Random Rambles: Changes
(c) JordyR (Creative Commons – Flickr)
As many of you are aware, my husband and I have been dealing with a lot of changes in our lives recently. Today starts week two of my husband having a new job.
It is 9:07 AM. My husband has already left for work. He was up and about, going through his morning routine at 9:00 AM. I watched him in bemused wonder, trying to figure out who the ruggedly handsome man occupying my house was.
In the years we’ve been married, my husband hasn’t been a morning anything. But, for the vast majority of our marriage, he’s worked at the same place with a rather long commute. It used to be 30 minutes on a good day at our first apartment/second apartment/condo. At our house, on a bad day, he’d be in the car for an hour and a half each way.
We both knew this sort of drive was stressful, but just how much of an impact it was making was hidden under the piles of other crap thrown at us from all directions.
My husband losing his job was perhaps one of the best things to happen to us since we got married.
With the severance money, he bought me an early birthday present–a new laptop for me to work on. We’ve been talking about replacing my computer for a while, but it had been set aside as a potential present for a Christmas or some such down the road. My desktop hasn’t been nice to me lately; if anyone or anything touched the case, something will short circuit, cutting out all of my USB ports. It was excessively frustrating to say the least–and a worry of epic proportion. (Would it short circuit the entire board? Would it go on a murderous rampage and kill my novels?!)
Because of the severance, my husband decided to give me a Macbook Pro. I’m thoroughly in love with it. With how I use the system (a browser with a couple of tabs and Scrivener), I am getting a 18+ hour battery life on a single charge. My lap isn’t frying, either!
We’re both adapting. This may sound weird, but positive change can be difficult to cope with. Doubt plays a factor. Between the commute and being pushed out of a job he had worked at for more than twelve years, doubt was a big problem. Starting something new is frightening. Would he like it? Would he fit in? Would he be okay with going in earlier? Could he handle being on call 24/7?
He was out of bed at 9:00 AM this morning, and I didn’t even have to resort to stealing his covers. It’s raining, and the weather didn’t chain him to bed, hiding under the covers in his effort to hide from it.
Last night, he was wandering the house, talking to himself and the cats as he made certain he had everything he needed for work in the morning.
He’s happy, and in turn, that makes me happy.
It takes him ten minutes to get to work. If he has to run an errand, he can; 20 minutes total commute around lunchtime means he can come home and visit me if he wants–or go to the bank to deal with all of the things needing to be dealt with. (That’s what he’ll be doing today.)
Today, I’m hoping to finish the transcription of Blood Diamond. If I do, I’ll begin the many rounds of rereading, editing, rereading, proofing, rereading, proofing again, rereading, more proofing, and even more proofing.
The end of May for release is still a potential possibility. The cover art isn’t ready yet. I’m hopeful everything will come together.
I’m also hopeful that sometime this year, maybe I’ll be the one who catches the break. I could use some good luck.
It turns out that the silver lining in the black supercell of job loss was actually made of platinum and could be harvested for personal use. Who would have thought?
Sometimes, making the most of a bad situation can make all of the difference in the world.
