I had nearly forgotten about this blog. I couldn't decide whether to delete it, continue with it or just leave it for posterity. If nothing else, I decided I could at least update it, if there is anyone out there who may still have their email set to "follow me."
A lot has happened in six years. My job in Nashville was eliminated and it made no sense for us to relocate to Atlanta, the office my job was being moved to. I got a nice severance package, but anytime you lose income, there are adjustments to be made, especially if you're not certain what you really want to do with this new window of opportunity.
That's how I really had to look at this major change in order to keep my peace. It could have been as simple as looking for another job, but Bob and I were looking at it as an open door. We could have stayed in Nashville, close to my son and grandkids, our reason for moving there from central Illinois in the first place, but my husband longed for something more.
At that point, he had been retired for five years and other than a two year stint working at Bass Pro (until the infamous flood came that closed the Opry Mills Mall down for nearly a year), he had mostly been taking care of the house and me while I continued to work. Not exactly the retirement he had in mind.
We have vacationed in Treasure Island, Florida for years. In February of 2013, we took a 700 mile road trip to look at a rental house a block from the beach. We had previously made a 350 mile road trip to Illinois to look at some rental houses, and considered moving back to be close to my parents and our families, but after looking at several houses there was nothing available at that time that appealed to us enough to move back.
Disappointed in the rental house and the jerk that owned it, we sought out other rental possibilities. I got online and found a 55+ mobile home retirement community, one that I had looked at online several times before. We decided to take a 10 minute ride over there to see what they had to offer. Long story short, we bought a mobile home on Boca Ciega Bay and 2 weeks later, loaded up a U-Haul and moved to Florida.
It turned out to be a smart move for us. My son moved back to central Illinois in July of this year and Bob's son and girlfriend who still live in the Nashville area, talk as though they may move to Illinois, too after Michael finishes school and earns his degree.
Three and a half months after moving to Florida, I took a job through a temp agency for a company that does background checks. I liked the job immediately. We don't work directly with the public so I can wear jeans to work everyday instead of looking forward to jeans Fridays, the only day we could wear jeans at my last job.
Fifteen months later, I am still a temp. This has been a huge frustration for me, but the company I am working for has recently purchased two other companies and they haven't hired anyone in months. The word at the water cooler is that change is in the air and I am hoping to be a permanent employee soon. The mediocre pay I started with and lack of paid time off, benefits and paid holidays have caused me to rethink staying with this company a thousand times. There is, however, a promise of better pay, an awesome paid time off and benefits package and the opportunity to work from home. These are the reasons I stay.
Later --
