I am on forced vacation starting today thanks to my contract at Ahold ending without a whole lot of warning. I saw the writing on the wall and knew that it was coming but I was hoping that the contract would atleast last until April of 2003. No such luck boys and girls. Now I am back out on the Internet slinging my resume at every job board that can be found. Luckily for me I saw the writing on the wall in November of 2002 and started the madness then. The IT industry basically sucks for now. There are jobs out there to be had but the pay is way down and the employers want certifications and experience out the wazooo. This is an employers market now and they can pick and choose from a wealth of candidates.

I figure that we have about 2 weeks before I need to push the panic button and just take anything I can put my hands on. Katy and I know that if push comes to shove the kids go to public school and she goes back to work. Going back to work for Katy will be tough because she has not had to work outside the home for a long time. The awesome thing is that we are a family and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to survive. Surviving means lights, telephone, rent and food. That does not mean high speed Internet, cable tv or cellular service. All of that is extra stuff that we certainly do not need to survive. Will we miss those things? Yes, those things will be missed but we can learn to do without if need be.

If you think about it life would be so much less complicated without a lot of the things that I just mentioned. I am praying that God will provide and that I wont have to give up our wants or desires. The trick is to have faith and be patient and wait on Gods timing for all of this to come together. I am writing this sort of as a journal so that I can look back and praise God for meeting our needs once again.

While I am on forced vacation I will have the opportunity to hang out with the family and do family things such as bowling practice with the children today. Kristina and Justin are both on a youth bowling league where they are learning how to bowl. We had a blast today and I am thankful for the time to spend with my family. That means more to me than any amount of money that I might be able to put my hands on.
Our children are our investment that we are sending out into the future.