Life Changing

There are moments in life that are life changing... getting married, having a baby, a death and in this case a loss of a job. When life changes, I find the best thing is to embrace the situation and move forward as best you can.

With the current state of the economy, it was not a huge surprise when Daniel called me this morning and said to come pick him up. That was all he said, but I knew immediately that he had been laid off. I had only been at work for about 20 minutes and I was running out the door to get him.

It is weird the emotion that goes along with this. I wasn't surprised, but I did have some moments of shock and maybe some guilt as well... after all it was Wednesday and I had assumed that no lay offs were going to happen and I allowed myself to think that we were OK and that we would be able to buy furniture for our basement after all. How lame is that? I was thinking about furniture the same morning that Daniel would get laid off...

Anyways, these things happen and they are happening more often than not these days. I know so many people who have been laid off. Makes me kind of sad. I don't have answers - not for us and not for others who are experiencing this as well.

There were 12 let go in the Charlotte office and the rest of the employees are getting (another) 10% pay cut.

I am not sure what we are going to do. I am so thankful we have been frugal for a year and paid off a good chunk of our debt. We already know how to live off of one salary - we did it before when I quit my job to freelance for a year. We will be OK, at least for now. Who knows what the future holds, but I know that things will work out, even if it isn't the way I expect.

Wondering...

I just found out that one of my co-workers and friends was laid off yesterday. Makes me a little sick. I have been waiting for this day to come (actually I suppose I have been waiting for much worse), but it still sucks for it to start happening closer to home. Granted Daniel has been dealing with the ongoing layoffs at work since August, but it is still hard.

The selfish part of me is frustrated that we won't be buying a second vehicle or the new furniture that I want for my basement any time soon. Instead we will be socking away extra "just in case." I am thankful that we are capable of living off of one salary and will have all debt (sans school loans and mortgage) paid off soon. But these (selfish) things do not make the sadness of seeing others lose jobs or the fear of losing a job any less real.

I keep wondering if it is even possible for our country to dig out. What is really going to happen? What happens when job loss spirals out of control and job loss begets job loss? How much more are we in for? What will we (when I say we, I mean collectively as a nation) do? Anyways, these are just some of the thoughts that have been churning around in my mind lately. I am sure that I am not alone in these thoughts...

Job Losses

It is getting harder and harder not to be concerned about the economy and job losses. It continues to get closer and closer to home. We have close friends who have been laid off recently. And in the last week, two of my students have let me know that they have been laid off from their jobs. This breaks my heart and I don't know what to do besides pray.

Daniel just called to say that rumor has it that there will be another round of layoffs at LandDesign either next week or sometime before Thanksgiving. All of this is definitely adding to our stress levels. I hope for the sake of everyone that the economy starts to get better soon.

The partners at Daniel's company generally meet quarterly to discuss "business." Unfortunately, due to the slow in building and development, there have been more meetings more often. The last two meetings have been followed by layoffs. We are nervousness because the partners met today and it is not a quarterly meeting. We are not sure what this will mean for next week. We are praying that he will still have a job, but only time will tell...