A New Path

Well after much debate, I have opted to take the other job opportunity and start a new adventure. I think it will be a good move, I will be here in town (woot woot! no more commuting!) and will be working with a fantastic group. The pay is comparable but most importantly it has full benefits. I am looking forward to this, considering the hospital bills for Tyler's surgery are starting to roll in and so far I'm up to right around $25,000 in medical bills. I don't know how much Tyler's CHIP is going to cover yet, but so far I'm looking at around $9,000 for my portion. That is a much better number than $25,000 but still pretty scary, I'm going to be paying on that bill for a very long time. My child support has been approved too...now I just need to start receiving it. I don't know when that will start but hopefully soon, I'm hoping I will be able to make a small dent in those hospital bills with it after I get the boys a few more things they need for school that I haven't been able to afford yet.

Most of all I am looking forward to not having to wonder if I'm getting a paycheck or not. The stress that brings is not my friend, and I've really hated having to wonder if I'd have enough money to pay bills not to mention buy our food and put gas in the car. It has definitely been an adventure trying to make $20-$30 worth of food last through to the next paycheck....thank goodness I stocked up on our food storage a bit before hard times hit otherwise I'm pretty positive we would've been toast. 

I am going to miss my Patriot family though. I absolutely love the people I work with and the family that has been created there. I've never met a more kind, caring and generous group of people in a workplace before and really will miss them terribly. It has been a pretty hard week as my co-workers slowly find out I gave my two weeks notice. There have been a whole lot of hugs and well wishes to me and my family. The big wig CEO of the company even came and gave me a hug the other day to let me know he's sure going to miss me but supported my decision. I really love those guys. 

I am looking forward to starting next week but of course am nervous to have to go through another learning curve. I think overall it will be a little easier than my current company, just because if I understand right we will only have one or two banks we work with and one underwriting group so I won't have to learn a million different guidelines, overlays, compliance procedures, etc. But I will be working with different data systems and have to get to know the underwriters so I can get a sense of what they look for on the loans, and that will be the tough part. But I am up for the challenge and look forward to learning and getting to know them better. Everyone I have talked to says that this new company is fantastic so that helps me feel better about the move as well.

So here is to a new path in life. I hope it leads to much learning and growing, and helps me to be a better person in the end. I know this current job has changed me for the better and I hope to keep the changes coming.