It's been a while... again...

Life changes in dramatic and mysterious ways, always. 

In March, we had all three of our teenage boys living in our home.  After a rather dramatic argument with one, they moved out and into their own apartment.  Time has healed most of the wounds from their dramatic mass exodus, but not all.  I'm not going to talk about that here, because it's personal and I'd like to eventually say what it is I want to say to them personally, individually. 

In April, my husband was able to help get the oldest a job at his then-employer.  It's a good job, in the warehouse, at a local-ish (about an hour away) plant.  It's something he can grow with, earn enough money to pay for his school, and have a stable income that's very high for his age and work history.  He hates it.  Not just slightly dislikes it.  Absolutely hates it.  We also helped him buy a new-to-him car when his was totalled in an accident in May.  They couldn't get him financed, and took back possession of his vehicle, leaving him with a little over half of his original down payment.  He has not been to work in a week, if I'm understanding correctly.  I'm at a point where I'm not even sure how to help him.  I'm making sure he knows the door is always open, and I'm willing to answer any questions he has, but he hasn't been asking for help.  My unsolicited input into the decisions he's making tends to extend the time between our talks (I don't think he likes that I'm a little critical of his choices).  So at the moment, I'm just kind of waiting to hear something from him. 

The middle one of the three teens (19) was released from his restaurant job for not calling in sick early enough.  He's had trouble finding another job in our town, and was arguing a lot with his older brother.  He has decided to move back to Corpus, to live closer to his girlfriend, and his dad, and his former stepmother was able to help him get a job at a dealership in Corpus.  Yeah!!!  He has dreams of being a mechanic, so this is great news!  Although our relationship isn't as fragile as with his older brother, he's also not very responsive, so I hear from him once every couple of weeks to check in. 

The youngest of the three graduated from high school in June.  It was a nail-biter.  In the time he lived with us, he rarely missed classes and was an A-B student.  Once he moved out, he missed so many classes that he had to be put on special "credit recovery" status, and make up classes and work.  We did not know for sure that he would graduate (on June 3rd) until June 1st at approximately 2pm.  He has kept his restaurant job, although he is looking at other options now that he's graduated from high school.  

My daughter is recently divorced (just this week, and is waiting on the signed copy of her divorce decree).  In March, she moved to The Woodlands (where she was born, and where we believed we would be moving near) for a fresh start.  She has had trouble finding a job, despite her TWO associates degrees, but is continuing her college classes, and I have no doubt will find something soon.  Her daughters are adjusting well, love their new apartment and the oldest, her new school.  It's summer now, and they're loving the pool as well as all of the trees.  :)  I miss seeing them as often as I used to, now being so far away and having to split the time they come down here with their dad.  But I'm happy that they're moving onward and upward.

The twins had a successful school year, both earning As and Bs in pre-AP classes, and are currently enjoying their summer freedoms.  They're excited to be going into the seventh grade, and although they miss having their brothers at home sometimes, they are adjusting well to the four-person family with surprising speed. 

As for my husband and I, we have had some difficulty with some financial issues that reared their head from over 10 years ago, but are taking steps to work through those.  It's a long road, and one that meant we would need to stay here for another year before moving as we had planned.  As synchronicity would have it, the same week we made that decision, I received yet another call from a friend that had been trying to hire me on with her company for over a year.  I sent her my resume for the sixth (or was it seventh?) time, honestly not sure that I would hear back.  Within just a few days, I met with the regional manager and was hired.  In the field I have come to know, love and hate (as most do who have worked in the oilfield), but in a completely new direction. 

As you may know, I have been an Office Manager for years now.  My background is in bookkeeping, marketing, human resources, dispatch, and other logistics areas.  Over the last 10 years, I have been in every facet of this oilfield business from seismic exploration and mineral and physical leasing to manufacturing of the productions equipment (separators and more) to specialty chemicals to trucking and transportation.  I love the variety of that job, and the skills I have learned.  But I always hated being chained to the desk, so to speak. 

I wanted to be out in the field, seeing people, helping make things happen.  I wasn't sure if the solution was safety or sales, but I knew that I wanted my next job to be in one of those areas.  Essentially, when you break it all down, I'm a problem solver, a relationship builder.  I studied safety and adult education - anything I could get my hands on - during my layoff period.  But I stopped short of spending money on safety certification because I wasn't sure which direction I would go in.  I studied relationship management, sales management - building pipelines, making contact, providing solutions to problems, documentation of the relationship and steps from first contact to close.  I also studied in great detail the consultative sales approach.  This is what I'd been doing for years.  Have a problem?  Here are some options to solve those problems.  There is no "hard sales" or "hard close" (what I'm not very good at).  Just a problem and single or multiple solutions. As I studied, I got more excited that this was the direction I am meant to go in.  As anyone who knows me will tell you, I have the "gift of gab".  I enjoy meeting people, talking to them, learning what they need.  I enjoy providing solutions to their problems.  This was the consultative sales approach.  Long before I had a name for it, I used it in my own freelance business. 

So, my friend was able this time to make it work.  The job started out as a part-time offering in the sales department (outside sales - getting tickets signed) three days/week.  It would be more than I was being paid by the unemployment office, but considerably less (almost half) of what I'd been making the last year or so.  As the oilfield is very fluid, and companies that have survived this downturn have also learned to be very fluid, the job position changed before I was hired, and I was hired on full-time at only about 15% less than I was earning before my layoff, but I would get a company truck (which at a commute of approximately 42 miles each way, per day would offset the earnings lost).  I would spend 3 days/week in the field and 2 days/week working in the office.  It's also changed several times since, as there have been changes with other employees.  The company hasn't been sure of where to put me - both safety and sales have been considered, as well as a combination of those.  I'm about 6 weeks in, and I'm currently working in the field 3 days/week, in the office 2 - split between assisting the Office Manager/Controller and doing administrative work in the safety department.  It currently appears that at the end of this month, I'll be in the field full-time in sales, both getting tickets signed and making cold calls to increase our customer share.  I may still help out with safety, but probably in increments that can be measured in an hour or two here, an hour or two there, not on a 2 day/week basis. 

I'm still writing, although not regularly.  And my photography has taken a back seat as well.  I'm kind of hoping that once I settle into the new job well, I'll get back to both in a more regular form.  I have started to work out again, and eat a little healthier.  So there's that.  :)  

The day before I started my new job, my husband made the move from his previous employer to a family-owned machine shop, in charge of the maintenance of their machines.  One that happens to be owned by some of MY extended family.  :)  He's enjoying his job and his time there, and some of the possibilities that they have suggested for the future. 

I think that I have learned - finally - to not try to predict what the future will hold for us.  Instead, we are doing the best we can to plan for anything the future may hold (good and bad), and to enjoy what we have right now.