what i do know is that it's a whole new world around here. and it is good.
not long after i started MY job, my husband discovered that he lost his. ten years with the company, and as a cost-cutting measure, they simply did away with an entire section. is it ironic that he was involved in "future forward thinking"? wind energy, smart appliances etc etc. probably.
as with all "clever" ideas, his company has had to spend money to save it, ie a redundancy package, so financially things aren't dire. whilst it was a shock initially, hubs quickly came to terms with it, and has welcomed his time at home and the strange role reversal he and i find ourselves in.
the girls are LOVING having him around more. if you asked them, they would tell you 'he was never here'. it is of course, all relative to how MUCH he is here now.
around the same time as the 'work restructure', his father (86) fell ill. i'm sure there are plenty of you out there dealing with aged parents, so i won't go into it.
suffice it to say, hubs is on leave - working out his notice (for all intents and purposes) at home, and jumping on a plane or his motorbike to visit his father (we're in the north island, he's in the south) periodically to ease the burden of his siblings who reside in the same city as their father.
the first school holidays as a 'working woman' came around 2 weeks ago, and i found myself going off to work while hubs stayed home!
where once i had been in control of EVERYTHING that happened in this house - i was going off to work and letting it all happen without me.
i had previously complained long and loud about how 'nothing had changed' since my return to the workforce. before i'd even GOT this job, i'd talked about the girls taking on more chores, then when i STARTED, i encouraged them to help out more.
in the end i was more sick of listening to MYSELF nagging, than i was of actually nagging them - so i simply stepped back.
- i asked the girls if they'd like to cook one night each during the holidays
- i did laundry less often
- hubs went to the supermarket for me
- he ran errands
chicken enchiladas ala miss 17
bean and meat nachos ala miss 11
shepherd's pie with kumara (sweet potato) topping ala miss 12it all just seemed to happen. the house is still standing. everyone's happy, and it's bloody fantastic.
12 comments:
That's wonderful. I'm sorry your husband lost his job but it sounds like you all are working it out.
Your plate is really full with some food from the heart of hardworking girls and life!
It is sad to hear about your father-in-law. That is a subject that is never easy to think about or talk about.
What goes up must come down...I'll keep your husband in my prayers in hopes of finding a job.
Miles away...but I'll help if I can. Thanks for sharing.
what a great job your girls did!!
congrats for putting it out there and congrats for their stepping up to the challenge.
Best wishes to Clive in the job search (when he starts) - it's hard to be 50 and in the job market. (as you know from being mid-40's and in the job market).
Great job the girls are doing on the food - and pat yourself on the back for letting go enough to let it happen!
xxx
Margot
I'm so sorry to hear about your hubs job . . . but strangely the timing seems right? HAPPY to hear for your sanity that the home front is working itself out!
It sounds as if you've made some great changes out of some bad situations.
Wow Sue that is a lot of life change going on but I am so glad to see you embracing it and rolling with it. So sorry to hear of Clive's job loss and his ill father.
Yay! I love how things are working out for your family!! Way to go!
Sounds like you've been a busy lady! Your girls' dinners look good!
I was stopping by to tell you I got your lovely card in the mail a couple days ago. I totally love that your daughter designed the cover. That makes it extra special, thank you! :)
Wow. I'm glad your job is going well and that things are running well. I'm sorry to hear about your father-in-law and your husband's job. Those really are quite a lot of changes.
Hey poppin in from SITS to say hi! Your girls did a great job cooking- the shepard's pie with sweet potato looks delish (shepard's pie is one of my favorite foods!!)...maybe you can post the recipe soon?
I think your blog is great, I'll be following...and looking for that recipe!
This is wonderful. I love this post.
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