That's Bad! That's Good!

Less than one month after starting my fabulous new job, I realized that I would likely be laid off on June 30th (two months into the job). It's a long, boring, political story that has absolutely nothing to do with my job performance, and so I won't go into it. Suffice it to say that though I wasn't surprised, I was terribly disappointed.

A couple of weeks went by and I started thinking about what it would mean to be laid off in the summer. My husband's a teacher, so he's on vacation. My daughter is, of course, on vacation. This could be really fun! We might not have as much money as we'd like, but we could still do fun stuff together. I signed my daughter up for free bowling and paid the ultra-low price of $24 to add me and my husband to the summer-long plan. We would have lots of time to go bike riding and take picnics at the beach.

Oh! I know! Let's all go spend some time on my parent's farm in Alabama! By this time, I'm getting really excited. I've been wanting to go "home" for a long visit for years now...a visit that wasn't necessitated by a life event like a wedding or a funeral. Just a casual, remember-my-childhood, introduce-my-daughter-to-her-roots visit. (Side note: my husband discovered Pandora, an internet radio station, and I've been basking in the Bluegrass station...Ahhh, home!)

Then reality resurfaced. I really need a job. I love my current job and want to stay there for a nice long time. I kept hearing from my boss that we should hold out hope. That nothing is a done deal, and lots could change in a few weeks. And it was true. The more time that went by, the more it started to seem as if that lay-off date could be postponed.

I was relieved. I was sad. I was (am!) full of mixed emotions. Sigh! I want to keep my job and go visit my folks. But since I haven't been there very long, I couldn't leave for vacation...especially not in the middle of Summer Reading Program.

Not going to Alabama. Can't go. But my Mom called this past weekend to say that we should still send Khalan. That they will use some of their hoard of SkyMiles to fly her there and back. So after some negotiation with K's dad, it was decided she would go for two weeks. Oh, how excited I am! I tell her about all the fun stuff she'll do on the farm: ride the horses, milk the cows, gather the eggs, pick blueberries and blackberries, ride the tractor...the list goes on. I'm ashamed of how jealous I am.

Yesterday I finally talked to my boss's boss. Looks like that June 30th lay-off is going to happen after all.