I dropped a bomb and dissappeared. Mainly, I just needed to process.
On the blogging front, I’m headed to SXSW this weekend. I feel like I should have backed out considering I have to pay for food – and I just dipped into the student loan payment for groceries this week. But. My sponsors took care of the big costs, and both my parents and Poe said that I need to get my business cards out there and mingle. They’re right. It just seems like the wrong time to go. Not to mention I’ll have a roommate. A perfectly nice stranger. I know of her, but have never met her. The problem lying in the fact that I’ve never ever had a hotel roommate before. My neurosis is worried.
I haven’t had the time to write at Blissfully Domestic or edit at Blog Nosh. I’m afraid my bosses are going to drop me.
I was on a conference call yesterday with Maria Shriver in regards to the We Connect program, which I’ll be writing about here at some point.
On the home front… Well… I’m getting used to having my husband here. All.The.Time. There’s a lot of togetherness. In theory, that’s good. In practice, I’m having a hard time getting into the groove of a new routine.
We applied for unemployment. We got a letter stating what our benefits would be. Then we got another letter that he has to participate in an interview about it. The last week of March. He lost his job the last week of February. We’ve yet to see a cent. No income. And we’re waiting on our tax refund, which we’ll be living off of. This is not good. Not a nibble yet on his resume.
I don’t want to go back to work outside the home. I don’t. My coming home was the best thing that ever happened to this family. Everyone was thriving. But I just don’t know how long we can hold on.
The only good news was that I tracked down a bit about Cobra in the new recovery act signed. I then tracked down a federal labor employee in Washington. Basically, even though there’s no paperwork in place as of yet (they have 60 days to come up with practices based on the bill) we’ll only need to pay 35% of our Cobra payment. This is a huge relief, as it means we won’t have to lose medical coverage.
We’ll probably default on Poe’s student loan. We called and they said that we have no deferments left, and there’s nothing they can do for us. So. There’s the credit we built for 10 years down the toilet.
Sigh.
I’m trying to hold it together. But life kind of sucks right now.
It’s not easy out there, it just plain sucks. The only thing we can do is stick by those who support us and hold on until we get out the other side. SOMETHING has to change soon! Have fun at the conference.
I am absolutely behind you. Don’t let other people force you to question your self worth.
And I feel for you on the husband front. Mine’s been hanging around, too, a lot. And it’s maddening.
Lysa posted this today-I think you might like it.
http://lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com/2009/03/gods-provision.html
I’m so sorry. That really does suck. I hope things pick up with your new business so you don’t have to look for another job.
Hang in there, girl! We are praying for you and your family. And I absolutely am not dropping you!
Wow, so I just discovered your blogsite today. My husband has been laid off for a long time now in this economy. He lost his “big job” last January, landed a mediocre job in July and that company went under in November. It is a bad time for people working in investments (my husband’s expertise), as well as so many other areas as you must know. We have been amazed by the serious lack of interviews he has gotten in the last year and this results in him considering a career change and me considering going back to teaching while my little girls are just 3 and 1. We actually sucked it up and went to the family services center for financial or food assistance only for them to tell us that even though we have zero income and a very high mortgage payment, we have too much equity to be helped. Glad to see that our taxes benefit us when we need them!
While it can really get frustrating some times, everything that is the most important is on track. You might want to think about that as well. My husband and I have a happy marriage and we are all healthy. While we may have to move away and rent out our house, things will be ok since we are together.
Hope things clear up for you guys soon. Keeping hubby busy with networking, interviews and jobs around the house can help him to continue to feel accomplished. Guys tend to have a lot of their confidences tied up in their jobs.
Good luck and my hopes and prayers are with you as well as with all of us directly affected in this hard time.
Hugs to you. You’re right, it sucks. So much of it is out of your control, and that’s the hardest part of it.