June: We didn't do much out of the ordinary until the mid-end of the month we spent a week with my mom and dad at our cottage (pictures to follow in a separate post). We had a blast spending time with family again and enjoyed watching my parents learn so much more about Aidan at the stage he's at (which seems to change daily sometimes...).
July: We spent the holiday weekend with Chris' parents at our apartment in Traverse City. We had a good time watching the air show and the fireworks (pictures to follow in a separate post).
August: I plan to spend some more time at our family cottage, enjoying the sand, sun, water, and peacefulness.
Otherwise these past two months have been a flurry of decisions. As many of you know Chris accepted a position in Traverse City this past May. He has been living in an apartment up there during the week since then, and then coming back to GR on the weekends. As you might assume, this can take a toll on a family. So, I actively pursued employment in Traverse City without a lot of luck at first (just working with large organizations that are slow to respond) and then I quickly recieved multiple job offers. So, at first the stress was just deciding where/what I really wanted to do.
I finally chose a part-time position in Labor and Delivery. It was an area I'd always wanted to try and this was a perfect opportunity to make the change. I also was offered a position at a local community college in Traverse City as an adjunct clinical instructor for LPN and RN students. Teaching is also something I wanted to try, so why not now since my other position was only part time and we needed to make up the hours somewhere. Not to mention, I wanted to keep my seniority at Metro, since this has always been considered a temporary move (12-24 months max). Three part-time jobs??? I was beginning to think I was a little nuts!
Well, then the problems started arising. It seemed every direction we turned, every decision we made, lead us to more heart ache, frustration, and money! We had decided to keep our house in GR due to the current state of the housing market, but thought we could rent it out to family. That didn't quite work like we wanted it too, plus that meant spending every weekend with Chris' parents, an intrusion for them and an inconvenience for us. (Chris is still working a job here in GR on Saturday nights and I would be working every other weekend at Metro). Plus, insurance was going to cost us an extra $200/month. Not to mention day care. I would need to orient full time for 3 months...an extra 2-3 days of day care per week. Then, when I finally was "on my own" I would need to pay for 3 days of day care even though I wouldn't need that much every week.
Finally, I decided I could work at the community college if the OB department would agree to not schedule me one night a week for the 11 weeks I would be working at the college. The OB department did not agree to that and strongly suggested that a second job would not be a smart decision...
That was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back. One or two things that weren't quite "perfect" we could deal with, but everything seemed to have an "exception" attached. I would be hired on part time, orienting full time, but after that I couldn't hold a second job????
Chris and I had some long discussions, lots of prayer and finally came to a decision. I talked with my manager at Metro and propsed a solution for us and them (they were not having too many bites for my position and hiring/orienting a new supervisor is costly...plus I'm priceless, right! :) ). I was willing to work every weekend plus either Friday or Monday. My manager was excited, but reserved, expecting that this is delaying the inevitable...we'll see but it's not what I anticipate. I feel a great peace about the decision that we've finally made.
This does several things for us:
1. I will keep my benefits the same, at the same cost.
2. Day care costs will not increase at all, and will relieve some stress on my mother-in-law so she only has one day a week instead of three.
3. Chris will have two full days with Aidan a week while I work the weekend.
4. Aidan and I will be up in Traverse City virtually all week long and then we all will come home on the weekends.
5. I could probably still teach at the community college in TC, but don't think that's a wise decision right now. I need some time to just work and be with my family, not add more stress/responsibility.
For us right now, this is definitely the right decision. I was literally sick the day I talked to both managers about my decision. I was a little embarressed to ask for my job back and felt bad about turning down a job one week before my scheduled start date, but thought this a better alternative than deciding shortly after starting. But all in all we're happy with the decision.
I know that was a little long-winded, it's been hard to keep it all straight myself! Thank you to those of you who were praying for us during that decision/transition time. We truly appreciate it. We will continue on and hope that things will continue to work out for Chris and he progresses in his career. He really likes his job, it's just hard living away from your family...but that will change this week!
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