Cruisin'

Well, we are 5 days away from setting sail on our 7 day Western Caribbean cruise! I simply cannot wait! I think we deserve a little distraction from "life". A quick and dirty update....

Josh lost his job about 2 months ago. I got a job at Old Navy about a month and a half ago. I work early mornings (5 am!) processing the new shipment, sign changes for new sales and every once in a while, I work a "service" shift cashiering. It is a nice change, the first few days were pretty tough for me though. I miss spending all my time with Ethan. Funny how that works...I always kick myself for not taking enough breaks from him when I'm home all day!

Losing Josh's job has been pretty hard on both of us, in fact, it SUCKED! I was really angry at first. I guess I'm as over it as I can be but I don't think they could've picked a worse time to let him go. The economy took a down turn, gas prices dropped and now oil/gas drilling is taking a hit. Hundreds of rigs all over the country are shutting down for the time being. (Josh is a geologist with experience in Oil/gas drilling) He did get a nice severance package and that is helping though our health insurance expired at the end of the month he was let go. There has been no interest in the job market. He is working with several recruiters and has put in over 60 resumes and still not even a call back. I think the worst part for me is knowing how hard this is on Josh. He isn't himself, hasn't been for quite some time. I hope he knows how much we love him and how much faith I have in him. He'll find something good very soon. We are trying very hard to stay here but at this point, we are expanding our search to other states/countries. Anything to get him working. He is also very close to applying for a part-time job or two doing whatever he can....delivering pizza, working at Home Depot, whatever.

Ethan is doing wonderful. He is very challenging right now though. Constantly testing the boundaries, not listening, being 2 1/2, I guess. Poor Josh, he didn't sign up to be a stay at home Dad. He's getting a real taste of what my "real" job is really like! He's not digging it too much.

To the good stuff....our Highlands Ranch family has been very supportive. They have had dinners for us, encouraged both of us and just been there in general during our rough patch. Thank you all, so much. We love you more than we can tell you.

This evening, I spent some time making pie crusts in preparation for Thanksgiving. Nancy and Ken are hosting and I signed up for dessert. I'm doing two pies, Pumpkin Rum and Chocolate Truffle. I can't wait to try them! I also said I'd do my Carrot Cake but there are two more pies coming from elsewhere so I'm not sure we need 4 pies plus a cake for 20-25 people! We'll see.

The day after Thanksgiving we are flying to Houston, TX for our cruise. We are staying in Houston because Galveston (the port) was wiped out earlier this year so the hotels aren't open. We will stay there for two days hanging out then on Sunday, we set sail!! The cruise is a family affair. Josh's Mom, Step-Dad, Grandma Barbie, Aunts, Uncles, Step-Siblings are all coming with us (Ethan too). We are cruising with Carnival and our ship is called the Conquest. Our ports are in Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We will be spending a day at Beaches All-Inclusive resort while on Jamaica (most of the day), see some sights, do some shopping. I believe in Cozumel we are doing an Eco-Park called Xcarat "a natural park open to the public and filled with all the Xcaret Maya expressions of culture, nature and beauty". We will get to swim in underground rivers, hang with Dolphins, snorkel, see all sorts of animals, see Archaeological/cultural sites, it should be a really fun day! Not to mention all the stuff to do on the ship!

I promise we will take oodles of pictures and post them when we get home. Oh, as a side note, I am loving John Mayer's music right now. Especially Slow Dancin' in a Burnin' Room, what a song. Alright....later taters.