Unemployment

My husband lost his job last Monday. I've spent the last week trying to figure out what to say about this in a public forum. To say I'm frustrated would be an understatement. Other people saw it coming, but my husband went along in bliss, just ignoring that there was a problem. So here we are trying to figure out how to live on one income when we couldn't afford our expenses on two incomes.

We are presently 25,000 in debt, partly from dental work for my husband, partly from traveling, and partly from just plain overspending. We have a 4000 a month mortgage, yes, that's 4 grand. That's probably more than many people make a month and that's our mortgage. We also have a two year old, and well, that isn't cheap either.

I've at least come to terms with our circumstances, and my husband is out there searching for a job. So hopefully this comes to a conclusion soon, because we won't survive more than about 6 months on one income.



Drug shortages

Five years ago I wouldn't have been able to tell you what is Mucomyst let alone Acetylcysteine. These two drugs have one purpose to thin mucus so it may be coughed up. It is a very important drug for anyone with Cystic Fibrosis. Right now, there is a nation-wide shortage of this ever so important drug. Mycomyst is the original drug, but it is no longer manufactured. The remaining drug Acetylcysteine is manufactured by three companies. One of those companies is having manufacturing contamination problems. So now it is down to two manufacturers and they can not keep up with the additional demand.

Alex takes Acetylcysteine daily to help prevent build up of mucus. He takes it more than once a day when he is sick. To this point, we have just taken it for granted that it was available. The biggest problem we've had was that they want to give it to us in 30 ml bottles, but he only takes 2ml per day and the bottle only lasts 4 days so we end up throwing out medicine when we have a 30 ml bottle. Now, I'm lucky if I can find it in any size bottle. I didn't even know there was a problem until last month when I went to pick up his refill from Walgreens. They didn't even bother to let me know about the backorder until I showed up. They just had their automated system call me and tell me there had been a delay in one of the medications. Then when I showed up, the pharmacist just stated it so matter of factly that it was on back order until at least July. Uh, no. He needs this every day, and we are low. After a little convincing, she called another pharmacy and found it. But when I showed up to pick it up, they only had 30 ml bottles, that would only last us 2 weeks. This pharmacist was much faster to react. She called around until she found the right medication for my son. Walgreens just lost a customer. Unfortunately, the pharmacy that had the drug was closing, but they would have it for me the next day. It took 3 pharmacies and a few hours to get the Acetylcysteine last month, and that was only a one month supply.

Roller Coaster Ride

On Friday, I was told that I was going to be offered the job I had interviewed for and it included a promotion. I was ecstatic. It isn't that I don't like my job, but I've been doing it for 6 years and I was ready for something new. Then yesterday, just 5 days later, I was told the job requisition was being frozen because the company is going through layoffs. It was a total roller coaster ride. I just wish they had never told me the job was mine. I had told people, I had told my lead. My manager already knew. I feel like I'm totally screwed. My manager knows that I'm itching for a promotion, but I don't want her to think I'm not happy. Ugh what a mess.

To top it off, I did an assessment of our current finances to figure out that in the last year that we have accrued $25K in credit card debt. No, it did not just happen overnight, so many things have contributed. One year ago we bought a new house that is testing our ability to stay on budget. Well we have proven we are not so good at it. I was putting away money for the property taxes, but they were higher than I calculated so we were short. I put it on the credit card. That just added to the debt already there, ranging from vacations to just overspending in monthly expenses.

It's been a rough few days, but hopefully it will get better. Hopefully, I am not part of the layoffs. That would really suck, going from having two jobs, to having no job.

Not so Vegan...

I did really good at the whole Vegan thing for a few days, then came pizza and lasagna on Tuesday and a latte with milk on Wednesday. I stayed vegetarian, but that whole cheese and milk thing is hard. I have absolutely no will power when it comes to cheese, I want to, I really do, but when it's just staring me in the face, I am terrible. I never really thought about how hard it is to avoid cheese. Restaurants stick cheese on everything from your salad to your burrito. It's hard to say, "can I just get a bean burrito", it doesn't even sound good, no meat, no cheese.

However, I am learning not to mind skipping those things when at home. We made mushroom Stroganoff last night with soymilk and fresh wheat fettucini. Other than being a little too thick (should've added more vegetable stock) it was really, really good. I've also learned to really love hummus. Yes, i know, it's just beans, but add some garlic and jalapeno and it's pretty good. So I guess that's progress.

Going Vegan

I'm going vegan, well for 28 days any way. I'm a hard core meat eater, I eat it at least 2 times per day and if you include eggs it would be almost always 3. We are also getting rid of most of the artificial food in our lives. The crap that is making this nation fat. I truly believe that, but it's hard. That means dinner takes about 30-60 minutes to cook every day. For two working parents with a two year old, that's a lot.

But I'm doing this for my son. He is eating way too much processed crap. We give him graham crackers whenever he is hungry and nothing else is available quickly. It's terrible, and totally my fault. So I'm making a change. A drastic one. We are going vegan for 28 days, and Alex well he's going vegetarian. He still gets his milk and eggs. Neither of which do I see a real problem with when it comes to a two year old.

This is a test, to see if I can really do it and improve my health drastically. Then I'll be happy to add back in some meats, cheeses and eggs, but only when I really want them and will truly appreciate them. No more adding chicken to a dish just to add chicken. That's just crazy. And I'll skip the cheese on most things because it's just fat. If someone were to call cheese what it really is, processed fat, I guarantee that many people would stop eating it. Oddly enough I think the thing I'll miss most is a good steak, fish, and eggs.

Let's see how this goes. Taking it one day at a time. I've made it 3.5 days (pumpkin bread made with butter on the first day, oops)

Boys and Baseball

We took Alex to his first baseball game on Sunday. The plan was to get up have breakfast, go grocery shopping for lunch makings, make lunch, catch the train to the game, go to the game. The day did not go as planned.

I made lemon cornmeal pancakes for breakfast as a part of our attempt at a more natural lifestyle through a 28 day venture into a vegan diet. Thankfully, that was fine. They tasted great, never missed the eggs or the oils.

I left my husband at home to get Alex ready for the game while I went to the grocery store. I wanted some items I wasn't sure I'd find at my local Safeway, so I headed to Whole Foods. The only problem with this plan was that I was not familiar with the store. Instead of heading in, picking up mustard, hummus, tortillas, and mirin and leaving, I wandered aimlessly through the store picking up any item I came across that we might need during the week, ranging from pasta sauce to vitamins. When I got home, I expected to find my husband and son ready for baseball. Instead, I found my little boy sitting in the entry way in his orange pajama top and a diaper playing with his trucks. Although very cute, he was definitely not ready for baseball.

My husband took him away to finish what he should have done while I was gone, got him dressed. I got started on preparing lunch. My husband figured out that the tickets were not electronic as I had thought, but needed to be printed. Almost an hour later, we were finally getting into the car to head to the train station. The only problem, I realized my medication was sitting on my desk at work, so a stop at work was warranted. So instead of catching the train, we drove to the ballpark. Parking at the ball park was $30! Yes, thirty dollars. That was more than we paid for each of our seats. At this point we didn't have a choice.

Just as we were heading to the park, I realized, I'd forgotten the bread for our sandwiches. We had everything, but the bread. Now, we needed a grocery store again. We walked to the grocery store got pita bread and a few other things, and walked back to the ballpark.

After a morning of what seemed like a comedy of errors, we actually made it to the baseball game before the first pitch. I was absolutely amazed. The weather had forecasted rain, but looking at the sky, we really didn't think it would rain. We enjoyed our hummus and veggie pita pockets in lieu of the typical ball park food of hotdogs and beer. I really didn't miss the greasy hotdog after my jalapeno hummus. By the end of the game Alex had figured out when to cheer and even mimicked the guy in front of us who was booing at one point. It was adorable. After the 7th inning we figured we might be pushing our luck on Alex's nap time, so we decided that although the game was tied 1-1, we would leave. Before we left, we got a printed certificate commemorating Alex's first baseball game.

Overall, it was a fun and unique experience for Alex's first baseball game.

Mayonaise Jar and Two Cups of Coffee

When things in your life seem, almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class
and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
And proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students, if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively
filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - family,
children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions –
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, Your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else --The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued,
there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first --
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.
'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'

Please share this with other "Golf Balls"

About me and my son

I am Amanda, mom to a beautiful little boy, full-time financial analyst at Lockheed Martin, and a wife to my husband of almost 5 years now.

In addition to my primary roles, last year I took on the great challenge of training for an Olympic distance triathlon which I completed in April. I am now training for the San Francisco Nike Marathon in October. All with Team in Training, which requires significant fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

My son, Alex, is 2 years old. He is my whole world and I treasure every minute I get to spend with him, which is a lot fewer minutes than I'd like.

Alex was born with a heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and had open heart surgery at 10 weeks old. It seems like that was forever ago now, but it is always on my mind as to how it might affect his future. Alex also has Cystic Fibrosis, which to date has caused very few issues. He has had a few more sinus infections than he probably should have had at 2 yo, but other than that he is doing very well.