The Start of a New Year

Society says that the new year begins on January 1st. In my life with everyone in school (or most everyone), the new year begins at the end of August. New clothes, new books, new pens and pencils and folders and binders and backpacks and instruments and a host of other cool things. Actually, new clothes usually wait for the temperature to go down because what's the point of buying fall clothes when it's still 105 outside?

It's been a bit of a rough time, but we have somewhat of a promising outlook. Ok, not really, but I choose to see it as promising somehow. Richard has a job. He's working for Williams-Sonoma right here in town at their catalog call center. He works Monday-Friday either 8-4:30 or 8:30-5. The schedule is awesome. The "commute" (I put it in parentheses because he's still in town) is awesome. The lack of stress over the job is awesome. The pay and benefits? Not so awesome. Low pay and no benefits. But he's working. It's something. And we'll have to see how it works out.

We've made it through two weeks of school and now it's time for Labor Day weekend. I have a plan. Really - I do. Today I'm doing nothing and I'm not expecting anyone else to do any work either. Today is relax from the first two weeks of school day. It's nearly 1:00 and I'm still in my pajamas. But I paid the bills - so that's something. (As I hear the boys play and then yell at each other for playing "too hard," I'm thinking I might have to come up with a better plan for them, but maybe I'll just close my door instead.)

As I think about where we are in this life, I realize that, other than our financial woes, we are in a really good place. We have a roof over our head, even if it is too expensive and there's no way to sell it. And we like our roof over our head, so we'll deal. We have food in the pantry and the refrigerator - including Diet Coke. :-) We may not have the trendiest clothes in the world, but we are clothed appropriately for the weather. We have air conditioning - which is probably the hugest blessing right now with the heat we've had this summer. We have the basic necessities and quite a few of the wants. And we have friends. Oh do we have friends. We have a bishop who loves us and is there for us. We have family who help when needed - in many ways.

I look at the bills we have to pay and wonder how we're going to pay them with the money we're making. (Our insurance just went up $500/month (we have insurance - that's a blessing too) because Richard is no longer teaching. That's gonna be interesting.) But somehow, something works out. Today I tried to pay my emergency room bill from Texas City. I'd waited until after September 1st so that I could use our newly-minted medical flex card. When I typed in all the information, the website couldn't find a matching account. I checked, double-checked and triple-checked the information. Couldn't find it. So I called. Gave all the information to a computer voice. She couldn't find it either. I requested a customer service rep. The office is closed on weekends. Little blessings in the form of someone else's hands - most likely my daddy's.

So...that's where we are. Same song, same verse, 462nd time we've sung it. But...it's just a little bit different this time. The stress isn't there like it used to be. The worry and the loneliness of it isn't there. We'll get through this. (It's not like we're the only ones in the country who have been downsized in one form or another.) Chris will graduate this year and he will go to college this summer. James will get a violin. The orchestra fees will get paid. The bills will get paid. Cooler temperatures and fall colors will get here. The only constant is change. And sometimes the change isn't in the big picture. It's in how we perceive the big picture.