Okay, so I realize that it's been a while since I actually wrote about the important things in our life. SO I thought it was about time that I caught everyone up. First, there's our jobs. Chris is still doing fantastically (don't think that's actually a word) at Granite Contracting. Fortunately, his job is not in jeopardy so far during this "economic downturn" - they're still doing fairly well given the circumstances. My job, however, is not so secure. While I thought we were doing fine, I was told otherwise last week. It seems that there are so many companies that we have done work for that our struggling financially right now and cannot pay us for the jobs that have been done. Our accounts receivables are in the red by approx. $700,000 to date. This means many things for our office. In light of our industry being hit hard during this "recession", the Partners of our firm do not foresee it getting any better for us in the near future (we're talking potentially 3rd quarter of 2009). Therefore, as a means of maintaining staff and not being forced to lay off employees (especially at the holidays), the managerial staff made the decision to cut back hours/salaries by 10% beginning this week. In addition, we cannot count on our annual holiday bonus or salary raises next year. YIKES!!! It's an adjustment for us all. So, my new schedule at work will be a 4 day work week alternating between taking off Monday's and Friday's. Now, I know this seems quite nice - having an extended weekend every weekend - but it also means that, as a result of everyone having to change their schedules, I'll be required to take back on a lot more responsibility that is currently distributed across my whole team to ensure that all staff are covered by an admin at all times. So, not only will I continue on with my current rsponsibilities (that are so numerous I can't even begin to write them all down), but I'll resume team work and reception duties as well - all in a condensed work week. I do not see this going well for us, me especially, but if I want to keep my job, it's something that I HAVE to do. Ugghhh!!! The super good news is, every 2 weeks I'll actually have Friday AND Monday off!!!
Now, on to the "juicy" stuff :) We have completed 3 rounds of fertility treatments (intra-uterine insemination) and sadly, none have been successful. No one can tell us why it's not working. Every time we go in for the procedure they tell us both that we're looking really good and everything is in place for a successful insemination. We have one last try beginning this week. Many of our friends who have gone through the same procedures have had success on their last try. This, by no means, ensures that we will experience that same success - but we are hopeful. We have already begun receiving the paperwork and portfolio's from many local adoption agencies in case our last round of treatment does not work. My doctor will meet with us at the conclusion of our treaments to discuss where to go from there. Per my discussion with a nurs on Friday, we still are several steops away from In Vitro, which only means that there are still other options for us to explore if we are willing. 2 options that she briefly mentioned were taking another type of fertility drugs or we could proceed on to another kind of fertility shots. So, we'll know in about 4 weeks if this is an avenue we'll be walking down or not. While Chris and I are both extremely open to the idea of adoption (either domestic OR foreign), it can cost anywhere from $16,000 - $50,000 per child and that's the part we are most fearful of. Not to mention how long the process can take. If we were to adopt, it is highly likely that we will not be placed with a child while it is a newborn . . . we will miss out on those firsts few precious months of life. That makes me sad, but I can move forward from that. In all honesty, one of the things I am most fearful of is that this adopted child will not be as loved or accepted in our families as would a biological child. This is a common fear for all prospective adopting parents - but it's also a very legitimate one. We feel the prssure from our families to have a child of our own, but sometimes that's just not the Lord's plan. And my biggest desire is that our families will grow to love and accept our adopted baby just as if it were our biological offspring. If you ask us, adopted chidren are sometime more special than biological children. It will be such a privilege for us to have the opportunity to embrace and raise a child that was otherwise be discarded from someone else who would not be able love them like we would. After all, we are called to look after the widows and the orphans in this life. We know it would please God for us to accept this calling.
We are looking forward to the holidays. It's been a while since we spent any real time with our families and we are certainly anxious to get away and do just that. For the first time in a long time, I am actually excited about Christmas! I've already got the Christmas music going and the "spirit" in our house (much to Chris' demise). I'm sure it will be lovely holiday season for us this year (despite all the items mentioned above).
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