Times are Changing!

I have updates.

The House rental is going well, the last time I emailed our renters, T said that her daughter has made friends with our neighbor's granddaughter, so they've been playing and having a good time. She said she is very happy that they decided to rent our house. Now, will they want to buy it next year when their lease is up?? I hope so!!!

Marc's job hunt is still unsuccessful, but we've made some decisions. I told Marc come hell or high water he was going to be here November 1, regardless of whether he had a job. I told him I was NOT going to do the Holidays without him. The 6 months we've been apart are enough. I'm done. He started talking with his Regional Director about a transfer (which I mentioned in my previous post). HEB opened a new store in Burleson, over towards Ft. Worth, last week. Marc was told that he could probably help open that store, but we didn't know how long that would last. We figured a couple of weeks maybe? And the only other opening for a Department Manager was in Waco. I just automatically assumed that meant the northernmost store in Waco, which is still right at about an hour on the highway from Waxahachie. Well, who knew that Waco has like 7 stores?? Sure enough, the store with the opening is in Southwest Waco, 77 MILES from Waxahachie. Uh yeah, NO WAY. So, we hoped for the Burleson option. Marc also started talking about taking a break for a little while. Originally, he hoped to finish in Austin on October 15 and start at whatever new store November 1. That would give him 2 weeks to relax, settle, and hang out with me! But, the last few weeks have been really tough, and so a 2 week break turned into a Month long Leave of Absence. I have never seen someone who needs a break more than Marc. He is So burned out and So tired of working at that store. It's hard to even place it into words on this post how he feels. Needless to say, I am completely supportive of a month long leave of absence. We have renters in our house, and we can definitely pay the rent/bills on the apartment with my salary. So, the plan became: Start Leave Oct 1 and start at a new store Nov 1, with hopefully finding a new job during the month of October. :) Then we got the news - help open the Burleson store, and report on September 22. This was quite a bit earlier than we thought, but boosted spirits because he would be here with me and we could actually be a married couple again! Oh wait. Management in Marc's store in Austin suddenly decides that they don't want anyone in a Manager level position helping in Burleson for more than 3 days, regardless of the fact that your wife lives 45 minutes from there. We kinda felt like we were back to square one. Luckily, Marc's Regional Director and the Director of Regional Operations for North Texas decided that it was not beneficial for the company, nor for Marc, for him to work in Waco, so they're trying to work something out in Burleson. Here's the catch - they can't afford 2 salaried managers, so Marc would have to drop to an hourly manager. Good thing - NO OVERTIME! Marc works 55+ hours a week now (on a 40 hour a week salary), so an hourly rate means that he wouldn't be able to work more than 40 hours. I'm cool with that. Bad thing - Pay cut. And apparently no one knows exactly what that pay cut would be. The only answer Marc gets is "You'd be paid the max of an hourly manager rate." No one seems to know exactly what that number is. I guess we'll find out sooner or later! So, Marc was able to work in Burleson Wed - Fri Sept 22-25, had 1 day off, and then had to work Sunday at his store in Austin. Then, they tried to push back the start of his leave date to October 9. Aye carumba, will this ever end? But luckily Marc got approval to start his leave Monday, October 4 after all. So, he takes inventory Sunday night, rests on Monday, and moves up here on Tuesday!!

So all in all, Marc is still looking for a new job, but I get my husband back next week!! Who knew it would be so hard to make a career change??

We've also started Football Season, which means Tailgating! I've posted pictures on my Facebook page, and I'll post some here soon. Sorry for all the rambling, I'll be done for now!