life, lately.

man. to say I'm due to give an update is an understatement. life has been quite a roller-coaster lately... I was waiting to blog about everything until things were resolved [I didn't want to throw myself a blog pity party] and I feel like we're at a great place and I'm ready to share.

so earlier in the summer (june-ish) DJ and I were on cloud nine, life was amazing - we had a sweet baby girl, great jobs and we were so close to being done with "basement living" - we found an apartment, had a date to move-in and I was SO freaking excited to not have to deal with the commute when I went back to work.

then on the last friday of June, DJ came downstairs after I was finishing up feeding Penny and sat on the ottoman and shared that he had lost his job - the company he worked for was out of the UK and they just called him and told him they were shutting down the entire US division.

shocked? yeah. I was too.

I had no words.

no severance, no notice. no clue if he was going to get his bonus that he had been working towards all quarter. keep in mind I had just gone back to work from maternity leave the day before and we had just got my paycheck for the past month which I basically didn't get paid ($32.00, holler).

did I mention I was in shock?

I was in shock.

My mind was spinning, even now two months later, I can distinctly remember that feeling sitting in the basement with my six week old daughter in my arms... I wanted to shut down. I came close to shutting down... but I had to give myself perspective... first, I was so thankful that we kept our insurance through my job and we didn't even have to think twice about that - especially for Penny. I was so thankful I decided to go back to work early (6 weeks maternity leave, 6 weeks working from home rather than the 8 weeks maternity leave, 4 weeks working from home we thought I was going to take - we literally made that decision 48 hours earlier). so thankful we were still in the basement and hadn't signed a lease. but most importantly, I was so thankful that I had DJ as partner - I (surprisingly) didn't breakdown but, honestly, I was optimistic.

I think my "serenity" had to do with two things - one, Penelope - how could I be distraught when we have this perfect, sweet, healthy creation who brought and brings so much joy into our lives? I couldn't. I realized that even though DJ had lost his job - we still had so much more than so many others and we were still incredibly lucky.

secondly, I was calm because I knew that even thought the timing was shit-tastic and I hate the instability it caused I had and have so much faith in DJ. Seriously, he is one of the smartest, most talented people I've ever encountered. I knew that something amazing was going to come his way and that any company that he got in front of would realize his worth and want him on board.

well, I'm not going to blow smoke and say that the last eight weeks were rainbows and sunshine - they were challenging, trying and at times exhausting and disheartening. but you know what? we got through it. DJ got to finish up his consulting work and side projects that had been looming over the past few months AND he got to do something that not many dads are lucky enough to do - he got to spend every day at home with his daughter for the the first fifteen weeks of her life. Granted, he was working either for his former company or consulting during that time but he still got that quality time that few get the chance to experience.

AND luckily- I was right to be optimistic... I'm happy to report that DJ is starting his new [and in my opinion improved] job on Tuesday and we're moving on Saturday. my job, as always was so supportive - they let me continue to telecommute for two days a week while I was commuting to make life easier/less hellish. I only have TWO days left next week of my 44 mile commute (my new commute to work will be less than 5 miles, can I get a hell yeah?)... and basement living? this time next week we'll be spending our last night as inhabitants of our lovely basement apartment in the 'burbs. I'm so excited to create our first little intown home as a party of four (ollie counts, duh).

so the cliffnotes version of this novella of a post: life doesn't always work out the way you think it will, or even originally how you want it to - but have a little patience and a faith in life and those you love and take deep breaths...

life is good. especially when you have a beautiful baby, snuggly pup and amazing love to share it with.

here's to moving forward and all the amazing things I know are coming are way...