The Scary Part

John decided to publicly break the news about his job last night. I was waiting to see how his interview goes tomorrow. But I told the whole Relief Society while teaching a lesson on Provident Living, so it's not really a big secret. (I've enjoyed your guesses as to what's wrong. Right now, I would rather be pregnant. Scary, right?)

So, John has been unemployed for two weeks. My first reaction was, no biggie. We've done this before. And he already had a jump on things with several interviews already scheduled. (He wanted out.) Then I started to look into it.

In the past, I was working. Not so this time. I immediately applied for every MT job available in the greater Austin area. There were 3. Apparently, even the hospitals and clinics are being hit hard. I'm still waiting to hear something, but I don't have my hopes up.

In the past, we didn't have kids. It's amazing how they add to every single bill. We would probably turn off the heat all together (it doesn't really get cold here) if not for them. We could live completely off of our food storage if they didn't need the whole milk and dairy for growth and neural development. And gas! Just getting Ethan places so that he still feels like life is normal drives up our gas bill.

In the past, we had savings to cover us for several months. This year, we moved, went to disney (which was unpaid time for John), and flew out for two family emergencies. Our savings account is pretty worthless at the moment.

That gets us to the scary part. We've never been in a place where we had no income at all and lots of expenses. Even cutting out nearly everything we can, we run out of money in about a month. I've been quickly learning about all of the government and private aid available. Did you know that the forms to apply for food stamps are horrendous? And that they can make you reapply EVERY MONTH if they want to??? I've discovered that there seem to be an infinite number of Medicaid options. And that the people at WIC are very nice. Biggest of all, I've learned that having zero income actually excludes you from some aid. Weird.

We have started to see little blessings. Like the notification that a medical procedure Edward had done way back in Boston was actually supposed to be covered by insurance. So we'll be able to get our money refunded. And the many people who heard and immediately called to say they had some food they wouldn't be using. (Seriously. We could buy only milk and dairy for at least a month.)

The big thing we're watching out for is lessons. Being in a position where we don't know how we'll keep a roof over our boys heads is opening our eyes. The stress is all encompassing and we feel like we understand the worries of others more. The sudden need to cook and eat as cheaply as possible, and stretch what we have, is forcing me to learn quickly. Overall, it is helping me focus my calling towards the immediate needs in the ward rather than planning for future problems.

(John's biggest lesson so far has been realizing what he's good at.)

So, we're hanging our hopes on a big interview John has tomorrow (tues.) He knows the members of the marketing team there, and (because of a tip from one of them) he was able to sit down with them before the job was even available to discuss what they would be looking for. Essentially, they're looking for John. As long as they don't have a candidate with the same qualifications but more experience, we think they'll have good news for us. We're preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. Keep us in your prayers!