At Last!!

First hair cut in a year!

Ty at Balloons Aloft before school one day

Finally! After 16 months of struggle, anxiety, frugality…Jory has a job.
 
The irony? It’s the same job he had 16 months ago.
 
No really – the SAME job, with most of the same people, doing the same thing.
 
Turns out the XFL merged with the USFL and rebranded as the UFL.  (are you following that?)

Last year, they did the job without a marketing team, and it really didn’t go well at all. After much financial distress, Jory was fondly remembered. Then ensued three weeks of interviews (in which everyone, it seems, was consulted), and they brought him back to a hero’s welcome.
 
Just goes to show you: sometimes in life, layoffs are really not about you or your performance. In fact, they may have nothing to do with you. (But unfortunately, this is seen only in hindsight.)
 
We are breathing a HUGE sigh of relief.  
 
This list may be slightly embarrassing, but just to say, we know what it’s like to live hand to mouth. Turns out, owning a home is not cheap. Nor is having a car. Or a body for that matter.  

It’s slightly dizzying to be able to tackle the things that we need to. In honor of the 16 months he was out of work, here are 16 things we are so excited to do:
 
1) Start paying off the debt we’ve accumulated.
2) Get Lexi and me to our chiropractor.
3) Have plumbers out to fix the leak in the swamp cooler that caused a hole in our balcony.
4) Have electricians out to fix the electrical units that aren’t working.
5) Have a tech repair the freezer.
6) Deal with the mildew in the basement before it becomes mold (It’s mildew. We checked)
7) Fix the oil leak in Jory’s car
8) Visit my 87-year-old Godmother in Seattle and take her out to lunch.
9) Go out on a date.
10) Buy everyone new underwear.
11) Get my and the girls' hair cut and colored.
12) Hire a bimonthly cleaning person to do floors and bathrooms
13) Buy coffee (we were down to tea)
14) Take the kids out to eat!
15) Sign up the kids for summer camp now to get the discount.
16) Get a massage!
I didn’t even get to funding IRAs and 529s.  Oh, the thoughts one can think when you have money in your pocket. We may even go on vacation sometime somewhere.
 
To cap it off, 16 lessons from 16 months of unemployment:
1) Health is more important than anything
2) When the chips are down, you learn who your real friends are
3) Our girls saw us sacrifice to keep them in school. They appreciate their education.
4) Our girls also learned that if they want money, they need to make it. Lillie started babysitting and Lexi had a bake sale café every weekend this summer.
5) We take nothing with us when we die. Gifts don’t always need to be purchased. Start giving away meaningful stuff now to those you love. Enjoy their reaction.  
6) When someone offers you something, say yes.
7) I always have something to offer, even if it is just a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on.
8) Entertaining at home is bonding, fun, and more affordable than restaurants.
9) Laugh. Laugh often. Nothing lasts forever 
10) Give clothes the kids have outgrown to friends. Accept clothes friends’ kids have outgrown. My girls’ favorite pieces are from girlfriends in LA.  Charity begins at home.
11) I am braver than I believe, stronger than I seem and smarter than I think. We all are.
12) I can make money. I can reinvent myself; ageism be damned.  We all can.
13) We are all loved more than we know.
14) Surrender is a superpower. It is not passive; letting go requires more strength than holding on.
15) Leave our kids an inheritance if at all possible. My parents literally saved us and our home.
16) Life is hard, but I do not have to grow hard with it.