Thursday, January 7, 2016

Changes, Changes, Changes!


There are big goins' on in our household right now.....huge!

Our lives as we've known them for the last 42 years are about to change.

Don has been offered another Voluntary Separation Agreement....the first time this happened was last February ......we were knocked off our feet....Don's good work friend, Suzanna, was also given the offer back then and she decided to take it....she's a few years older than Don, her husband's been retired for a few years, and she's been threatening to retire for awhile....so it wasn't a big surprise that she took the deal.

The Deal........isn't such a great deal for working just over 30 years for the same company, and it's the same deal they offered the last time....so, there's nothing more sweetening the pot......

.....so, why is this time different then the last time.....disgruntleness, I'd say....
I don't think that's a word...I just made it up....plus Don is tired of all the work politics.....

It's a HUGE decision......for one thing.....Susanna doesn't still have any dependants living at home....we do......three of them, that put our monthly running costs up more than if there was just the two of us.....yes, they pay rent every month, but it really doesn't cover everything.....like Maya's supplements...( a huge cost, those things aren't cheap) food, hydro, water...Don just spoke to Ben the other day because he leaves the faucet running water while he shaves....well, we have a monthly water bill...we pay for it coming in, we pay for it going out ( sewage) .....hopefully he stops but Ben gets things into his head about how he does stuff , in his words, ' I always do it that way', might as well be written in stone!
Our mortgage is still really high.....why?.....because almost ten years ago, we realized that these guys were getting bigger, adult size, and because of their delays, they won't be leaving here anytime soon, so we had to enlarge the living space of the house.....unfortunately that put our mortgage way up there...where it still is...you know how it works, most of the time you seem to be spending all the time just paying the interest......so, that's a concern...not that we thought we'd have it paid off in three years ( the time he'd traditionally retire at 65)... But....we thought we'd have a few other financial obligations paid down by that point too.

We had plans.....yes, plans, you know those things we all make in our lives...some good, some bad....but, still...plans.
You know what they say about the best laid plans......

-1- more travelling....we like travelling...it gets us away from things for awhile, develops great memories, gives us some alone time....well, we had some travel plans ...going back to Maui with Don's brother and wife, another river cruise, back to Tanglewood for a concert with the Boston Pops, out to the Seattle area, down to South Carolina.....and we can't forget the River Walk in San Antonio...one of my favourites.....

-2- upgrades on our house....we've had dogs in our family for thirty years....our hardwood floors LOOK like we've had dogs for thirty years....they need replacing....because they're so old, they just can't be sanded and redone.....we were going to enlarge our back deck....in preparation to retirement..( we figured we'd be spending a lot of time there) ...we may still try and do that because we will probably have to give up our trailer....the place where we go in the summer for our family holidays ....it's very expensive to keep it where it's parked, where we've enjoyed our summers for 38 years.....our roof....even though it was redone when the additions were put on, I see the shingles not looking as smooth as they used to...so, you know that's going to need doing......

-3- vehicles...right now we have two....a van and a car...both are older ...'06 and '08....they're not going to last forever ....we still can't go down to one because as Don pointed out to the financial advisor yesterday...I'm chief administrator for all our kids programming....that means a lot of driving and meetings....... What to do, what to do......

Don would have to get some part time work to supplement things...which he's more than willing to do, to add to his second career ...that's teaching continuing education at two local colleges in the evening...but those positions are sporadic....depending on enrolment ...so, something a little more stable must be procured....

So, yes....huge changes in our household...huge...big decisions to make here....a little overwhelming is an understatement.....but that's where trust comes in ....we are trusting that our Father will give us the direction in which to go....we are trusting in our financial planner to give us good advice...we are trusting that as we have to stop travelling, give up our holiday spot, our trailer, our PLANS......that we will have a peace about this, a peace that passes all understanding . Philippians 4:7











~ Marie


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