Bleak Times Ahead...

A month or so ago I posted some not so good news that was work related.  I was offered lots of prayers and encouraging words (and even some free cards) from the masses and I really appreciated all of it.  This is an update of sorts and I'm posting this as it will have a direct effect on my blogging habbits.

My company sold off several locations to a competitor and my location was one of those.  For the last month or so I've been in the dark whether or not I would be retained by the new company and if I was what my salary would be.  Good news I was offered a management position within the new company.  Bad news is the pay is roughly $14K less.  It doesn't get any better either when it comes to the insurance.  The new company self insured meaning I'm unable to add my daughter or pregnant wife to my insurance.  Thanks to the new health care law I'm also unable to get a separate individual policy for my daughter. 

Add all this up and you can see how my family and I will be hurting in the coming months.  There is a lot at stake here and right now I don't know how deep the cuts we'll have to make will go.  Right off the bat I know that I won't be able to buy and trade baseball cards near as much - nor will I be able to enjoy many of my other hobbies either.  I'm not saying I'm going away completely as I still have LOTS I can do w/ my blog that doesn't require much $ - however I may not be able to host group breaks and the like going forward.  Maybe Santa will bring me some boxes or packs of cards later this week and I can s-l-o-w-l-y open them while I'm poor to feed my cardboard fix!

I'm not giving up hope, it's just hard to be optimistic right now.  The timing of this is also really crummy.  To get notified not even a full week before Christmas that all of these changes are happening fast (Dec. 28th to be exact) makes it even more difficult.  I've updated my resume and I'll start firing it out to wherever I can in the coming days.  After that all I can do is pray and hope for the best.

I'm not asking for anything other than your prayers for myself and my family.  I know I'm not the only one struggling out there and I know others have it far worse than me.  I'm very thankful for what I have, what I've been given and I do have faith that things will improve - I'm just unsure of when things will finally take a turn for the better.