Here we go again!

Fasten your seat belts!  The Sellers are about to take you on another whirlwind adventure!

The short version:  We are moving to Texas.  Again.

Nope.  I'm not kidding. :)

The long version: Michael had been working for the same Texas company when we moved back here.  We will call that company B.  B let him go in April, but it wasn't because of anything he did/didn't do.  They were simply going in a different direction (and have since gone from 60 employees down to 5!).  When Michael started with them, it was after being off of work for 10 months, so he took whatever came along.  It was pretty much an entry level position making $10/hr.  He was the 13th employee, so the CEO and COO (and everyone else, really) got to know him, know his work ethic, know his character, and saw him do great things.  He worked his way up through raise after raise and was making a very good salary when they let him go.  Because they believed in him (and felt bad for having to terminate him), they went to bat for him.  All the big wigs reached out to like minded companies and contacts they had and talked Michael up.  Multiple companies contacted him, but we weren't interested in moving to Boston or Chicago.  Actually, we weren't sure we were interested in moving at all.  Company V contacted him and they briefly talked, but he had just taken a position with Verizon so that was pretty much the end of that.

Fast forward a few months and things were getting tight. Verizon was a temp job.  We needed benefits, we needed to not miss out on money every time a holiday rolled around and he didn't work, and quite frankly we needed more money.  Both Michael and I started looking for work.  And for answers to how we could make things work for our family.

In October, completely out of the blue, company V sent an email.  They said they knew he had a job, but was he happy.  They were going to be looking for a new data guy soon and had heard so many great things about him that they wanted to check and see if he was interested.  We pretty much talked the topic to death and decided that if the number was right we would go.  Well, they never really got back with him.  He contacted them a few times, he was suppose to get a call from the president, but never did.  We figured this was maybe a closed door.

In the past few weeks Michael started aggressively applying for new jobs.  Not only did we need more money, but we needed benefits.  (Thank you Obama, for increasing my self pay health insurance 4 TIMES the amount I was paying.  I see how this is "affordable". Or not.)  It is just frustrating to apply and apply and hope that the right one comes along.

Then Thursday night as I was getting ready to leave for MOPS, Michael gets a phone call.  It is company V.  They have landed multiple big time, long term contracts and need more data guys NOW.  They were about to put an add out, but wanted to reach out to Michael first.  They set up a phone interview of sorts for Friday.  Really, it was just to talk about pay, benefits, etc.  And to have Michael talk to the current data guy that he would be working with.  Since we had already hashed everything out in October, our answer was still the same.  If they come back with the right number then we will go.

Well, they came back with the right number.  Plus, a sizable yearly bonus (likely to be distributed monthly, but they are still working out those details).  Also, a life insurance policy, 9 holidays, and paid time off.  They pay 50% of our health/vision/dental.  And the average yearly raise for the company is 5%.

So we said yes.  It is just too good of an opportunity for us to pass up.  Michael would never be able to make that kind of money here without a degree.  This is a situation where it is who you know, and we have to be thankful for that $10/hr start that led to big things for us. God knew.

To say it has been a whirlwind of a weekend is putting it mildly.  They wanted him to start immediately.  They were obviously willing to give him a week or so to get down there, but made it clear that the sooner the better.  Michael figured that the sooner he got there the sooner he would start making more and his 90 days until benefits would begin.  So he is literally driving there as we speak.  He left yesterday, drove a good portion of it, and then is driving the rest today.  He will be moving around here and there staying with different friends for the next few weeks and then will be staying with my old bosses for a while.

We need to get out of our lease.  Michael touched base briefly on Friday, but they are out of the office for weekends.  It appears we may need to give a 60 day notice.  Michael is on a hunt to find us a place to live.  As soon as all of those details are in place we will have more answers.  All I know is that I have a lot of packing to do. Again.

There are still some unanswered questions about the move itself, and a lot of work ahead.  Also, the tough spot of having daddy in one state and the family in another.  So we have a few hurdles to jump in the next few months, but overall we are really excited.  I will be honest and say that we have both questioned if our move back to Ohio was the right decision.  I'm sure there was a purpose and a plan, but we are ready to be back living in sunny Texas.

(NOTE: We tried to personally tell as many people as we could, but it all happened so fast.  He will be in Texas today, so I figured this is another way to get the word out.  Sorry if you feel you should have gotten a call.  I sort of have my hands full at the moment.)