Neglectful

I have been very neglectful of this blog--shame on me. My apologies to my reader(s).

Yesterday I visited my last place of employment (has it really been two years since I held a job?!). The managers I worked under were both present and they barely recognized me. In the past year I have started wearing glasses, cut my hair short and lost 40 pounds, so they both did a bit of a double take when I greeted them by name upon entering the store. We had a pleasant visit and I purchased a few items before leaving with a smile on my face.

I have worked with some lovely women over the years, and I am grateful for that. I'm even more grateful to be a housewife. I'm sure I'll have to get a job again someday, but for now I am happy to leave the hustle and bustle to someone else.

Happy New Year.

Job Hunt Update

My husband, who was scheduled to be laid off this month from DHL, has found a new full-time job. The pay is 20% lower than what he has been earning and we have to wait two months for the health benefits to begin. And that’s just the beginning of my rant.

DHL was offering a severance package of two months salary and benefits after the separation date. After five years of service, I think that was a terrible offer, but at least we had that much to cushion the blow.

After enduring several frustrating months of hubby’s job search, I was beginning to worry that the current state of the economy was going to be the end of our healthy finances. I calculate that we have three to four months of living expenses saved; that’s more than most people have in the bank, so I’m pretty proud of that emergency fund. Add to that the two months he would receive in severance, and we would be okay until the end of the calendar year. Not too shabby.

The new company interviewed my husband twice over a period of six weeks. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry to fill the position, so I was surprised when they finally offered him the job and said he had to start immediately if he wanted it. Hubby asked if they could wait three weeks so he could finish his time at DHL and receive his severance package. No, he was told, they needed someone on the job immediately and if he wasn’t willing to jump ship now, they would simply call the next guy on the list of candidates.

It took them nearly two months to interview candidates, but all of a sudden there’s a rush to have the new person begin. Just in time to screw us out of nearly 10K of severance compensation.

Add that to the decrease in salary and we are 30K in the hole. Plus, we have to continue our health benefits through COBRA for the next 10 weeks, which will cost us another two grand. Fuck!

I’m glad that my husband did not have to go through the stress of finishing out his time with DHL without a job offer on the horizon. He has been unemployed before, and it’s not easy for him. His sense of self worth is tightly connected to his career (typical guy!) and he so enjoys his line of work.

But why do things never seem to work out in our favor? The randomness of the universe needs to throw us a bone every now and then, damn it! As always, things could be worse but they could definitely be better.

End rant.

Here We Go Again

So the other night hubby says to me, “You know, I’d really like a bigger den…and maybe a garage.”

Crap.

Looks like it’s time to go house hunting.

Let me explain my reluctance in looking for a house. I’m quite content in my current apartment; the neighbors are quiet, the grounds are well kept, my rent didn’t increase when we renewed our lease, and the neighborhood has everything I need without being overly-commercial. I’ve lived in plenty of apartments, but this is the nicest one so far.

Our first home was lovely; however, after buying it, we had a string of bad luck. My husband lost his job while we were in the process of moving out of our apartment and into the house we had just closed on days before. Within a year of buying the house, both my mother-in-law and son had passed away.

Rationally I know the house didn’t kill my family members or cause my husband to be “down-sized”. I don’t believe in bad luck; it was simply a series of unfortunate events (sorry Lemony Snicket). Random chance, not karma or bad luck, is the reason for my past troubles.

My rational mind knows these things, and yet the thought of looking for a new house gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Sure, I’d like to have a bigger den, a guest room and maybe a small yard, but I’m fine where I am. Apartments have their beneficial qualities, such as not having to fix anything yourself, and the ability to move on short notice. Try doing that with a house.

But the local housing market has settled down and interest rates are still fairly low, so this is probably as good a time as any to buy a house. It doesn’t hurt to look, and since we’re happy in this apartment, we’ll be less likely to rush into a less-than-stellar home purchase.

Here’s hoping for a series of fortunate events.