Life

I'm feeling incredibly stressed out right now. Things are in a state of mild turmoil at work, and it doesn't show any sign of settling anytime soon. My boss, the tech manager, gave his notice a couple of weeks ago, but isn't planning on leaving immediately—he'll stick around until the middle of May. But, since the announcement, the upper echelons of management have been tweaking out. I don't think that the managers’ departure will be the end of the organization, but the lack of direction is hard to stomach. Part of it stems from the vague delineation of departments and reporting structure in the overall hierarchy; some of it is just the natural and expected shift that happens when team members try to pick up the slack when key players leave. In any event, I can't wait until this particular problem is no longer so.

On the home front, we're trying to assist (both in terms of finance and morale) some family members in making the move from Utah to Maryland. These particular family members are having a lot of indecision, and find themselves going back and forth trying to make up their minds. Moving is a hard thing to do, and depending on how world savvy you are, it can be very, very scary. When Ed and I moved from Utah to New Jersey, we didn't have any family members in the area, Ed was starting a new job, I didn't have a job (and I barely had my GED), he was leaving his two kids behind, I was leaving all of my family, and I hadn't traveled anywhere really. Plus, all of our stuff was on the road, headed for the East coast, and we didn't have a place to live! Still, we saw the benefits for getting out of Salt Lake (an economically depressed, religiously oppressed part of the country) and growing roots somewhere else.

Ed and I have talked often about what makes us more successful than other people that came from the same background. We've decided it's the ability to take risks and deal with the consequences of those risks. Moving from Utah, where we had a large support structure of family, to New Jersey, where we were on our own, was risky. What if we couldn't find a place to live? What if Ed's job didn't work out? What if we hated the environment? So many questions; none of them had good answers. We just knew that if something happened, we'd find a way and deal with it then (like the problems caused by Ed's ex-wife, and our subsequent move to North Carolina—now that's rolling with the punches!).

When we moved from North Carolina to New Hampshire, it was not a beneficial move for us. We didn't like the people, Ed didn't like his job, the state had no economy to speak of—we felt isolated. Didn't we cry about it? Did we throw up our hands and admit defeat? No. We looked at the situation objectively, and decided that we needed to get out. We didn't just hop in the car and pick somewhere at random, either. We spent a few weeks looking at the job markets in several different regions (Houston, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, several others), and talked at length about what our goals were. We're very happy here, and feel that it was worth the risks we took to get here.

I firmly believe that you are the master of your own destiny. Anything can be accomplished with enough guts and hard work. Sure, there will be problems along the way, but nothing that can't be overcome with perseverance. Sheesh. I almost sound like an optimist!

Enough venting. On to good news. The SD received her report card yesterday: straight A's for the second marking period in a row! We're quite proud of her.

Annie (Gummy the Wonder Cat) went to the vet on Tuesday for a follow-up to her dental surgery. The vet says she looks fantastic, and has gained almost a pound since late December (nearly 1/6 of her body weight). Finished our taxes and mailed checks, and actually received a $5 refund from the State of Maryland instead of owing them money, thanks to their working spouse law——not sure what it's called, exactly. It was a damn good thing, too, since we ended up spending nearly $300 on the vehicles last weekend on oil changes, a new battery, and 4x4 maintenance on the Durango. We still have to spring for new tires before we can tow the RV with peace of mind, and that's gonna be a hefty chunk.

I'm very much looking forward to the Orlando trip we have scheduled in a month. We're going to pay a visit to Universal Studios, and I think the conference will be a lot of fun! It's exactly what I need right now!