Moving Confusion

Well, the job that Joe was offered last week and he accepted on Tuesday is no more. TEKsystems wanted him to fly out for two days so they could say he started before the August 2nd start date that he'd requested. Three weeks was too long apparently. Joe probably would have tried harder to go out to Sierra Vista, but they wanted him to pay for the flight, hotel, and car rental initially, then they would reimburse him. If we weren't needing that money to move him to Sierra Vista, AZ and get him set up in an apartment, it probably wouldn't be an issue. So, he emailed the recruiter and let him know that the 22nd and 23rd weren't possible. The response was that he would no longer be offered the position. Like they're going to get anybody to "fill the seat" (as Joe says) BEFORE August 2nd now.

So, we aren't moving after all. The plan had been for Joe to go to Sierra Vista for the six month contract. The kids and I were going to go to Utah so the house here in Memphis would be vacant and more easily sold. Now we continue looking for different positions out west.

I'm kind of bummed about the whole thing. I was so sure that it felt right. I hadn't felt good about taking the kids to Arizona by the beginning of August, but did about going to Utah in time for school. My impression was that Joe should take the job. Joe had mixed impressions because he wanted to move west and the job was appealing (once he talked to L-3). When he finally accepted the job he said he felt peace that it was the right decision. Now I think his initial impression to turn down the job was the right one and that he accepted it because I wanted him to. Although I had thought that Joe was letting his mortal concerns about supporting the family override what the spirit was telling him, I now believe that I was letting my desire to move out of Memphis overshadow what the spirit was telling ME.

One good thing came out of the whole thing, though. Heather actually cleaned her room!

New Job

Well, Joe finally decided today to take the job in Sierra Vista, AZ. He has stressed over this decision since Thursday. He had some questions answered on Friday, but there were more that he had. It was so frustrating for him over the holiday weekend to know that he wouldn't get any more answers until today, but he had to decide today.

At one point he said he was going to turn it down because he hadn't talked to anybody at L-3 (the company he'll be contracting for). Actually, he'd talked to a manager in Virginia who basically read the job description but maybe met the people in Sierra Vista once or twice a year. So, he called TEKsystems (the company hiring Joe for the contract) and said he didn't feel comfortable taking the job without talking to somebody there in Sierra Vista. As he put it, you don't buy a house without looking at it and you don't buy a car without test driving it. So, the recruiter at TEKsystems got him in touch with somebody at L-3 in Sierra Vista and took away all reasons for Joe to say no. He came home and we knelt in prayer together as his last confirmation that this job really was what he needed to do. He still wasn't totally sure of himself until after he accepted the job. Then the peace he was looking for came.

I'd talked to my mom about this decision and she can't remember ever struggling like this. I think that Joe knew deep down that this job was what he was supposed to do but wanted to look over all possibilities before accepting it. He isn't comfortable with the contract-to-hire aspect, but I think he'll find that the job comes through. Now we just have a boat load of stuff to do before he heads out.

Yes - it's just Joe going for now. I'll be a single mom for about six months. The kids and I will be getting the house ready to sell (or rent if we can't sell). I'm going to try and throw together a yard sale to get rid of a ton of stuff so that we have very little left in the house. I should sell or give away all the toys so that the house stays clean! Of course I'd have a bunch of mad kids at that point. Since Jacob's already packed his GeoTrax, I guess he could keep them. :-)

Now we've got to finalize a short-term apartment rental for Joe. I've already found a place that's holding a studio apartment, and Joe's already wondering what will happen if he breaks the lease. I guess it's the case of me being a "glass half full" person and his being a "glass half empty" person. It's not always that way. We flip-flop sometimes. He's right to ask the question, but I don't think that setting up a rental agreement for a shorter period of time and increasing the monthly rent by $150 is worth it. Since his sister knows some people in Sierra Vista, he asked her to see if anybody knows somebody looking for a roommate. We'll see what happens. Hopefully we don't lose the apartment...

So, we're off to Sierra Vista. Farewell to Memphis, our home for the past ten years. Memphis has been good for us, but I'm definitely ready for a change. This isn't going to be easy - the six month separation - but I do think that it will be worth it in the long run. And, I'm hoping that the house sells fast. If it does, I'll take the kids to Huntsville until January when the contract is up. We'd stay in my mom's house and the kids would go to school there since they already know people. I'd love to be out of here in six weeks so the kids could be there at the start of school, but I'm not sure it's possible. I can always hope for a miracle though...