Contracts and Change

Even though we tried, Ohio never felt like home to us. We knew going in, we had two years to fulfill my husband's contract. That contract expired in early May.

In late April/early May, I spent two weeks visiting the KC area. It was a lot fun, but a lot stressful. Visiting KC was always a priority, but we were miserable. There was never enough time to do everything we wanted and see everyone we wanted. Even the two weeks I had here wasn't enough.

Returning home, I told my husband that I was ready to be home. It's too stressful trying to get everything in even during two weeks.

But, we both were unhappy. I don't really need to go through all the reasons again. It's easier to just say Ohio never felt like home and we never felt a strong connection to the people. The people were great, but it isn't a place for outsiders.

By the end of May, my husband was a hot mess. He was sleeping only a few hours a night, waking up stressed over work. He started having signs of an ulcer and regular stomach pain. He was grouchy and shared daily complaints of his bushel (my term, not his). It was obvious that he had reached an all time low in his job.

In early June, he decided it was time to find something different. We knew with his skill set, we would have to move to find another job. I gave my boss a heads up and he spent night after night applying for jobs.

It seemed like there would never be any interest in him. But, after a few weeks, requests for interviews started rolling in daily. He spent lunches and hours after work on phone interviews.

There was disappointment. Some phone interviews resulted in a definite no or no response at all. There were some he definitely didn't want. He applied and interviewed for jobs all over the nation. Jobs in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and near beaches appealed to me. Jobs in New York, California, Arizona and near beaches appealed to him.

We both agreed that he should apply for everything. I kept telling him, "if you throw 100 stones, you'll eventually hit something." So, he did. Even back in KC.

We had some strong feelings about returning home. We didn't want to, or at least that is what we both said to each other. We knew we both had some family issues that we weren't ready to deal with and staying far away seemed like the right thing to do.

By July, it was obvious that he was likely going to have at least one offer come in and we would be moving.

Between July 1 and the first job offer, a lot of life happened and things changed in big ways...