I Can Do Hard Things

 

You know what, I can do really hard things.

I’ve been compiling bullet points over the last month-ish and decided to turn it into a blog. Most of the time I write to remind me of happiness, sadness and other times, but this blog is my personal journal that I happen to share.

Let me break it down.

I went into the month of December thrilled! Christmas was coming up, I had a fantastic job that I loved, my family was healthy, well… mostly. Jeremy was coming down with a weird cold like illness, but we were going strong. But, like they say, when things are going well, it’s almost like you should expect things to start going wrong.

On December 2^nd , I was laid off with the only explanation being that my boss didn't see his company going in the direction he’d taken and didn't want to do it anymore and that he wouldn't need me after that day. Twenty days before Christmas. No notice, no severance, nothing. Done.

This has been my favorite job to date. I wasn't only ridiculously worried about myself and our situation, but my co-workers had all just been laid off as well, some with families to support, too. And you know what, it was a really crappy thing for him to do.

I updated my resume and hit the internet pavement, applying everywhere. I got lots of calls about interviews, but when they found out that I would only be able to work a very particular schedule to accommodate me dropping off/picking up my daughter, I was wished luck, but turned away. After a couple weeks of interviews, I was offered a job at a supplement place. I was absolutely thrilled! They were going to work with me and my schedule, it seemed like a fast paced environment, and let’s be honest- it was a job.

I got this job offer on Friday the 12^th and was asked to start the next Monday. Sunday night, I started feeling sick. Remember when I said that Jeremy had some sort of illness at the beginning of the month? It had finally passed down to me. I figured I was just nervous to start a new job and it wasn't as bad as I thought.

I got there and there wasn't enough parking to accommodate all their employees, so I parked behind a warehouse and took the long walk to get to the building. I won’t go into much detail, but they weren't really prepared to take on another receptionist. They already had one gal, and although they had two computers at reception, only one of them actually worked. After one entire day there, I can honestly say I learned nothing. Also, as the day progressed, I started feeling worse. I could feel myself getting feverish and when I finally left, I was so relieved to blast the AC in my car. I got much worse overnight and started having flu symptoms and had no choice but to ask if I could take a sick day. The second day of work and I had to take a sick day. Buh. This gave me major anxiety because the other receptionist was going out of town for the Holidays and I had to learn the entire job in 4 days and now I was down to 3. I figured I’d sleep it off that day and hurry back on Wednesday. This was not the case. I got substantially worse. It was closing night of Christmas Story as well and I wanted to go SO BADLY, but while Jeremy was teaching piano, I trudged off to the doctor to see what I could do. Final diagnosis- pneumonia and influenza A. Awesome.  Jeremy  had to take the baby to closing night, while I feel asleep around 7pm.

To try to make this story shorter, I lost my job at the supplement company because of my illness. Nothing I could do. Devastated. No job, no health.

However, the day after I accepted the job at the supplement company, I got a call from a guy that wanted to interview me, but I told him I had already accepted another job. He gave me his info in case it fell through and said he’d love to speak to me. So, hey… things at the supplement place fell through. I took a second to sob after I got the call that I was let go, then called him.

So here’s the thing about pneumonia- you don’t sound good when you talk. You actually sound really scary. Really, really scary. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I just called this guy and found out that he’s an insurance agent and really needed an Executive Administrator. We talked for about 45 minutes and he gave me the job over the phone. This was fantastic for my self-confidence! I started with him on December 22^nd and have just been putting along, learning the job, really feeling like I've already been able to help him out a lot. Turns out, knowing Microsoft Office is really beneficial, especially Excel. So, I have a job I really like so far. I have a beautiful view and my own balcony, and when it’s warm, I can’t wait to open the door and let the breeze flow through.

Then, Christmas and New Year’s happened. After being laid off, all I could do was think about how much I was looking forward to the Holiday’s. I really needed the Holiday’s this year. I needed that happiness and that spirit so badly! We had family coming into town that we hadn't seen for a long time and, yeah. I needed it to be really good this year after the crap that had happened so far.

I don’t want to go too much into what happened, but things didn't turn out great. It was a really disappointing holiday, but despite what Jeremy and I did to try to make it great, the spirit was ruined and I really left exhausted and upset. We did have a fantastic New Year celebration with lots of food, candy, drinks, and movies. That was relaxing and so needed.

But, of course the universe couldn't let things rest there. We had gotten a letter from our City stating that our water usage was astronomical and that we probably had a leak somewhere. We had a plumber check it out and came to the conclusion that our water main had a break somewhere and would cost an arm and a leg to repair. It was repaired and thankfully, the final cost was on the lower end of the bid. Silver linings. It’s all about the silver linings in things, people.

So here we are. The second week of January and still alive.

You know what? It could have been so much worse. We are all relatively healthy, no one is dead or hurt, and we have each other. I can absolutely say that if I didn't have Jeremy, I wouldn't have survived this horrible month. He’s so freaking amazing and I am so lucky to have someone as strong as he is. The guy is a freaking rock!

So, you know what, 2014? I CAN DO HARD THINGS!