I mentioned earlier about some changes coming our way around here.  I couldn’t share them with you all as yet, as everyone who needed to know in person hadn’t been told yet.   To be honest, I was waiting to tell my local loom knitting group at our meeting this last week about what was in the future before they read it here and not from my own lips, lol!   By the way, we had 10 ladies come to our group this week, and we had a great time  learning new techniques on the looms and starting a new project…which I will be sharing with all of YOU soon! 😉

My husband and I hold some foundational beliefs  about how we are to go about raising our family.  When our girlies were small and not yet in full time school, we felt very strongly about needing to have one of us at home with them at all times rather than giving away some of our parenting responsibilities to a daycare.  We stuck to this decision, no matter the financial cost of having only one of us bringing home a paycheck.  We actually took turns as to who would be home and who would enter the workforce.  I feel we did really well in this, and now looking back, know that our kids benefited greatly from having that one-on-one connection and constant nurturing/learning from their parents. 

When the girls were both old enough to be in school full time, we both entered the workforce, making sure to have one of us scheduled to get off by the time they were due home from school.  This was a plan that worked great until I was severely injured at work and had to undergo multiple surgeries on my wrists in 2004.  This was an extremely traumatic experience for me, as I’ve always needed to be doing and how could I with my hands in casts/braces??  After spending most of 2004 at home in recovery, we took a big financial hit from missing my full time salary for so long.  We were living in a place that just couldn’t be supported by one income.   We started looking into moving back into the area that we grew up in (where we are located now) and my hubby found an excellent job in manufacturing, I began working part time at Michaels Crafts, and off we went to dive into a new chapter in our life. 

For the last 4.5 years I have been dealing with the fact that I am physically unable to do the work that I used to excel at.  I have spent most of my working career in retail management, but this requires a lot of lifting, etc, that my classified “permanently partially-disabled” hands just couldn’t take.  So I had to enter this large corporation, see many job opportunities pass me by, and spend my days doing menial tasks at a level that I knew my qualifications were well above doing, all because of my physical limitations.  I spent many days extremely frustrated and depressed, but determined to do my best anyway, because that is who I am.  I can’t see giving anything I have in front of me  less than the best effort that I can possibly give it.

This tale has it’s good side-stories…in the struggle to find something that made me happy, I’ve found all of you!  I began teaching loom knitting (which I can still do even with the trouble with my hands), I started this blog, and have made so many great friends online that I never would have had the chance to meet otherwise.  I’ve been able to participate in 2 loom knitting books, our online magazine, and countless other little very satisfying projects that have made my “real”  job a little easier to bear. I’ve even spent the last year going back to school, in an energizing effort  to hopefully earn a degree that will get me out of this rut I’ve found myself stuck in.

Where am I going with all of this, I know you’re beginning to ask yourself, lol!  I promise, the reason of the post is coming soon… 😉

My wonderful husband, in all this time, has been working like crazy at his job, and succeeding!  He’s found his niche in manufacturing and has been, in the industry’s standards, been moving up the ladder rather quickly.  He even won an award at the close of last year for being such a great mover and shaker to improve business and efficiency.  I’m so immensely proud of him!!  He’s recently been given a huge promotion, raise and opportunity for future advancement.  Part of this change for him includes where he will be working.  He will be transferring to the Tacoma, WA facility.  This is a 45 minute drive one way, if there is absolutely no traffic, which rarely happens in the best of drives, and he’ll be driving that route during the heaviest traffic times.  Needless to say, we’re looking to relocate to closer to where his new employment is, so that he won’t be wasting valuable family time stuck on I-5. 

The other huge change that this new opportunity has brought on is the chance for me to be able to leave my job and come home at last!  😀  I can’t tell you how much of a relief this is!  I’ll be able to take care of my family in the way they deserve to be cared for, and be home again for my girls who are entering phases in their lives that will need extra support and “mom” encouragement. I’ll be able to succeed at the “proper care and feeding” of my hubby that he has long desired and greatly deserves.   I’ll be able to spend more time doing the things I love, and won’t be spending my days wishing things were different, and life wasn’t so hard.  I’m not sure yet of all the ramifications that this change will entail, and I’m sure there will be many, but for now, I’m happy.  I can say without a doubt that my hubby is my hero, and I love and respect him for making this possible and for caring for his family so well.

My last day at Michaels is this coming Friday.  Throw a little confetti for me where ever you’ll be and do a little happy dance, and know that I’ll be doing it right along with you!  I’ll keep you posted for further developments I’m sure will be coming soon…  Thanks for reading this loooong post and for sticking with me this far and for your help in keeping me sane-you guys are AWESOME!!!

Bethany~