Unemployment

Not many were in on our most recent adventure, but that's because it wasn't a fun one. It was a very stressful, try-not-to-panic kind of adventure. Late January, the company Scott worked for laid off a large number of employees in an attempt to "restructure," which is just code for "try not to die." The company has been suffering ever since Scott was hired a couple of years ago, but things apparently went from bad to worse and the group of owners forced the company to terminate many employees.

Scott, being the observant guy he is, noticed the HR rep going around from office to office, filling out paperwork. Scott happens to be an accountant and has access to the check register for the company, so he went on to find the list of "last checks" being cut. One of them was his. Rather than keep working and wait for his turn to be sent home, he went into the CEO and asked if they could just take care of it. The management was extremely apologetic, and sad to lose him, but the owners were making the call and decided that his was a salary they just couldn't afford to pay. Thus began our adventure.

I've gotta say, I don't think anyone has ever dealt with unemployment as well as that husband of mine. He didn't waste a moment. Within the first day, he had filled out applications, written cover letters, and personalized resumes for over a dozen different companies. And that processed continued day after day. When he wasn't applying for jobs, he was doing homework, cleaning, playing with Ellie, and baking bread. Man, he can bake! Not once did he lay around in his underwear, watching daytime television; which is honestly what I was kind of expecting. (I guess I've seen too many episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" and " King of Queens" on the subject).

The moment he lost his job, we went into a cease-all-spending mode. Every thing we ran out of became a debate as to whether or not we really needed it. Light bulb? I don't think so! It's not the only one in the house. Paper towels? No way. That's what rags are for. Fresh fruit? Luxury. Soap for the dishwasher? You have two hands; no need for a dishwasher! We took inventory of our food storage and dug deep in the freezer. (Which seriously needed to happen anyway). I'm just grateful that we didn't run out of anything too serious--like toilet paper or actual soap. We were pretty scared about how long we were going to have to make our savings last, and we may have just gone to some extreme measures...

Shake that thought off. Anyway, it wasn't long before Scott started interviewing, and that man knows his way around an interview! He busts out that good ole' Tessem charm. He wore his Bestefar's "Ice Fjord" suit from Norway in the 70's to his first interview! That takes some guts. And when asked what his greatest weakness was, he actually said "Spelling--I've never beaten my wife in Scrabble." Brave man.

With skills like that, it's not hard to see a happy ending to our adventure. After two weeks of applications, cover letters, resumes, and interviews, Scott was offered a job. For any of you who doubt the reality of God or His concern in our little lives, let me tell you, He is in every detail. Scott was given two weeks of severance from his job. Exactly two weeks to the day he was laid off, he was sitting in an office, signing an acceptance letter for his new job. A job which not only suited his skill set and experience beautifully, but happened to be two buildings over from his old job, with the same work schedule (allowing him to continue taking the same bus route and school schedule), working for a stable, growing company, with great people, and which pays even more than his last job. God is so, so good to us.

While Ellie and I completely enjoyed having Scott at home for two weeks, it's a lot easier to make it through the long days now knowing just how blessed we are.

And you'll be happy to know that we have paper towels, dish washing soap, and fresh fruit back in the house. And I have every intention of replacing that light bulb asap!