My world is a bit topsy turvy right now. I haven't had much time to blog, especially now that my work has blocked all access to blogs and I can't sneak in a post or a comment or two during our slow times. The audacity of it all, they actually expect me to WORK at work? ;)

Thank you all for the fun comments you've left me on my Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Party post. I will do my best to stop by your blogs and join in your party festivities too!

So, based on the feedback I received during last week's Favorite Ingredients Friday post, I'm going to have the St. Patrick's Day themed recipe exchange this coming Friday, 9 March, so that you all have time to go grocery shopping and try out an Irish recipe or two by the time St. Patrick's Day arrives.

Do you like the button I made? It's actually from a picture that we took at our rehearsal dinner in Ireland nearly 4 years ago. The restaurant served us Irish coffee with this neat nutmeg shamrock on the top.

Okay, specifics for the recipe exchange, the recipes can be Irish dishes, or even just green foods/beverages. I'm excited about this one. I have a beautiful Irish cookbook that Oronzo got for me while we were in Ireland. I'll have a tough time deciding which Irish dish to share with you! :)

Okay, thanks for hanging in there with me, despite the fact that I haven't been as active of a blogger as I like to be lately.

Labels: blogger friends, moving, topsy turvy world

As if this moving process weren't difficult enough for us, Oronzo's first oldest sister (to be referred to as Paige) has taken it upon herself to try to administer some "tough love" to Oronzo, in an effort to convince him that he's making the wrong decision in leaving.

I won't get into all the specifics, but she came over yesterday wanting to talk (while I was at work) and basically told him that he was giving up too easily on his consulting business, that he needs to learn how to "tighten his belt" and make more sacrifices (i.e. get rid of cable & Netflix) so that he wouldn't have to move, that she's worried he'll hate NE and within 2 years want to leave, and that she's worried our son will be like a "military brat" and be drug from state to state as Oronzo tries to find a job that he likes.

More was said, hurtful things, all in the name of "tough love." Paige felt as though it was necessary to say these things to Oronzo in an attempt to prevent him from making this "mistake". Oronzo sat in silence as she spewed her opinion. He calmly told her he disagreed with what she was saying. Paige ended the conversation with, "I think you should reconsider your plan, but of course, I'll support your decision either way." Well, that support is obviously lacking, as far as I'm concerned!

Oronzo and I were up until the wee hours of the morning going over what Paige said to him. He asked me if I agree with her about some of the points she was trying to make. I told him I did not!

I must say, I'm angry! I'm angry that Oronzo's sister would refuse to credit us with the intelligence to look at every angle of our situation and to carefully make the decision that we felt was best for our family. I'm angry that Paige would think it's okay to try to tear my husband down in the name of "tough love". I'm angry that Oronzo's not more angry. After we talked it through, he's resigned to just let it go.

I know I need to let it go too. She's hurting right now because we're leaving. She's enjoyed having the opportunity to get to spend more time with Oronzo and with me, since we moved back here 2 years ago. She's envisioned our sons (her son is just 7 months older than Snuggle Bug) being raised together more as brothers than just cousins. I think she's feeling abandoned.

Despite all of this, I think she's taken the totally wrong approach. I wouldn't have minded if she would've asked, "Have you thought of this, this or this?" Then Oronzo could've kindly told her that we had indeed though of all these things. Instead, she decided to belittle Oronzo and his decision.

Ugh!! I'm so tempted to have my own conversation with Paige to let her know how little I appreciate her tactics! I guess I'm afraid that would only make things worse.

What would you do?

Labels: family arguments, moving

As we prep our house to prepare for putting it on the market, I find myself wavering in our decision to move. Is this normal?

This is the first house I've ever purchased and I love it. I don't want to leave it or the neighborhood we live in.

I've put off buying moving boxes and packing because I can't help myself, I keep changing my mind as to what I want us to do.

We've told most of our family and some of our friends of our decision. Everyone has been very supportive, even the family and friends here where we are now that will have to say goodbye to us in 3 weeks.

Why am I wavering in my decision?

Labels: leap of faith, moving

Be prepared for a lengthy post. I've got issues!

Oronzo and I feel as though we're teetering on the edge of a steep cliff, trying not to tumble off and smash into broken pieces on the rocks below.

There's sudden turmoil in our life, and it all stems from a job offer that has been extended to Oronzo. Let me explain.

For the past 2 years, Oronzo has been a stay-at-home daddy, taking care of Snuggle Bug and doing contract work from home. Emotionally, it's been fantastic! Although I wished I could be the one staying home with Snuggle Bug, my type of work has never allowed for that, while Oronzo's has. My comfort has been that his daddy, rather than a daycare stranger, is lovingly caring for Snuggle Bug.

So, emotionally, things have been fantastic! Financially, not so well. We've been managing to make ends meet, but sometimes just barely. My steady income certainly doesn't cover all the bills and Oronzo's contract work has been rather up and down, sometimes more down than up (through no fault of his own, Oronzo is the most motivated individual I know). And what's really frustrating is when he does a lot of work for a client, sometimes that client takes 120 days, or longer to pay their invoice and Oronzo has to hound them to try to collect. That's been rather unpleasant. So, we've been getting by, but not getting ahead. And with a second adoption on the horizon, we realize now more than ever that something’s got to give.

So, Oronzo started hunting for a FT job. He searched high and low in our city and surrounding areas but the market for his field has never been that good here. He began expanding his search to other states and decided to look at Nebraska, since most of my family lives there. Low and behold, he found a position that he was qualified for, he interviewed with the company that had the opening, and after 6 long weeks of waiting, the company extended him an offer.

The offer was decent but it wasn't as nice as we'd hoped it would be. We were hoping it'd be higher so that there'd be no question about me being able to stay home with Snuggle Bug and baby #2. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Although we'll be better off financially and we'll certainly have more stability, as well as a much better benefits package, I will still have to work FT for at least another year to play catch up and meet our long-term financial goals. Even my ideas of an in-home business will not be realized right away.

The gist of all this is that we have spent the past few days AGONIZING as to whether or not to accept this position and move to Nebraska. There have been many late night discussions, many tears shed, and even a PROS and CONS list thrown together over dinner one night, which really didn't seem to help us much with deciding.

Moving means giving up so much...it means leaving the city where Oronzo went to college, where his sisters live, where we met, dated, and became engaged, where Snuggle Bug was born and entrusted into our forever family, where he was baptized into the Catholic faith, where we have a close-knit circle of friends, where we have a beloved house (that we poured lots of love and labor into fixing up) in a fantastic neighborhood just walking distance from an excellent elementary school, where we've made friends with some very dear neighbors, where we only have to drive 2 hours to visit Oronzo's parents on their small ranch. I could go on and on but I think you get the point. The scariest part of moving means putting Snuggle Bug in daycare for at least a year. This alone is such a huge sacrifice for our family. My heart aches at the thought of it!

On the positive side, moving means more financial stability; it means that Oronzo will be in a senior level position being groomed for management. It means better chances of being able to adopt again. It means being closer to my family (Snuggle Bug will have many more aunts/uncles/cousins in NE to spoil him). It means that Oronzo will have more opportunities to pursue his passion of flying (he's a private pilot). It means a fresh new start and sometimes that can be exciting.

So, what did we decide? Well, we decided to take the plunge, accept the offer, and move to Nebraska. Oddly, even after making this decision, I still find myself weepy at times. It was SO HARD to make this decision because, other than the job/work situation, things have been really great here and we have so many good memories here in this city!

I can't help but wonder, did we make the right decision for the right reasons? Will our house sell at the price that we need it to in this buyers market? Will Snuggle Bug be okay with this transition? Will Oronzo and I? Will I be able to set proper boundaries with my large family to ensure that the needs of my small family come first? Is Oronzo sacrificing too much?

Now that the decision has been made, I'm trying to quell these doubts and commit myself to this course of action. I'm trying desperately to keep a positive attitude about it all. I've got a "moving task list" a mile long and everything on it needs to be done before we leave town on 22 March, so I don't have time to feel sad and mopey about it all. Oronzo's first day at work is 26 March. It's all happening so fast!

So, dear blogger friends, if you've made it through my long, long post, I implore you to offer up prayers and words of support and encouragement for our family. We certainly would appreciate them! In fact, if you wouldn't mind expressing your prayer in my comments section, I think I would draw much comfort from being able to read them. I firmly believe in the miraculous power of prayer!

Thank you so much for allowing me to sort through these conflicting emotions by blogging. It helps so very much!

Labels: family, leap of faith, moving, Oronzo, Snuggle Bug, stay-at-home daddy, working mommy