I'm alive, I swear.
Sorry I've fallen off the grid, as I assume many of you probably have to some extent as well. I always did my best writing and checking in while I was in between projects at work... and, well, now that's not a thing anymore.
Dad had his heart attack on a Wednesday in March. I stayed home the rest of that week to help babysit him and get the house ready for Jimmy to come home. We were doing Gia's birthday party that Friday and our vow renewal at the church that Saturday. Well, Friday they sent all the kids home with their books. We were the only people at the birthday place for a party, let alone any activity. This was the day our world, at least locally, shut down. We showed up at the church Saturday to renew our vows and it had been cancelled. I hadn't seen a calendar in days at that point because of Dad's episode, so I didn't realize that's the date the church shut down all activity.
Then Monday I showed up to work, only to be laid off. My 3 person internal audit department was reduced to 1. That day, we decided I would now pursue my dreams of becoming a TEACHER! I enrolled in the local teaching certification summer institute. We celebrated new goals, but I still had to mourn my usual everyday life. We also had to start doing home school. Gia's pretty well self motivated with school, but she likes a schedule and she likes to know what to expect. So this new adventure was hard, but she told my MIL that having me help her made her a lot less stressed. That was pretty validating.
After the first week of that, Jimmy's state, Delaware, shut down. And they laid off nearly ALL of their staff, including Jimmy. So he packed up his car and drove 19 hours back home. Well that was less than ideal. But he would be home!
We really enjoyed our time together. It was more time together than we'd spent in a LONG time. The kids really loved having him home. He got a new job and started this week. He's right outside of Detroit now and we have high hopes for a job well done. We miss him, of course, but we've done this before and we'll do it again!
I am so SO scared to start a new chapter, and alone. I don't know how being a single-ish mom, looking for and/or starting a new job AND CAREER is going to work logistically. But I'm willing to figure it out because this is something I've always wanted to do.
We did some REALLY cool things during our quarantine time and I enjoy the hell out of being home with the kids. I hope everyone is doing okay and finding some light in these dark times. We're going to come out of this with a great new perspective and outlook. Slowing down a bit definitely won't hurt!