Back to Work...

As much as I said while I was pregnant that I want to go back to work, I'm really regretting it now.  I mostly said that when my husband was working his other job at second shift (3:30 p.m. - 12 a.m.) and I could work from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. so we wouldn't have to worry about a babysitter and things would go back to where they were before I had our little guy.  Well then we got the terrible news over the summer that they were closing my husband's work and everyone was getting laid off January 2011 (this was right after he got passed up for a promotion).  Thank God that he got a better job that pays over a $1 more an hour with better medical benefits (but he's getting laid off from that job too, but that's another story) but now he works 11:30 a.m. - 8 p.m. and due to me working at a retail craft store, that cuts right into retail hours.  So now I can only work on weekends, the only days that my husband is off of work.  I know he really wants me to be a stay at home mom (SAHM) and I really want to as well, but due to our finances at the current moment, its just not in the cards.

As of right now between the two of us we have about $25 in our bank account and that has to last us TWO WEEKS until our next paychecks.  Thank the good Lord above that we paid all of our bills and still managed to get groceries (Which will probably have to last us a month).  I am so sick and tired of living paycheck to paycheck.  We budget things out the wazzoo and most of the time manage to pay all of our bills (not always on time mind you) but we still end up with nothing in the end.  I'm completely thankful that we are managing to keep a roof over our heads (our house was 30 days away from foreclosure in September) and food in our bellies, but its been hard.  Especially seeing all of our successful friends and family go on big vacations and go shopping...  I know most have worked REALLY hard to get where they're at and they deserve it.  But my poor sweet husband has been working his butt off for YEARS, tried to put him self through school but couldn't afford it so now he's stuck in these low-level jobs (call center work, which he is REALLY good at) with no hope of ever going back to college.  He really deserves a BIG break in life.  And me with an Associates in Interior Design and unable to do anything with it.

Now before you say anything about "Why did you have a kid since you're in dire straights?".  Believe me, we had everything worked out just fine when we got pregnant.  But aside from us getting pregnant and having a healthy little boy, 2010 was the year from hell.  My husband got laid off twice, he got passed up for a promotion, we almost lost our house, his car died so we had only one car for a few months, my beloved grandmother and uncle both passed away unexpectedly...and this all happened while I was pregnant or soon after.  Its just been really tough to keep trudging through each day.  But God blessed us with a little one and to see him smile and grow is just the strength we need to go on and we will fight to give him a wonderful life no matter what.

So anyway...back to work in retail.  I don't mind it too much since I LOVE the people I work with, but I LOVE being home with my boys a lot more.