Work Stuff

Its the middle of January and so far we've been spared the large snow storms that characterized our winter last year. We had one day that there was 4 inches of snow, but it didn't last a day before melting away. We had a quiet Christmas at home this year, as my official last day of work at PSU was Dec 6th. December was spent going to tax training, and dealing with Mark's car accident. He spun out on a on-ramp to the freeway during some cold wet weather. He wasn't hurt, but the car is damaged and may be officially totaled. We are still waiting for the insurance company to tell us if it will be repaired or whether they will pay us for the value of the car. We were also dealing with a very sick cat, as our 17 year old cat Piers was suffering digestive problems. We almost put him to sleep, but like many times in the past, he used up one of his nine lives and this month is doing better. I don't know how many more he has, but Mark and I are glad he's still with us.

The best news lately is that Mark has a full time job for the next 3 months. Its actually at PSU, working with faculty to create online class materials. Mark is very excited because this is something that he really wants to do, so it will be a great experience for him to put on his resume even if it only lasts 3 months. They are not sure if the position will be made permanent because of budgets. Even so, it helps us postpone using up our savings for another 3 months so its worth it. It will be a little crazy for Mark, working all day and then still teaching 4 classes. If this job turns out to be permanent, he may cut back on the teaching but until we know for sure, he wants to hold on to as many classes as he can. Just a couple weeks before this, Mark had decided to not work for H&R Block because of his faculty schedule, so that works out well with this new job as having 3 jobs would have been too much.

As for me, I'm quite busy. After quitting on December 6th and having a couple weeks off, my boss from PSU got another job and asked if I would temp back at my old job for a few weeks during the busyness of the beginning of the term. After the 2 weeks were over, they asked if I would stay till the end of the month. So I guess I'll be working full time until then. Its a little crazy, working full-time, working at H&R Block 4 days a week and going to school 2 days a week, but I just need to survive another 2 weeks and the money would be helpful. The beginning of February is when my H&R Block job gets super busy, so this will be good timing for me to concentrate on my tax job.

It was 1 year ago that Mark quit his full time job to teach part time, and its been an interesting financial road. Having only 1 and a half incomes have taught us to tighten our belts, but more it has given us the opportunity to examine the necessity of whether 2 people "need" to work. As I made the decision to stay at home and take a break from work to concentrate on my health, both Mark and I have given a lot of thought to our financial situation. We have a beautiful house, but is it worth it to pay a large mortgage and have to work 2 jobs, or would it be better to sell our house and be able to live on just Mark's part time salary and have free time? We go back and forth on this, but for now we've decide to wait till the end of Mark's temp job which coincides with the end of my tax season job before making any decisions. A lot can happen in 3 months and often does in our lives. =P

In other news in our lives, we are looking forward to going back to Hawaii at the end of May for Mark's brother's wedding. Also around that time, my sister is expecting her third child, which will be another boy. Mark's parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year as well. So exciting times for our families =)