Posted by Von Battle

My dad has always wanted to get direct tv Durham so he could watch all his golf tournaments on the weekend and since he’s had such a rough year me and my siblings decided to go in together and get him a subscription. He broke his hip back in May and he’s been more or less laid up ever since so he can’t really play golf like he used to and I know he gets really bored sitting at home all day. I love my dad but since mom died he’s been a lot to deal with – the mood swingsand the sadness which I totally understand. I feel like if there’s even one little thing we can do to make him feel better about life then it’s our responsibility to do it for him and not ask any questions…he’s been the best dad any of us could have asked for and he deserves our respect and adoration as he ages. At least he lives close to all of us!

I’m sooooo thankful for my Daddy!  He surprised us with an early Christmas present that was much needed.  We stopped by his house last night, and he ordered the new tire for the bike so Hubby can get to work without spending so much on gas!

The other good news is Hubby didn’t have to stick with the job an hour away.  He was getting frustrated with that job after only a few days because there was a major lack of authority among many other issues with the company.  Just as he was getting so frustrated he didn’t know what he would do he got a call from a guy much closer who was willing to pay him much more, and he gets to go back into his old carpentry job instead of being stuck building concrete forms all day.

He jumped at the chance, so now he’ll be working 40 minutes away from home instead of a little over an hour.  It’s not much of a difference, but it’s still better.  He’s been working with this new company for a week now, and he’s really loving it.  I’m happy that he’s found something he loves to do again, and this company actually appreciates and compensates for his experience.

The good news is Hubby found a job right before we completely bottomed out financially.  The bad news is this job is an hour away, and his first check won’t come for 2 weeks.  That means he’s going to need to ride the bike to work because the gas for commuting is going to be about $20/day in the truck, we need a new tire on the bike before he can take it anywhere, and we still won’t have the cash to even attempt to order the tire for at least 2 weeks.

Wow what a busy month we’ve had. This is the busiest time of the year for us because it’s jammed backed with almost all the birthdays in our family.  In the last 3 weeks we have celebrated my daughter’s birthday followed by my sis-in-law’s, my father-in-law’s, 2 cousins, mine, my best friend, and my best friend’s son, and another friend’s.  Coming up next week we have 2 more family birthdays.  Then we’ll get a break for a few days before it’s time for the huge list of December birthdays.

Ah!  Yeah, it’s been hectic.

To top it all off we’ve both spent every free minute we have job searching.  Hubby lost his job (again) in October.  That means he’s actually been laid off more in the last 2 years than he’s worked.  We were able to get by the last time because he had unemployment to help us while he searched for something new, but this time he doesn’t.  It’s making it very hard for us knowing that every last penny we have will be exhausted at the end of this week, and the massive amount of applications, resumes, and interviews we’ve both submitted/had are getting us no where.  Needless to say I’m freaking out a bit right now, and I don’t know what to do.  I’m working my butt off trying to support our family, but my income isn’t enough to pay 1/3rd of the bills.

Hubby has gone down state to apply for a job we found on Craigslist yesterday.  If he gets it he’ll have almost a 2 hour commute, but that’s something we’ll just have to deal with.  I’m hoping and praying he gets this one because it’s kind of a last resort right now.  I’m thankful for the bike right now because if he does have such a long commute the bike is the only way we’ll be able to afford it.  He’s used to riding in the winter, so that won’t be a big deal.  Our main concern right now is finding a job and getting there.  If neither of us finds anything else by the end of the month we’ll lose our one and only vehicle, and it kills me knowing we’re only $1,000 away from paying the Blazer off, but we could lose it now.

So, as you can see I haven’t really thought much about blogging lately.  I’ve been too busy worrying about real life stuff, and trying to keep our family afloat.