Laid Off For Christmas

 
The day before Christmas eve, my boss sat down across from me in her office and informed me that she would be laying me off in January. While it came as no surprise, and I had been mentally preparing myself for over a month, it still sucked royally. The project that I've been working on has come to a grinding halt and my boss has been giving me off jobs to fill my time. Nothing thus far has indicated that my project will be picking up so I don't blame them for laying me off. I'm going to be the fourth person they've let go in the past two months.

Unfortunately, if you're looking at salaries, I am the primary breadwinner for my family and we're going to have to do some monetary acrobatics to make things run smoothly. I had hoped to be at this job for at least two years before grad school, and all our financial plans are built around that timeline. We just recently met our first savings goal and moved up our next since we were doing so well. Without my job, there's no way we'll be meeting that goal or any others anytime soon, even though E is working his butt off and doing extremely well. I'm really proud of him and the incredible progress he's made in his field and I feel like I'm letting our family down. We're pushing back our plans to replace E's car, move out and start a family. I think I'm more upset about that than the actual loss of my job.

I'm not sure when my official last day will be, and I'm hoping my boss draws it out as much as possible. Each day I stay employed is another check we can put towards our bills. Our December and January bills are always out of control with all the holiday happenings and this lay off could not have come at a worse time (as if there's ever a good time to get laid off!). I've been checking around for other jobs for a couple weeks now and haven't found a single opening in anything remotely related to my field. Finding a new job was not originally one of my New Years resolutions but you can bet it's on the list now.

(Old) New Years Resolutions:

1. Lose Weight Gained Since Wedding

2. Train Dog

3. Pick Grad Program

4. Save, Save, Save

(New) New Years Resolutions:

*****1. Find Job*****

2. Other Stuff

By the way, I'm mildly disturbed by the amount of laid off cartoons on the internet. I typed "laid off" into google images hoping to get a few good ones and instead found roughly a million. This is not a good time to be unemployed.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing health and happiness to you and yours

Happy Holidays 2011

Somehow it feels like this year has gone by at lightening speed. Like I was writing this exact post only last week about the new Hanukkah star topper we got for our tree. Except now, the new star is the old star, E and I have been married for over 8 months, we have Milou, many new babies have been born to happy friends, I have a full time job, E is working more than ever, and somehow everyone grew up overnight.

while you were sleeping/ the babies grew/ the stars shined and the shadows moved/ time flew, the phone rang/ there was a silence when the kitchen sang

It's incredible to look back and see all that we've accomplished, and not accomplished. Like our Trash the Dress session and album which we STILL HAVEN'T DONE omgslackerswesuck. But if you ignore that, we have come a long way. E and I are happily married even though I sometimes feel like we are just "two ships passing in the night" with him getting home just as I'm going to bed. We both adore our fur children and we're doing our best to work towards our future.

while you were sleeping/ the money died/ machines were harmless and the earth sighed /through the wind you slept sound /and gravity caught my love around

 

Since I never wrote a Thanksgiving post this year, I guess I should say that I'm incredibly thankful for everything and everyone who has been a part of this year. I'm thankful that E is my husband and we're still happy after almost 10 years together. That my family and friends are the best you could ever ask for and whom I love dearly. That we have the worlds cutest puppy, see photographic evidence above. I'm thankful that I'm doing a job that makes a difference, and even though it can be stressful, it's the primary vehicle for saving for our future. I don't know where we'd be without this opportunity and I feel so very lucky to have it when the unemployment rates are so high right now. 

while you were sleeping /the time changed /all your things were rearranged /your vampire mirrors face to face /they saw forever out into space /and found you dreaming in black and white /while it rained in all the colors of the night

Whatever holiday(s) you celebrate this year, I hope you have a good one. I hope you and your families are happy and healthy and I hope that the coming year is as good as this one was.

Happy Holidays!

(Song Lyrics: Elvis Perkins - While You Were Sleeping)