Things on My Mind

I kinda feel like unloading a bit of what is on my mind lately. A few thoughts:

1. My heart has been heavy lately thinking about someone I love. This person is going through a really, really rough time and lives far away from me and that makes me feel hopeless. Today we had a lesson in Relief Society that made me think of this person and I totally lost it. When I got home from church I could still feel this physical heaviness weighing on me. What do you do when there isn't much you can do?

2. Mark is looking for a new job. His company got bought out several months ago. Supposedly, things were going to stay the same for everybody but now they have decided that the accounting would all be done at the corporate level so no need for Mark and the other accountants that work with him. So, we're looking around, Mark has until March 15th until he's let go. We are not worried. We have savings but we have worked super hard to build our emergency fund and it would be nice to not have to dip into that if we didn't have to. Mark is a hard worker and has always without complaining worked hard for our family. A friend said to me, "Well, at least you'll get to see more of him if he's out of work," and I said, no that's not the plan. If Mark is out of work he will wake up at a normal time in the morning, shower, shave, get dressed in slacks and a collared shirt and look for a job for eight hours. I actually heard Dr. Phil talk about this once years ago and it has stuck with me: "If you don't have a job your job is looking for a job." That's how it's going to happen around here, and it's going to take my own dedication just as much as it will take Mark's to make sure that happens. Friday, Mark's family watched the boys so we could go out suit shopping so he'll have a nice suit for job interviews. I've never been suit shopping before, and it was kinda fun seeing my attractive guy modeling suits. We were pretty happy with the one we picked out.

3. I feel like we are pretty frugal folk. Sometimes I look around and wonder how people have the money to spend on certain things. I shouldn't compare, but I do. Sometimes I just have to tell myself that perhaps they don't really have the money to spend on this thing or that thing after all or that they choose to spend their money and maybe they don't have any money in the bank.

4. We have some debt still from when we were first married. Mark had a little and I had a little when we got married and then we had a little more that first year or so when money was super tight. It wasn't gigantic but it's been a slow process paying it off. When Mark was getting his masters degree a few years ago we used a student loan to pay off the credit card and the loan of one of our cars because the interest rate of the student loan was less. We've slowly been ticking away at that over the last few years and if the stars align and Mark is able to find a new job that will start right away when his old job ends in March we will be able to pay all of that off this summer and we will be totally debt free except for our mortgage. We will also have a good chunk of money set aside for emergencies. We're praying that things will work out that way but who knows what the Lord has in store for us.

5. If you don't mind, if you know any accountants that might have a connection for Mark, please let us know. He figures the best way to find a job is by knowing the right people, so I feel like it is my responsibility to spread the word. He is not a tax accountant, he does corporate accounting. He is a CPA, has a masters in accounting and has been a controller for a small company for the last 5 years. He's also very nice and looks good in his suit.