I Missed It Again!

I had it marked on the calendar at work so that I would remember. My second Blog-i-Versary was on Wednesday. Two years of keeping this thing barely going. I have just been so preoccupied lately with work and helping Josh with the job search. Work has been CRAZY busy for the last month or so. I am going somewhere and my projects are mostly progressing well. I just have so much to do. Hopefully I will be slowing down a little bit soon.

Josh has had one interview. He hasn't heard anything back yet so he is calling today to see what the status is. He has gotten a few Dear Josh letters. That is fine and to be expected. There are 2 new jobs available that he is really excited about. One is a Kohl's Store Manager and the other is a District Manager of Blockbuster overseeing the Madison, Milwaukee districts. We shall see, he only applied for those positions on Wednesday. I really hope he gets the call on those because he is really excited about those.

As for me I am going to the Crafts in the Country with my mom and sister this weekend. This is a yearly tradition and I cannot believe that it is already that time of year. The summer has flown. Josh brought home strawberries yesterday. We didn't do anything with them because he only brought home a pint sized thing and that isn't enough for shortcake so he is going to bring more home tonight and then I will be making shortcake. The 4th of July fireworks have been purchased so we are ready for that! Yeah!

The Search is On

Well, the job hunt has officially began. It is funny because I have some time during the day I am sending new job openings to Josh quite regularly. I know that he appreciates me spending the time. However I am not sure if he appreciates receiving several e-mails a day with new positions attached. It is quite the undertaking. I will keep you posted on the progress.

I am just blown away by the love and support we have received from our friends and family. I am not shocked because I know how great and wonderful they all are! It is just mind blowing to have that re-affirmed in a situation like this. It makes us feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful support system!

On to other things..... Hmmmm... I am gearing up to attend a conference in Boston in August! I am pretty excited about that. I have to work on my endurance because I am going with at least 2 other people and we are going to take a day off and take the Freedom Trail. So I will have to be able to walk for 2.5 miles without whining. I don't want to show that side of me in front of my co-workers. So I am pretty excited about that.

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