Here Goes Nothing

My entire life is in the air at the moment. I was told in November that the job I loved and envisioned myself doing until the end of time was ending as of 1/1. So, now what? I have applied for a bunch of jobs that I thought would fit our family well, but have only had one interview.

I have always envisioned myself as a stay at home mom, but the hard reality of that is that our family just can not survive off one income. We had already cut nearly every nice-ity out of our lives prior to this news (cable, vacations, savings, new clothes, new vehicles, and my much loved past time of going out to eat frequently with friends and family). What's left is vital to the survival of our family (one smartphone with the smallest talk package available, internet with the slowest speeds available, Netflix/Hulu for entertainment on the MANY days unsuitable for outdoor time, student loans, food, electricity, wood for heating, housing (a very meager 900 or so sq ft on .13 acres), water, taxes, phone, gasoline for the cars, auto and home owners insurance, and my husband's car payment on an eight year old car).

We homeschool our three children, and that is not negotiable for many reasons. I'm sure that will be discussed in future posts. I am also petrified of winter driving. Since we live in northern New England, the combination of these two facts makes it very hard to just go out and get just any old job. My husband works 2nd shift so I do have a few hours in the morning that I could work, but again, any time it snows or we have freezing rain (which seems to be a high percentage of days between December and April) me going anywhere is a no-go. Any of the typical part-time jobs that are actually worth the money such as waitressing tend to be in the evening hours, at least in this area.

So, to be able to vent my frustrations as well as to see my own thoughts in writing and therefore process them better, I've decided to write everything here. Lucky you, I know :) Over the next few posts, I intend to list my strengths, weaknesses, ponderings, daily accomplishments, and likely, daily failures. I will also share some helps that I have come across that have benefited our family in hopes that your family can benefit as well.