Paul & Sarah

So, as of Friday we are a one-income family. An extraordinary set of circumstances came together to deprive Paul of his job. He’s in the process of fighting the (wrongful) termination, but we don’t have much hope in the prospects. Neither do we have much hope as of yet that unemployment will be forthcoming.

Prayers would be appreciated.

In the meantime, we are fleshing out the details to continue medical coverage for us – either through COBRA or through my employer. I can’t get on with my employer until April 1, so COBRA will probably be needed for this month at least, no matter how expensive it is. I have another appointment on March 24th.

If unemployment isn’t contested, we’ll be OK if we keep an insanely strict budget. If it is contested by Paul’s former employer, life is gonna get un-fun with a quickness. Paul is looking for jobs (and has been since this whole episode began two weeks ago) but with unemployment at 13% in this county, open jobs of any kind are thin on the ground.

We’re trying to see the silver lining in all of this. Paul has been able to use this time off to work in the office to turn it into a nursery, which is a really crappy task of dismantling and unloading our office/junk room. He’s making progress, but there’s still a week’s worth of work to do in there before painting can begin. He’ll be able to attend his Grandmother’s memorial service in Orange County next month. He’ll be able to attend all the upcoming childbirth/childcare classes that I need to get a move on scheduling. He’ll be able to attend the baby shower. (All of these last things were going to be HUGE fights to get with his old employer – even with a bunch of paid leave saved up and FMLA for the baby-related stuff.) So there is a silver lining to this. And if it comes to it, the baby won’t go to daycare if Paul is still at home.

But prayers for job openings and unencumbered unemployment processes would be appreciated.

This has been a great weekend. Paul and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on Friday. We took the day off work and just hung out together. We looked at carpet and even picked out a color! Tonight we went to see Lion King (which we saw on Broadway on our honeymoon) and had an AMAZING steak dinner at Michael Mina’s StripSteak at Mandalay Bay. (Paul’s parents provided us with a little surprise when the check came and the waiter wouldn’t take Paul’s credit card.)

It’s been an amazing 10 years. Paul and I agree that we had no idea what the “future” would be like when we got married, but we’re both stupidly happy and wouldn’t change a single thing about our lives.

Only real change tonight for our night out was that instead of just pointing out girls with pretty hair, outfits or shoes (Paul and I point them out to each other – Vegas is a great town for people-watching) I was also pointing out interesting strollers and continuing with our new game, which is to guess the age of wee ones that we see. Paul had a little bit of a hard time keeping up with the topic changes. :)

So happy anniversary to us. It’s been an amazing 10 years and it’s only gonna get better from here.

Inspiration struck me last night as I pulled into the parking lot to get some bits and pieces for dinner. Home Depot was right there – so why not go in and see what they can do on carpet?

Turns out, they can do a lot. And our Home Depot card can do a lot for us there too. While re-carpeting the house isn’t gonna be cheap, it won’t be as much as we feared. (I really like the idea of re-doing the whole house in one fell swoop instead of leaving the bedrooms with the old carpet.)

So I have a measuring appointment set for next weekend – which gives me less than two weeks to whip the house into shape. I think I can do it, but it’s not gonna be easy. I’m praying that at the stroke of 14 weeks (2nd trimester) I’ll get this huge burst of energy that will make all this craziness much easier to tackle.

The timeframe is looking like mid-late February for carpet installation, so we’re hoping we can find out the sex of the baby, figure out a nursery design, pick paint color(s) and actually get the painting done before the new carpet goes in. Would be MUCH easier that way. (Here’s hoping the little critter cooperates at next week’s appointment!)

Oh, and a note about carpet vs hardwood/tile: Paul’s father has really terrible allergies and asthma. So every house they’ve had has been fully tiled, with little to no carpet at all. We’re glad that works for them, but personally Paul and I hate it. We LOVE carpet, and are both absolutely in love with the idea of laying on the floor, playing with our baby. We have absolutely no desire for hardwood or tile anywhere but the kitchen and bathrooms, regardless of how easy it is to clean. Plus, I shudder to think about a little one learning to walk on tile. The softer the landing pad in that case, the better methinks.

So on Friday we’ll head over to Home Depot and take a good look at the carpet options available to us in our price range. What a way to spend our 10th anniversary, right? (We’re both taking the day off work to spend together.) I assume Mr. I-Wanna-Paint-Our-Whole-Bedroom-Red will have some interesting ideas about color. (Our bedroom, btw is now a lovely shade of goldenrod with hunter green in the lit alcoves, thankyouverymuch.)

Feels good to be making progress – like I’m finally *doing* something.