The Sigh of Relief

The moment we have been waiting for, or should I say, the moment Holly has been working for is here. She was offered a job, one that seems perfect for her. It is actually a company she used to work for, so there is already a level of comfort there.

The financial uncertainty is coming to an end. She is no longer having to spend time looking for jobs that are just so hard to come by. Eleven weeks of unemployment with no unemployment benefits taught us both quite a bit. The first thing I realized was that the things they report on the news about job availability are all true. The Sunday paper which used to be spilling over with want ads now consists of maybe two or three pages, and unless you are a nurse or physical therapist, you are pretty much screwed. The jobs that are posted on the internet are also hard to come by. The process is incredibly slow due to the fact that there are so many applicants per position that it takes like a month for folks in human resources to scan through the applications and resumes. You almost have to be sneaky and try to bypass the online application to get your cover letter and resume directly in the inbox of the HR director. It's truly as crazy as they report it to be.

This has been quite a journey for Holly. She was very mistreated when she was let go from her former job. It was handled terribly, and she was pretty wounded. It's not easy to pick yourself back up after you have been stepped/spat on and throw your wounded self into a pathetic job market, but she did. It was not easy to watch. It was not easy for me to be the family cheerleader, spouting off daily affirmations that I was not sure that I even believed. It was not easy to accept money from kind family members. It was not always easy to make financial sacrifices. The job search roller coaster is not a fun ride. Fortunately, just as we were both starting to lose sight of hope, she would get a call and an interview. The timing of this string of events was nothing short of amazing.

I am so proud to say that we made it through this tough time, trying to be happy, trying to stay focused and hopeful, and we were successful most of the time. It was a scary place to be but was not all bad. I was able to take on more work, boosting me to full-time and slightly increasing my pay. Holly was able to pick up my slack and fill in for me up at school, volunteering in my place and getting to know the kids' teachers and seeing how they interact in class. She has also been around to cart her dad around and take care of things at home while I worked. She saw first hand how quickly the day slips away and quickly the bus pulls up to deliver the kids after school and how annoying the dogs are. We bought more generic, opted for homemade versus prepacked foods and learned that generic dishwasher detergent does not clean dishes and is not one of the products to skimp on. We also realized that if we keep the lock on our finances as her income starts rolling in, we will be much better off.


Although her work hours and different and rather inconvenient, we now need after school childcare and big change is imminent, we are so thankful and relieved that the fear is lifting and know that we can adjust to just about anything. Bring it on!