Thursday, September 11, 2008
Keeping my fingers crossed!
John had a phone interview this afternoon for a position in Suwon, South Korea (which was one of the cities we were hoping to go to). So far, so good, they emailed him a contract that they want him to look over. It's for one of the public schools which is VERY good because they tend to be a little better about paying and stuff. So really hoping that this will be it and that we can finally start to get ready to GO! And not a moment too soon, the darn catalytic converter fell off of the car this morning while John was driving home from work. We have to replace that and that's going to cost us around $165. Ugh, I HATE owning a car! That, I do have to admit, will be the nice thing about going over there, NO CARS! Suwon is only 20 minutes away from Seoul by subway. Unfortunately, the way things are going, I still am probably going to have to stay with someone for at least a month or so until John can afford to get us plane tickets. *sigh* But, we'll deal, it will be nice to be able to see everyone before we go and leave for two years. Just hopefully Natalie will be okay with it all.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I HATE my husband's job...
This is going to be one of those rant type posts so be warned...
I cannot stand my husband's job. It's not even that difficult of a job, just a job as night auditor for a hotel so we're not talking overly difficult. He works overnight usually and works about 40 minutes away. He's been working there since January same hours, same days and was doing fine for MONTHS until our stupid no good piece of crud car died. We replaced the starter which seemed to be the reason why it died (and I will not even go into that, I'm still ticked at how much we had to pay for that) and the car worked fine for ONE day and then it died...again...on Father's Day, FORTUNATELY after we had a nice day and got to go around and do things, mainly go to the park and pick up an ice cream cake from the DQ. Well, when it died that time, we more or less figured that it was the head gasket for the THIRD time. And that was about all we were going to take of that. Third time on a second engine and each time seems to be between a year and 18 months before going, forget it. We were NOT dropping another $1000 on it. We didn't HAVE the thousand to drop! SO, for two weeks, we got stranded here until my younger sister's father-in-law from her first marriage got us a car (under his name though which makes sense). That took two weeks. Meanwhile, he missed those two weeks of work except for one day that the manager actually came and got him. Now fortunately, he wasn't fired but he did get dropped down to two days a week. We were able to get by though with the part time job he had over the summer with the school district as a teacher's assistant. So that helped.
Now, here comes the problem. While he was only scheduled for two days a week, he was getting called in quite a bit more than that (up to the full-time hours) because the other people at work were not getting to work. And this had been pretty consistent for I would at least say the last month and a half. And most of the workers wouldn't even bother to call in! Or they would call him in at the last minute or something. It was basically getting to where he was THE only reliable worker there, the one who actually did get there and not ONLY get there but got there ON TIME too!
Now to me, this does not seem fair at all because he got punished for the two weeks he honest to goodness could not get to work but those who had full times hours (including the house he USED to have) who were screwing off, usually not even bothering to come in, were not only NOT losing their jobs, they were still getting the full time hours! Um...ok... It just isn't making any sense as to why they just cannot give him back his hours! So now, he has a couple of more hours scheduled per week but they are from 3-11! This totally messes up trying to get ANYTHING accomplished here, especially scheduling appointments, getting to my meetings which are at 5:30 on Thursdays, etc. And they were just randomly throwing him in wherever without even talking to him! Which was frustrating when I had things scheduled in weeks in advanced and they only do the schedule a few days before the new weeks starts!
So THIS week, he worked Saturday and Sunday 11PM to 7AM the next day. So, he got done with work 7AM Monday and then had to go back to work 3PM on MONDAY and work until 11PM. Then he came home, slept (when I finally got his skinny little behind in bed!) and was SUPPOSED to work 3-11 tonight and then come home. It is almost 2 in the morning and he is STILL at work. The person who was supposed to come in at 11 did not. Nor did she call. So, he will be there until 7AM and THEN he will be home. But, there really isn't time for him to sleep when I have a 12PM appointment which I cannot miss because it is with my therapist and I missed last week's appointment by mistake thinking it was the 4th when it was actually the 3rd! Then, he has a phone interview for a job in Korea at 3PM and a meeting at his current job at 6PM. So, more than likely other than a couple of cat naps (which he is at least able to take so long as Natalie doesn't harass him) he will not get any sleep until tomorrow night. And somehow, he also has to fit some time in for Natalie and take her to the park before she completely wigs out. And the manager over there is no help because I guess she doesn't even know how to do the night audit job. She's a new hire.
I am really, REALLY hoping that he will actually go into this meeting tomorrow, asks for his night audit schedule back, and gets it because if he doesn't, I am going to go MAD! This whole thing is totally messing Natalie up too. This is why we can't even remotely have a schedule for her. As often as his schedule changes, there is no way to do so, we would be having to change it constantly! As it is, we will ALL probably be going down to Madison tomorrow and doing a few things around town, maybe even picking up another set of piggy pajamas for Natalie so that she has a set in the next size since she loves them so much, I don't know but ugh, I am just getting SO fed up with his job and the garbage they are pulling on him! He's the one who has been reliable (when the car is) and at least always calls when he's not going to be there or when he's going to be late (that happened when a tire blew out) so why can't they just give him his stupid hours back? ARGH! The only thing I can think of is that they won't do it because it would take away from the flexibility of them being able to call him when someone else doesn't show up which I think is just STUPID. He's not always able to either. He can't go on Friday nights (and YES, they did call him on a Friday night and it was AFTER the shift had started too!) and a lot of Thursdays he hasn't been able to go either. At least they would have five shifts covered they KNOW would be covered. Ugh, just don't get it.
I cannot stand my husband's job. It's not even that difficult of a job, just a job as night auditor for a hotel so we're not talking overly difficult. He works overnight usually and works about 40 minutes away. He's been working there since January same hours, same days and was doing fine for MONTHS until our stupid no good piece of crud car died. We replaced the starter which seemed to be the reason why it died (and I will not even go into that, I'm still ticked at how much we had to pay for that) and the car worked fine for ONE day and then it died...again...on Father's Day, FORTUNATELY after we had a nice day and got to go around and do things, mainly go to the park and pick up an ice cream cake from the DQ. Well, when it died that time, we more or less figured that it was the head gasket for the THIRD time. And that was about all we were going to take of that. Third time on a second engine and each time seems to be between a year and 18 months before going, forget it. We were NOT dropping another $1000 on it. We didn't HAVE the thousand to drop! SO, for two weeks, we got stranded here until my younger sister's father-in-law from her first marriage got us a car (under his name though which makes sense). That took two weeks. Meanwhile, he missed those two weeks of work except for one day that the manager actually came and got him. Now fortunately, he wasn't fired but he did get dropped down to two days a week. We were able to get by though with the part time job he had over the summer with the school district as a teacher's assistant. So that helped.
Now, here comes the problem. While he was only scheduled for two days a week, he was getting called in quite a bit more than that (up to the full-time hours) because the other people at work were not getting to work. And this had been pretty consistent for I would at least say the last month and a half. And most of the workers wouldn't even bother to call in! Or they would call him in at the last minute or something. It was basically getting to where he was THE only reliable worker there, the one who actually did get there and not ONLY get there but got there ON TIME too!
Now to me, this does not seem fair at all because he got punished for the two weeks he honest to goodness could not get to work but those who had full times hours (including the house he USED to have) who were screwing off, usually not even bothering to come in, were not only NOT losing their jobs, they were still getting the full time hours! Um...ok... It just isn't making any sense as to why they just cannot give him back his hours! So now, he has a couple of more hours scheduled per week but they are from 3-11! This totally messes up trying to get ANYTHING accomplished here, especially scheduling appointments, getting to my meetings which are at 5:30 on Thursdays, etc. And they were just randomly throwing him in wherever without even talking to him! Which was frustrating when I had things scheduled in weeks in advanced and they only do the schedule a few days before the new weeks starts!
So THIS week, he worked Saturday and Sunday 11PM to 7AM the next day. So, he got done with work 7AM Monday and then had to go back to work 3PM on MONDAY and work until 11PM. Then he came home, slept (when I finally got his skinny little behind in bed!) and was SUPPOSED to work 3-11 tonight and then come home. It is almost 2 in the morning and he is STILL at work. The person who was supposed to come in at 11 did not. Nor did she call. So, he will be there until 7AM and THEN he will be home. But, there really isn't time for him to sleep when I have a 12PM appointment which I cannot miss because it is with my therapist and I missed last week's appointment by mistake thinking it was the 4th when it was actually the 3rd! Then, he has a phone interview for a job in Korea at 3PM and a meeting at his current job at 6PM. So, more than likely other than a couple of cat naps (which he is at least able to take so long as Natalie doesn't harass him) he will not get any sleep until tomorrow night. And somehow, he also has to fit some time in for Natalie and take her to the park before she completely wigs out. And the manager over there is no help because I guess she doesn't even know how to do the night audit job. She's a new hire.
I am really, REALLY hoping that he will actually go into this meeting tomorrow, asks for his night audit schedule back, and gets it because if he doesn't, I am going to go MAD! This whole thing is totally messing Natalie up too. This is why we can't even remotely have a schedule for her. As often as his schedule changes, there is no way to do so, we would be having to change it constantly! As it is, we will ALL probably be going down to Madison tomorrow and doing a few things around town, maybe even picking up another set of piggy pajamas for Natalie so that she has a set in the next size since she loves them so much, I don't know but ugh, I am just getting SO fed up with his job and the garbage they are pulling on him! He's the one who has been reliable (when the car is) and at least always calls when he's not going to be there or when he's going to be late (that happened when a tire blew out) so why can't they just give him his stupid hours back? ARGH! The only thing I can think of is that they won't do it because it would take away from the flexibility of them being able to call him when someone else doesn't show up which I think is just STUPID. He's not always able to either. He can't go on Friday nights (and YES, they did call him on a Friday night and it was AFTER the shift had started too!) and a lot of Thursdays he hasn't been able to go either. At least they would have five shifts covered they KNOW would be covered. Ugh, just don't get it.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Some updates on my sister...
Baby is still cooking but she is considered VERY high risk right now due to the three losses she had within a year. She lost Emmah July 13 last year, then had two miscarriages after that before getting pregnant with this one in early July of this year. So, her OB has her taking baby aspirin, she's on full pelvic rest (willing to bet her husband regrets getting her pregnant now), she's on medical leave from work (actually, that's from the chiropractor who put her on a 10 lb weight restriction), and once she reaches 24 weeks, she's to have monthly ultrasounds. Not only that but her OB is actually having a doctor from Mayo Clinic checking her out. Part of the concern is that the reason for all of these pregnancy losses was never determined and so far all, all of the tests they have run on my sister have come back normal. It's a big mystery. So, just have to keep hoping for the best but she's also prepared for the fact that the OB may go in at anytime she feels that the baby may be in danger which may mean an early arrival and a cesarean to boot. Therefore, she'll also be getting steroids at some point. As for the cesarean, she's not too worried about it because this will be her last child. If it is a cesarean, she wants her tubes tied at the same time. Can't say I blame her, she's incredibly fertile (just not able to hang onto babies that well) and not able to take ANY form of birth control.
Is it any wonder that I don't even really think too much of having another one? With the fertility issues that have struck the women in my family, Natalie very well could have been a one shot deal. If it is, I can live with that though sometimes I think about having another one. Just not something I'm ready for right now...
Is it any wonder that I don't even really think too much of having another one? With the fertility issues that have struck the women in my family, Natalie very well could have been a one shot deal. If it is, I can live with that though sometimes I think about having another one. Just not something I'm ready for right now...
Friday, September 5, 2008
Hearing appointment yesterday...
One of the things I am trying to do is get a hearing aid through the medical assistance before we go to South Korea. John really wants me to have one since he thinks it will help out a lot. I have had a hearing aid for my left ear since I was six years old after being diagnosed with hearing loss when I was four and a half. It took a couple of years for the audiologist to determine the degree of loss I had in order to choose the right hearing aid for me. Last year, I switched audiologists because I had moved out of the area. This was not easy to do as I had had the same audiologist since my initial diagnosis back in 1985. Yes, that is correct, over 20 years. After my full evaluation back in October (on my birthday, no less), she determined that I needed a hearing aid in the right ear as well. In February, after she had finally gotten my records she did determine that my hearing had slightly worsened and therefore concluded that a hearing aid for the right ear would help. It has not been an easy thing to accept and now, almost a year later, I'm STILL trying to get that hearing aid for the right ear. Medical assistance is causing all kinds of delays and all that good stuff so it will be a miracle if this gets approved at all but I just have to be as patient as possible, I guess. The good news is that my hearing at least has not worsened since then but it has somehow worsened within the last four years (last time I had seen the audiologist which was right after I got my current hearing aid). There is some speculation that the reason the hearing worsened in that ear could have been due to pregnancy. Pregnancy not only can worsen sight, but I guess it can also worsen hearing. Interesting to know.
Hearing aids are not cheap. In fact, they are very expensive. I think the cheapest I got was around $700 and there are hearing aids that actually go up to as much as almost $3000 each. I kind of wish I had $6000 to burn, I would get two of these hearing aids:
http://www.oticonusa.com/Oticon/Consumers/Products/Epoq.html
They have Bluetooth technology and you can actually use them to listen to your MP3 player or talk on your cellphone without even having to use any headphones! Plus, they work together so that you can hear even better. That would be SO nice! As it is, it can be really hard right now with just having the one hearing aid having ears that hear the same and I have no idea how it will feel to have two, especially since they will be SO different! The one for my right ear will be an outer ear hearing aid while for the left ear, I have an in the canal aid. I just hope that MA comes through on time so that I have it before we leave the country. Otherwise, I'm stuck for a good two years with only the four year old hearing aid I have (they only last about 4-7 years).
So, since it had been over six months since my last major evaluation, MA wanted me to get another one. This is a roughly hour long appointment where the doctor goes and plays lots of sounds in my ears and does different tests to determine where my hearing is at. All kinds of different sounds are played in both ears and at different volumes and then at some point, sound is introduced to my right ear and beeps are played in the left and I'm supposed to identify the beeps. It's not easy for me because I tend to hear phantom ear noises (especially during the tests). I do get ringing in my right ear at times and even on occasion my left ear, so they do make noises of their own which makes hearing beeps difficult at times since they're not played very loudly.
To really give you an idea of how bad my hearing is though, one of the tests that is done is the audiologist has a tape play where a man speaks ten words. I have to be able to hear and repeat those ten words back. Each ear is played separately and different words are used for each ear. They are ONE syllable words. Right ear, out of ten words, I got three wrong (though one of them, if I had just heard the darn S at the end, I would have gotten it right). But still, 7-8 right, not bad. Left ear...ZERO correct. I got none of them right. Not ONE. I usually would get the vowel sound, but miss the consonants. If anyone were to speak into my left ear, I would not be able to understand that person at all. That is why I have never been able to use the phone with my left ear, only my right because it would never work, the loss is too severe in that ear. My left ear will only be a helper ear, never a primary ear. And that's even WITH the hearing aid.
In all the years growing up, I don't think my hearing loss had ever really been spelled out to me. I had likened it to having to wear glasses. At 27 years old, I'm finally really starting to face reality when it comes to my hearing loss. It's not like wearing glasses. As far as my left ear goes, it's probably more like being legally blind in one eye. That makes a HUGE difference and at the same time, I have tried so hard to do what I have needed to do regardless that I have more or less shot myself in the foot as far as getting help, especially from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. Maybe it would be different now considering my hearing has actually worsened and thus, maybe when I come back to the states, I could try to see them again and see what can be done. Something to think about as I don't think I could do another phone type job again and it has seemed to have worsened AFTER I left that job. It's one of the reasons why I'm kind of afraid to look for work, I don't know how I would deal with the hearing problems I have. So many jobs are people oriented and do seem to require a level of decent hearing and I don't know if I have the hearing for it. Thus, my self confidence is a little on the low side when it comes to that.
Hearing aids are not cheap. In fact, they are very expensive. I think the cheapest I got was around $700 and there are hearing aids that actually go up to as much as almost $3000 each. I kind of wish I had $6000 to burn, I would get two of these hearing aids:
http://www.oticonusa.com/Oticon/Consumers/Products/Epoq.html
They have Bluetooth technology and you can actually use them to listen to your MP3 player or talk on your cellphone without even having to use any headphones! Plus, they work together so that you can hear even better. That would be SO nice! As it is, it can be really hard right now with just having the one hearing aid having ears that hear the same and I have no idea how it will feel to have two, especially since they will be SO different! The one for my right ear will be an outer ear hearing aid while for the left ear, I have an in the canal aid. I just hope that MA comes through on time so that I have it before we leave the country. Otherwise, I'm stuck for a good two years with only the four year old hearing aid I have (they only last about 4-7 years).
So, since it had been over six months since my last major evaluation, MA wanted me to get another one. This is a roughly hour long appointment where the doctor goes and plays lots of sounds in my ears and does different tests to determine where my hearing is at. All kinds of different sounds are played in both ears and at different volumes and then at some point, sound is introduced to my right ear and beeps are played in the left and I'm supposed to identify the beeps. It's not easy for me because I tend to hear phantom ear noises (especially during the tests). I do get ringing in my right ear at times and even on occasion my left ear, so they do make noises of their own which makes hearing beeps difficult at times since they're not played very loudly.
To really give you an idea of how bad my hearing is though, one of the tests that is done is the audiologist has a tape play where a man speaks ten words. I have to be able to hear and repeat those ten words back. Each ear is played separately and different words are used for each ear. They are ONE syllable words. Right ear, out of ten words, I got three wrong (though one of them, if I had just heard the darn S at the end, I would have gotten it right). But still, 7-8 right, not bad. Left ear...ZERO correct. I got none of them right. Not ONE. I usually would get the vowel sound, but miss the consonants. If anyone were to speak into my left ear, I would not be able to understand that person at all. That is why I have never been able to use the phone with my left ear, only my right because it would never work, the loss is too severe in that ear. My left ear will only be a helper ear, never a primary ear. And that's even WITH the hearing aid.
In all the years growing up, I don't think my hearing loss had ever really been spelled out to me. I had likened it to having to wear glasses. At 27 years old, I'm finally really starting to face reality when it comes to my hearing loss. It's not like wearing glasses. As far as my left ear goes, it's probably more like being legally blind in one eye. That makes a HUGE difference and at the same time, I have tried so hard to do what I have needed to do regardless that I have more or less shot myself in the foot as far as getting help, especially from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. Maybe it would be different now considering my hearing has actually worsened and thus, maybe when I come back to the states, I could try to see them again and see what can be done. Something to think about as I don't think I could do another phone type job again and it has seemed to have worsened AFTER I left that job. It's one of the reasons why I'm kind of afraid to look for work, I don't know how I would deal with the hearing problems I have. So many jobs are people oriented and do seem to require a level of decent hearing and I don't know if I have the hearing for it. Thus, my self confidence is a little on the low side when it comes to that.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Done with dinner, Natalie's in bed...
Not much else going on so I'll probably play my game a little bit and go to bed. I really should write to my mom and do a few other things (like about a year's worth of scrap booking, eh) but I could use some down time. Still have to pick up and make the bed before going to bed but that shouldn't take too long.
Still waiting for John to find a job. Both of the ones he was considering fell through. It's not so easy this time around for him to find something, mainly because he has me and Natalie both to consider and I want to be in a fairly good sized city. At the very least, it has to be on the sub line to Seoul, but it doesn't have to be in Seoul. I didn't even know this until recently but one of the first recruiters he checked out told him that trying to take us wouldn't even be a good idea! They wouldn't recruit for him! We have told management we're not staying another year so he had BETTER pull something off SOON! I don't like the fact that we may be in October and STILL not know where we are going. Unfortunately, it's entirely possible because that is how these people operate over there. Great. Just absolutely bloody GREAT! It's frustrating because EVERYTHING is on hold right now. I don't know what to do and I can't even really plan ahead! I have to WAIT. This is starting to feel like two years ago when we were looking for a place to live and hoping we can pull something off before the end of October. Ugh, the end of October again, what is UP with my birthday month?! At least the moving part shouldn't be quite as difficult, we're not supposed to be moving with anything! *sigh* I don't know, something I wonder if this is even going to work out. Somehow, I'll just have to hope it does. It did last time...barely...but I really didn't want to cut it so close again. All we can do though is hope it all works out for the best but at the same time, you better believe I'm going to be preparing for the worst!
Still waiting for John to find a job. Both of the ones he was considering fell through. It's not so easy this time around for him to find something, mainly because he has me and Natalie both to consider and I want to be in a fairly good sized city. At the very least, it has to be on the sub line to Seoul, but it doesn't have to be in Seoul. I didn't even know this until recently but one of the first recruiters he checked out told him that trying to take us wouldn't even be a good idea! They wouldn't recruit for him! We have told management we're not staying another year so he had BETTER pull something off SOON! I don't like the fact that we may be in October and STILL not know where we are going. Unfortunately, it's entirely possible because that is how these people operate over there. Great. Just absolutely bloody GREAT! It's frustrating because EVERYTHING is on hold right now. I don't know what to do and I can't even really plan ahead! I have to WAIT. This is starting to feel like two years ago when we were looking for a place to live and hoping we can pull something off before the end of October. Ugh, the end of October again, what is UP with my birthday month?! At least the moving part shouldn't be quite as difficult, we're not supposed to be moving with anything! *sigh* I don't know, something I wonder if this is even going to work out. Somehow, I'll just have to hope it does. It did last time...barely...but I really didn't want to cut it so close again. All we can do though is hope it all works out for the best but at the same time, you better believe I'm going to be preparing for the worst!
Cold weather definitely seems to motivate me...
Dinner is in the oven; chicken, potatoes, baby carrots, with dumplings added for the last ten minutes of cooking. Banana bread is already baked, dishes are in the dishwasher washing, and I actually got my room cleaned today. I'm sure some of it is too that I'm avoiding going online to my groups. *sigh* Been finding that WAY too frustrating lately. I think I am going to be very glad to be out of this country because the way I see it, it's going to heck in a handbasket.
John's at work so it's just me and Natalie and Natalie fell asleep so I guess she won't be eating dinner after all. grr. It wasn't my intention for her to fall asleep but it happens, especially when she decides to go and nurse. My guess is she'll sleep until morning too. So, just doing a little writing while I wait for the chicken to finish cooking.
Tomorrow will be one of those jam packed days of excitement and adventure...well, not really. I have my audiologist appointment tomorrow which is an hour...yay. This is all in efforts to get a hearing aid for my right ear before we leave the country. Bleh. Twenty-seven years old and have to get a hearing aid for the OTHER ear. Lovely. The ONLY good thing about this is if I give it time for the prices to drop, I can MAYBE at some point get hearing aids for BOTH ears with Bluetooth technology. Right now though, the hearing aids run $2995 EACH. Um, can't swing almost $6000 right now. But someday, it would be quite nice to have a set of hearing aids that I can just hit a button and be able to listen to my MP3 play or make a call on my cell phone, without actually touching the device. Sounds good to me!
Timer went off. The chicken is done so I'll have to come back later...
John's at work so it's just me and Natalie and Natalie fell asleep so I guess she won't be eating dinner after all. grr. It wasn't my intention for her to fall asleep but it happens, especially when she decides to go and nurse. My guess is she'll sleep until morning too. So, just doing a little writing while I wait for the chicken to finish cooking.
Tomorrow will be one of those jam packed days of excitement and adventure...well, not really. I have my audiologist appointment tomorrow which is an hour...yay. This is all in efforts to get a hearing aid for my right ear before we leave the country. Bleh. Twenty-seven years old and have to get a hearing aid for the OTHER ear. Lovely. The ONLY good thing about this is if I give it time for the prices to drop, I can MAYBE at some point get hearing aids for BOTH ears with Bluetooth technology. Right now though, the hearing aids run $2995 EACH. Um, can't swing almost $6000 right now. But someday, it would be quite nice to have a set of hearing aids that I can just hit a button and be able to listen to my MP3 play or make a call on my cell phone, without actually touching the device. Sounds good to me!
Timer went off. The chicken is done so I'll have to come back later...
Sunday, August 31, 2008
So many updates...so little time...
I cannot believe that it has been over a year since I last posted but it has been. I have been mainly updating the Natalie's World blog but when I made the decision to let John start the process of going to South Korea for two years, I figured at some point, I would need to get this blog up and running again so that I can update it with all of the happenings on that end rather than taking up room on the other blog which really is still the blog that is to be all about Natalie. So today, I have finally gotten that all done and now I can start updating everyone as to all of the going ons that are occurring as we prepare to leave the country.
If you are just tuning in now, I do have some entries about this in Natalie's World but for now, here are a few details. Back in late April, I made the decision to let John start preparations to teach over in South Korea which has been a lucrative field for John in the past. Okay, it's not INSANELY lucrative but considering the fact that John half the times doesn't even work full time, we're on food stamps, we're on state insurance, etc, it is DEFINITELY more lucrative for us. This was not a decision I came to lightly and it has been one that I have struggled with for the last four months mainly because it will be SUCH a change. But it has come to the point that something drastic must be done considering the current state of the economy in this country.
So now, we are getting VERY close to John having a job in Korea. He figures by this week sometime, he will know for sure. Currently, there are two that he is looking at. One is through the original recruiter that we went with for the first contract that he had to can because it was too far out into the boonies. The good news is this one is on the subway line and it's not far at all from one of the major cities and less than an hour from Seoul. This is good. What's not so good is that it starts October 11 (probably not until the 13th but the pay day is the 10th of each month). If we don't get the money together for the plane tickets for me and Natalie, we will not be together on our five year anniversary which is October 11th. That day is also my 28th birthday. If we do have the tickets to go, I'm just hoping that I don't end up spending that day on an airplane because that would kind of suck. We would have to leave here October 4th then spend the week somewhere until John flies out. Either that or it would be the 10th, we would have to pretty much go from here to the airport (which would be in Chicago anyway) and then Natalie and I would head back up to La Crosse with whoever ends up taking John down to the airport. So, just a couple of scenarios there.
The other position doesn't start until November 3rd. It is in Ilsan which John has lived before. He's shooting for that position since he's lived in the city before and liked it a lot. It would be a good fit for us but so far, he hasn't heard very much from this guy and the other recruiter has all of our stuff already and has even found us a two bedroom apartment (which hasn't been easy as a lot of these places are NOT set for families, most ESL teachers are single and right out of college).
There are still a TON of details to work out and time is quickly flying by. I hate that so much of this is done at the last minute, really it just drives me nuts and it is SO family un-friendly. But, in all honesty, this really is not meant to be a family deal, this is meant to be more for single people to do. Families tend to get in the way. It can be done, and there are recruiters who do just that but I think the problem there was getting the plane ticket for John. I'm hoping that somehow, it all works out for the best. There aren't really any other options otherwise.
In the meantime, I am trying to get ready for a rummage sale and start getting all the extra stuff we have out of the apartment. Ugh, you have NO idea how much stuff we have and most of it is mine with a bunch of it being Natalie's (how in the world did we accumulate SO much stuff for her in the last three years?!) Once I know more about the date, I can start making arrangements with my younger sister to pick up the big items that she wants including our couch and a few pieces of furniture including Natalie's crib. Yes, she's pregnant again, after two miscarriages and so far, so good, she's almost 11 weeks along and I think this one might actually stick, God willing. She's due March 24th so please everyone, keep her in your prayers for a healthy, LIVE baby. So once those details are hatched out and I get the two love seats out of here, that will help a lot as far as the space goes. But there is A LOT of stuff to get rid of and it is going to be an INSANE month/two months.
If you are just tuning in now, I do have some entries about this in Natalie's World but for now, here are a few details. Back in late April, I made the decision to let John start preparations to teach over in South Korea which has been a lucrative field for John in the past. Okay, it's not INSANELY lucrative but considering the fact that John half the times doesn't even work full time, we're on food stamps, we're on state insurance, etc, it is DEFINITELY more lucrative for us. This was not a decision I came to lightly and it has been one that I have struggled with for the last four months mainly because it will be SUCH a change. But it has come to the point that something drastic must be done considering the current state of the economy in this country.
So now, we are getting VERY close to John having a job in Korea. He figures by this week sometime, he will know for sure. Currently, there are two that he is looking at. One is through the original recruiter that we went with for the first contract that he had to can because it was too far out into the boonies. The good news is this one is on the subway line and it's not far at all from one of the major cities and less than an hour from Seoul. This is good. What's not so good is that it starts October 11 (probably not until the 13th but the pay day is the 10th of each month). If we don't get the money together for the plane tickets for me and Natalie, we will not be together on our five year anniversary which is October 11th. That day is also my 28th birthday. If we do have the tickets to go, I'm just hoping that I don't end up spending that day on an airplane because that would kind of suck. We would have to leave here October 4th then spend the week somewhere until John flies out. Either that or it would be the 10th, we would have to pretty much go from here to the airport (which would be in Chicago anyway) and then Natalie and I would head back up to La Crosse with whoever ends up taking John down to the airport. So, just a couple of scenarios there.
The other position doesn't start until November 3rd. It is in Ilsan which John has lived before. He's shooting for that position since he's lived in the city before and liked it a lot. It would be a good fit for us but so far, he hasn't heard very much from this guy and the other recruiter has all of our stuff already and has even found us a two bedroom apartment (which hasn't been easy as a lot of these places are NOT set for families, most ESL teachers are single and right out of college).
There are still a TON of details to work out and time is quickly flying by. I hate that so much of this is done at the last minute, really it just drives me nuts and it is SO family un-friendly. But, in all honesty, this really is not meant to be a family deal, this is meant to be more for single people to do. Families tend to get in the way. It can be done, and there are recruiters who do just that but I think the problem there was getting the plane ticket for John. I'm hoping that somehow, it all works out for the best. There aren't really any other options otherwise.
In the meantime, I am trying to get ready for a rummage sale and start getting all the extra stuff we have out of the apartment. Ugh, you have NO idea how much stuff we have and most of it is mine with a bunch of it being Natalie's (how in the world did we accumulate SO much stuff for her in the last three years?!) Once I know more about the date, I can start making arrangements with my younger sister to pick up the big items that she wants including our couch and a few pieces of furniture including Natalie's crib. Yes, she's pregnant again, after two miscarriages and so far, so good, she's almost 11 weeks along and I think this one might actually stick, God willing. She's due March 24th so please everyone, keep her in your prayers for a healthy, LIVE baby. So once those details are hatched out and I get the two love seats out of here, that will help a lot as far as the space goes. But there is A LOT of stuff to get rid of and it is going to be an INSANE month/two months.
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