A Brighter Outlook

Josh has more answers today. He spoke to his manager today about his options and what is going to happen in the next few months. First of all Josh's position is in existence until September. I am not sure if that is the beginning or end of the month. Within the next 2 weeks Wal-Mart stores with reassess their assistant manager needs. Meaning that some new positions will be opening up within all the stores to accommodate all of the suddenly available personnel. At that point Josh can apply for any position within Wal-Mart that he qualifies for. If he isn't offered any of the positions that he applied for, he is allowed to leave Wal-Mart with a 7 week severance package. This at least makes us feel much better today than yesterday. Hopefully we will get a whole bunch of responses from the resumes we sent out last night!!

A Real Kick in the Teeth

Today I came home to a sullen husband. A husband with a beer in his hand and Tupac blaring from the stereo. Josh said something about listening to Tupac when he is depressed. I just figured that it was another bad day in retail. So I said "what happened at work today?" I quizzed about work, I asked if he got fired. To each I got a "no". I was told that he would tell me in a minute. I knew that this was bad. My husband isn't the type that has to compose himself before he speaks. Josh looked at me with eyes welled up with tears and told me that they have eliminated his position at Wal-Mart. It is not only him but all management in photo, optical and tire/lube express. This goes straight to the top. His boss loses his job and his bosses boss loses his job and on up the food chain. It doesn't matter if you have been in the position 1 or 20 years your job is GONE!!! That is 2-3,000 positions with in Wal-Mart! Each employee has one of 2 options 1) apply for a job as an assistant manager or 2) leave with severance pay.

Josh has secretly been applying for positions for a couple weeks now. Nothing too serious. Just sending random resumes out for positions that sound interesting. I don't know if this is fate's way of stepping in or what? We have no clue where and what to do next. We hope that Josh can find a job and quick. Good thing between our savings and stock plans we have our 3 months of bills saved up. I think with my income and our savings we can make it 6 months before being flat broke. After that it will be just paying the bills and that is it. No extras. No food. No Gas. Let's hope that if Josh decides to leave, his parachute is golden. PRAY for him to find a new job swiftly. I don't know what else to do. We are just numb.

Another One Bites the Dust

This past weekend my brother Andy graduated from High School. It is hard to believe that 18 years have passed since he was born. I remember waking up that December morning and my Aunt Marcia was there instead of my parents. I was so happy to have a little brother. Because of Andy we got a minivan. Something that was a big deal back in 1987. 4 kids didn't fit to well in a car. In fact I cannot even remember what kind of car we had before the blue minivan. Andy's life has sped by. Granted I don't feel like it was just yesterday that he was born because I was in 3rd grade when that happened. I do however feel like the time since my high school graduation has flown. He was nine when I graduated. I still remember him at that age. The years that I remember the most are "the dork years" Andy, bless his soul was a dork. He wore tractor hats (still does), high waisted pants and those big glasses. Of course what sticks out the most is stupid things that he said. Those years came and went and he has grown up to be a very well adjusted young man. I am very proud of him!! I know that he will succeed in his life wherever he ends up he has great drive and determination! Way to go Andy

The DOG

Sometimes being a doggy parent is very wonderful and rewarding. Other times it is frustrating. Take yesterday as an example. I put Jackson in the bathroom as I usually do when I leave for work. When I came home I was greeted at the door by a little wagging tailed beast. I was bewildered as to how he had gotten out of the bathroom until I realized that I had locked him in the bathroom without shutting the pocket door to the spare bedroom. There were shredded Kleenexs EVERYWHERE. It wasn't until a little later that I found the chewed up tampon applicator from the bathroom garbage and gagged. All I have to say is at least it wasn't a tampon!! The thing is he knows that he is in trouble as soon as you get home and he huddles near the door all curled up so that you feel sorry for him and you don't yell at him. So I didn't say a word to him and let him out.

One of the funny stories that I have neglected to share was an experience we had the last time that we were at the farm. Betsy and Danny were playing catch. Betsy had to go inside for some reason and let Matt play with Danny. Either Jackson wasn't outside before or he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, but he begins to chase the ball. He is running back and forth from Danny to Matt and back waiting to catch the ball. When a ball went soaring over someone's head he would race them to go and get the ball. He quickly realized that the ball was way to big for his little mouth then he forgot. Because each time the ball was overthrown he would run after it again. It was one of the funniest things that I have ever seen! That stupid dog will chase anything that you throw.

MY Sewing Machine Pictures