What To Do When Unexpectedly Unemployed

1.) Do NOT panic
2.) ohmygodohmygodohmygod whatamigonnadowhatamigonnado billsbabyhousemovinghealthfoodmoneyinsurancecarpaymentmoneyfoodmoneyfood moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymommymommymommmmyyyy
3.) Okay...fair... Fair... that's it! I'll go to the FAIR!

Not necessarily a logical step, but that's how I roll.

So here's what happened. I walked into the office and logged into my computer yesterday morning. Immediately I got a call asking if I could go into a nearby conference room. I thought, "Gee, I'll bet this is how people get laid off... Oh, god I hope I'm not about to.." And then I saw HR. Yup. Unfortunately, blubbering about being the sole income for the house and having a 3 month old to care for did not change their decision.

I called Matt to come and get me while I stood outside the office building with as much dignity as I could muster with mascara streaked cheeks and waited for my angels. The baby was sqwalling when they arrived, but it was a relief to be able to go home and feed him. I got into some comfy clothes and tried to sort out what to do next.

Since my own mother is a 2 1/2 hour car ride away - and was dealing herself with a whole different, dire dilemma, I did the next best thing and raced to my mother in law's house. As soon as she heard my voice she came racing forward with that special Mom hug that only experienced mothers can dole out. She hugged me and kissed me and told us that we'd be okay. Mom's are good. I'm so glad that I got a bonus one. I got online and enrolled in unemployment benefits and called WIC about the baby. I returned signed separation papers to my erstwhile employer and made as many phone calls as I could.

After that I took my lemons and went for some lemonade. I never go to the state fair on a weekday! It was time to go see the great get together. I would have taken more pictures, but Matt said we didn't have the camera until we'd been through most of the stuff and eaten ourselves silly.

FAIR! It's a tractor!




Baby Animals! Look at the little lamby pie!!


Ug. I feel ya sister. Speaking of, the fair was also my first foray into feeding the boy from me in public. I'll spare you the pictures and let you gaze upon this sow instead.

Then, we had our first changing the diaper outside experience.

"Uh, mom... Can you come here for a minute? Got somethin to show ya."

Oh dear God... The horror! The horror!! (Again, I'll spare you.)

"Dude, I can't believe you just touched my poo! Poo toucher!!"

After I changed PoopStain, Matt brought us coffee that went perfectly with the two mini donuts that I'd squirreled away from earlier. Tiny coffees with tiny donuts! The best part was it was egg coffee. I thought that was something only my family did, but apparently it's Swedish. You mix a little beaten egg in with some ground coffee and then brew it. Sounds weird, but it's incredibly rich and yummy. I needed coffee. At this point it was about 4 in the afternoon. I'd had an incredibly good corn dog, watched some of the kookiest people ever, drank wine with nice grandparent-y people, seen the crafts, smelled the animals and oh yeah, got canned. It was a big day. I was ready for home and couch.

On the way back down the hill, Matt stopped by the Scamps. Last year at the fair was the first time he'd ever been inside a moterhome (weird, right?) This time he checked out a little camper instead.
He was almost as impressed as last year.


Meanwhile, I caught Vince hanging out with some suspicious kids -
'Sup Homey?


The smoke reminded me that I'd wanted to watch the Big Lebowski again. Was it foreshadowing that I spent most of my last day of employment working on a mix CD of quotes and songs from that movie? It had been remarkably slow since I came back from leave. How did I not see this coming?

As I sort through that, and this bottle of antacid, I comfort myself with thoughts of my family. And these two goons.

My little saviors of sanity.