Back with a vengeance Trina8:13 PM 0 comments

So...it's been a year.  A helluva year, so I have a good excuse (or a few good ones) to pardon my hiatus here.

Let's go with one at a time, and I'll try to keep them somewhat chronological to help things from getting too confusing.  I will throw out a spoiler though...I'm still married to Mr. Almeda, I still live in the same house, drive the same car, work in the same school, and am very, very rich in blessings.

At the end of May 2012, Mr. Almeda took a leap of faith and turned in his resignation to his long-time employer to accept a new position that promised higher pay and a more family-friendly work schedule.  It was a tough decision for him, and it required months of study to pass the licensing exam to enter the field of insurance sales.  His new boss promised to guide him through the process and essentially hand him the formula for success, so the job was clearly a no-brainer.

June was a little rough.  Mr. Almeda had to quickly realize that sales and customer service are very different fields, and require very different approaches.  However, being the fast learner that he is, Mr. Almeda turned it around in July and exceeded his sales goals earning praise from his coworkers and his boss.  Excitement abounded in the office and with us at home.  He had found his new calling; he was going to make things happen!

And then the new boss handed Mr. Almeda a letter, didn't say a word, and promptly left the office.  It was a notice of termination with no reason offered except that Georgia is a right to work state and that Mr. Almeda was no longer employed.

We reeled.  We cussed.  We panicked.  We cussed some more.  I read the entire Georgia Code (ok, not really, but almost) looking for a way to get that evil man back and ruin his life for ruining ours (the likely profits weren't worth the efforts...so we didn't pursue that route).  What were we going to do?  Neither Mr. Almeda or I had ever been "unemployed" before.  We had bills to pay, and even with two incomes, we were having difficulty making ends meet.  How would we survive on just one income alone?

I admit that those first few months were terrifying.  I was able to pay the bills, but our savings account was quickly depleting as we kept receiving the mortgage, utility bills, and other debts staking claims to my hard-earned paychecks (apparently, bills don't stop when you lose a significant chunk of your income).  I didn't know for how long we would be able to continue paying the bills, or what the consequences would be when the money ran out.

And this is where I have to thank my parents, my friends, and of course, the good Lord above for getting us through (so far).  When we weren't receiving solid advice, we were receiving assistance in the form of low-cost babysitting, representation, food, and sometimes, just that reliable shoulder to cry on when we fell into hopelessness.  After job searching for a few months, it became clear that Mr. Almeda was not going to be able to secure a similar position for the income he needed to generate in order to adequately contribute to our family's finances.

Mr. Almeda was going to need a slightler higher income than before because a few months after his being laid off, we learned that a new addition would be joining the Almeda household (more on that tidbit later).  He needed a degree to make that happen.

So this past summer, after almost 15 years since graduating high school, Mr. Almeda enrolled in Chattahoochee Technical College to pursue a degree in the field of Health Sciences.  And the good news...he earned a solid 4.0 in his first semester.  I think I see some hope on the horizon.