.  "Friends" is my all-time favorite.

I am moved by the song line, "Where you invest your love, you invest your life."

And my life's motto is that things, both good and bad, happen for a reason.

I hope you enjoy what I have to say.  Feel free to post comments if you'd like.  I'd love to hear from you!