Can I just tell you that there is nothing I hate more than having to make major life changing decisions! However, it seems like I am going to have to suck it up and work this out. It's just crazy how everything can change do fast.
Two weeks ago today I went to an intro meeting for a cohousing community that some old roommates of mine were helping to plan and build. It was wonderful and we were starting to figure out how to make it work so that we could afford to buy in there.
A few days later, I find out that my job is changing. I had been working for two departments 50/50. As part of my agreement when going back to work for the company that laid me off two months after letting me transfer to CA and two months before Terra was born, my work arrangement was 50% in the office (8-12) and 50% at home. Well, now I am being moved 100% in the pricing department (handling invoices, etc). Thanks to the folks at Enron and the ensuing changes in the financial world, our auditors want all pricing work done in the office...no home work. So, I was given two choices 40 hours a week, all in the office, plus pick up two new sales reps...or...30 hours a week, all in the office, keeping my current reps. Either way, I don't get home until at least 4pm daily.
This is all not good for several reasons. The most obvious, I DO NOT like the idea of missing ALL of Terra's day. Then there is the whole part where Phil is pretty much continuously on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I don't know what taking care of her for 10 hours a day (with commute) is going to do.
Soooo....Now for the decisions. Half of the reason we came back to Boston was because of the work arrangement. Now that is gone. Plus, we've been here a year and a half now and I have NO friends. I just can't seem to meet people. The moms the neighborhood are completely non-social. They just let their kids go out and play and are never out too. Terra's "friends" are all at least 7yo and mostly 10-11yo.
I THINK that our best bet is going to be to move to St. Louis to be near my family. I definitely like the idea of being able to see them more often. My niece is 4yo and my nephew is 20mo so Terra would have built in playmates. Plus, my sister just told me yesterday that she is almost certainly pregnant....YEAH!!! The downsides are that Phil won't be all that thrilled with the area as it is so conservative and that we will need a car again.
The problem is that I hate to move us AGAIN (we moved to CA in 02 thinking it would be best to live near my IL's for awhile, then back to MA in 04 when that turned out not to have done any good) only to find out we've made a mistake again. Plus, once we get there, it will be harder to leave again as we'll have to leave my family behind.
Okay, so I'm sorry for such a long rambling post, but I just don't know what will be best in the long run. Plus, I hate looking for jobs so that makes it harder. I guess I just wish that the "perfect job" (if I even knew what that was) would pop up making the answer clear. I guess I should just get to my original thought, which was that I could really use prayers and pixie dust for the wisdom to make the right decision. I guess I shoul throw "and quickly" in there too. If we're going to go, I would really love if we could be there before the baby was born in Dec. Plus, (to being it on topic a little bit
) I've got plane tickets for Disney to buy!
I can't very well buy plane tickets until I know where I'll be flying out of.
Thanks to anyone who actually made it this far through the post! (I get a little rambly when I'm stressed or tired and I'm pretty much both right now so I guess you're all out of luck tonight.
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I just had going there!
