News Flash

O.K.

So here I write after 2 1/2 months. I am going to attempt to update everyone on our life. Right here. Right now. So, go get your coffee or your wine, your glasses, set your ipod to some melancholy music and read on.

The week before Thanksgiving, we found out, through certified mail from a lawyer's office, that this rental house is in foreclosure status. It is set to be auctioned in April. We contacted our leasing company to verify this. To this date, the leasing company still can't verify this information. Apparently, the owner of this house isn't being honest with them. Fortunately, we have had a couple of months to plan our "what next". Our lease terminates at the end of this month. From Thanksgiving through the middle of December, we started to look at houses to buy. We are ready to "settle down". We found a charming 1912 Craftsman house in downtown Hillsboro. This is the house we have our hearts set on. Period.

The week before Christmas, James was laid off from his job along with 6 other people. No severance pay (he hadn't been there a full year...only 4 weeks to go). He was able to apply for unemployment. No, it is not 70% of whatever you made. Myth busted. He has been actively looking for a job since then. No luck. So, going into January with the prospect of moving and the fact of being jobless left us wondering about so many different things and options. You can imagine.

The week of my birthday, James and I had talked about perhaps me finding a part time job. I was dreading the whole idea of retail work. And what office would hire a woman who had been out of the workplace for 14 years?! The day after this conversation, a friend of mine contacted me and informed me that the compounding pharmacy where she works was looking to fill a full/part time pharmacy technician position. Would I be interested? Well, I did go to nursing school for awhile and I do like health sciences. But I would have to be licensed to be a pharm tech. She said, I could get a temporary license and take a test within the year to become "certified". This is my best form of learning: hands-on. So, I went to apply and yes, I got the job. It's full time, not part time. It pays more than minimum wage (which in Oregon is more than the national requirement). James is now the stay-home-homeschooling dad. He is still looking for employment (here in the Portland area). We are each adjusting to new roles. Let me just say that we have gained a new appreciation for what the other has done for the last 14 years.

We are now about to move to another rental house. The individual is flexible in the leasing terms. We didn't have to sign a one year's lease. We are able to go 6 months and then month to month. Risky. Yes. But 2 bedroom apartment living with two, loud, tween-age, Texan sons wasn't sounding like a great option either. Plus, we would of had to pack everything into boxes and pay storage (which is expensive up here). We figured the amount of rent, storage and the emotional wear and tear of living in the apartment was more than we wanted to pay. The rental house in some sense, seems more reasonable. Especially given we don't know how long we will be in this situation. At least, the boys will have their space, and we'll have ours and we'll still be able to have friends over (which is a core value of our family).

We have had a relatively turbulent couple of months with so much adjustments. I think this has been the hardest thing to live through so far. Some of y'all know our past rides. Those were just preparation. This ride isn't over. I don't know how the economy is going to recover, if ever. There are still so many variables. I have learned that so much can change in a blink of an eye. And things are still changing. But! God's love and faithfulness is constant.

My next blog entry will be about how God and I weathered out the last 2 1/2 months. It wasn't pretty (on my part, anyway).