24 January 2009

2008 - It's about TIME.....i know, i know....

(this post was intended for 3 weeks ago, but I got myself way too busy to even look at my blog page in weeks, so better late than never, right????? You will all be sorry I'm back because I've got loads of posts waiting to be finished or just posted....)

We don’t do a lot of ‘family planning’ in our household. Now, before anyone goes off on a tiff about the evilness of such a practice, or lack thereof…we work with it and someday, I have not doubt this part of our lives will change and we will be a force to reckoned with…and that thought should scare those that know us best!

As I have read many posts and blogs and such regarding 2008 in review and new things for 2009, I have pondered for several days now exactly what I wanted to post…and here goes….

2008: First, I am glad it is in the past! This was not the best year for us in so many ways, but because of the events and choices of this year, I, for one, am a much stronger person than ever before! The year started out rough with Steve not having a job by the end of January. Luckily, we had a trip to Mesquite all planned and taken before this fact had a chance to sink into our consciousness. The trip to Mesquite was a blast, playing old games and visiting many friends, I wish we could have made another trip down during 2008 as I still miss it terribly. In February, I was “let go” from my job for reasons not specifically revealed. How is that to let the imagine run away with? I will spare the details of what my theories are for us parting ways, at least for now. So here we are 2 months into the 2008 and both of us out of work, things are not looking so great for our near future! On the brighter outlook, I was able to get on unemployment, albeit the tiny amount from the NV system until May when I was finally able to switch to the Utah system, tripling my amount received. In May, also, Steve went back to work at Maverik, this time in the kitchen. He actually seemed to enjoy it a lot more than he ever thought he would. That income was helping things along, until a couple months down the road when his hours were cut over a couple of times until he was working one shift a week for 8 hrs! Then come October, my unemployment ran out, including the first emergency batch. In late September, all of us took the test for the postal service remote encoding center, a specified data entry sweat shop for processing the Zip+4, yes having that +4 on your mail does make a difference! I got a 91, but am working out other income ideas before taking the plunge into a job that, although is easy and well paying, is not flexible enough for my responsibilities. (Besides, the Lord has bigger and better plans for me and we all know what happens when you don’t follow His plans, right?) Steve got an 81 and started working for the SL-REC in late October! He passed training with flying colors and loves his job! As far as income and jobs go, we ended the year receiving another emergency batch of unemployment for me, which saved us in a huge way! For more info or from Steve’s perspective, see his blog: http://sjbinut.blogspot.com/

In other news for the year, we had huge trust issues play a major role in our becoming more resourceful than ever in fulfilling household needs and letting go of and/or cutting back on wants. I tend to be one that believes that things in our lives work out or don’t work out for a reason. Finding that reason is not always the easiest thing in the world, but regarding these trust issues, which sort of got resolved, we learned many things about ourselves and each other that will carry through the rest of our lives! Really starting in July, we had major car problems, mom’s car died and our car had expired plates and no insurance…and, yes, we got busted TWICE, once for each of us! By the middle of November we had both cars up and running, licensed and insured…all thanks to some wonderful neighbors with major car expertise that they provided. They will never completely understand how grateful we are for their service to us! Even without this help, they rock!

Mom, well, mom’s life in 2008 was much like a roller coaster, up, down and all around. She finished out the year with a bang….still working at Maverik full time…landing in the hospital for an overnight stay at the beginning of December and then having a surprise birthday party for her 60th birthday! There are not a lot of details to share here that haven’t already been shared in previous blog posts. Since I first started putting this post together there have been a lot of changes for mom, but they will wait for a future post…

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