Thursday, May 24, 2012

WAYLAID, SIDELINED, AND BAMBOOZLED


A little more than three weeks ago I was cheerfully playing computer games working hard when the husband turned up at the front door. At 10 am. He was laid off. WHAMMO!

 It was a shock at first, but also it was kind of fun. We went on picnics, slept late. We took turns using key word searches on Craigslist. He applied for jobs, and so did I. Something better would come along.

 Then Big State Health Insurance sent us a letter- CANCELLED unless you pay a million dollars for COBRA. I figured we could keep them, and just negotiate for less coverage with a lower premium. Wrong! They are completely inflexible. It's all or nothing. SOOOOO frustrating! I guess it will have to be nothing, but I am looking into alternatives. I'm not young any more, but still too far from Medicare to feel safe going without anything. Plus I have three dependents. And a long list of middle-aged pre-existing conditions.

 Time passed, and nothing happened job-wise. Absolutely. Nothing. I began to pull out some old and very dusty HATS. Hats so old that I kind of hoped that I could have left them in the attic forever. Long ago, before children, before marriage, before knitting and Sara's Colorwave Yarns, I was a Geology professor at the local college. It was a fun career, and I enjoyed it very much. When the marriage came along, followed quickly by three babies in five years, I knew it was time to change to a new career: Mommy At Home. I don't regret it for a minute! It was certainly less lucrative, but far more rewarding. Two of those three babies are going to be in college this fall. I had hoped to wait to send the youngest one off before I began work again, but I'm afraid it is not to be.


Now there are so many questions:

 1. If I get full time work in my field, it will very likely mean moving to a different city or state. Is this worth losing the in-state-residency college scholarship for child #2? Is this worth uprooting child #3 from his (excellent local) high school and putting him in a possibly sub-standard one somewhere else?

 2. If I do #1, will my not-very-flexible and genius-but-socially-awkward child #3 ever get over it?

3. Can I even do #1? Will anyone even hire a middle-aged woman whose knowledge of the field is 20 years out of date?

 4. If I get full time work in my field, will my husband feel like a failure?

 5. If I get local part time work doing anything, can we survive?

 6. If I get local part time work doing something menial, will I feel like a failure? Should I do it anyway?

 7. Can I ever get health insurance again? Do I ever WANT health insurance again? Dealing with health insurance is right up there with getting a root canal, or worse.

8. Will I have to give up Sara's Colorwave Yarns? The horse? Knitting?

Stay posted!

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