Part four - It's do or die time or "Okay, so NOW what do we do?"
So, we had an apartment (which we took just until a townhome became available), and we both had interviews for really good jobs on Monday. the only obstacle was that I was supposed to work Monday, and it was going to be difficult to get the day off, since historically, Mondays are very busy days for tech support, and it was even worse for us since we were working with a skeleton crew.

*deep breath*

However, there was NO WAY we were going to miss our interviews, especially since we had just put down a chunk of money on an apartment. So, it was decided that I would take the day off and deal with the consequences on Tuesday. But I would try and get the day off or find someone to switch shifts with me. If need be, I would work the midnight shift after coming back from Columbus..but that was a last-ditch scenario.

So. I go to work on Friday and request the day off. I wsa told no decision could be made until after 11pm. To cover my bases, I asked one person if they would be willing to take my shift on Monday (she has Mondays off), and I asked another midnight worker if she would be willing to trade me shifts for Monday IF I couldn't couldn't get the day off or the woman I asked to work for me couldn't do it (she needed to make sure her husband didn't have plans for them on Monday before she could give me a definite answer). The modnight worker said, yes, she would trade with me, but only if it was absolutely necessary.

So, I had covered the bases...and it was only 7pm. All I could do at that point was do my job, worry about the interviews and wait. I said a silent prayer that I had been saying for over a week, "God, it's in your hands now, you know where we are supposed to be and what we are supposed to do. I trust that you will make our path clear."

Now, I'm not an overly religious person, but even I recognize when I need to call on my Higher Power. And I do it more than most people realize... and I know when he makes His will known.

That occured about 2 hours later, when I was granted the day off...something that seldom happens for anyone on Monday.

Okay, I'm going to skip ahead a bit, cuz I want to get this saga completed. There are other things that happened over the weekend (like Taylor's party and some interesting conversations..but I will post about them later). Anyway..Monday rolls around...

And we head back to Columbus..with Taylor in tow this time. She hasn't been all too fond of the idea of moving, so we thought that if she saw where were going to live and got a sneak peak of her school she might feel a bit better about it.

Lou's intervew was first, so we dropped him off and Taylor and I drove around the city a bit, making note of where museums, arenas and parks were. About 45 minutes later, we went back and picked up Lou. The interview went well...and he would hear in a week or two.

Now we had about three hours to kill before my interview, so we headed over to the apartment complex to show Taylor where we would be living. She said it was "nice", but that the pool was nothing more than a "hole in the ground".

Those of you who are familiar with Taylor's "humor" recognize that she was being a smart alleck, and not a space cadet. Of course, I had to comment that most pools were a "hole in the ground", which got me a "Mother, you *know* what I mean!"

Then we got some good news: the townhome that we were waiting for would be available sooner than we thought...and that if we wanted to wait the extra week, we could just move into it. Then the manager showed us a townhome, and Taylor suddenly was interested...might have something to do with having a whole floor to herself. It's a 2-bedroom, 2.5 bath townhome with a 2-car garage and finished basement. We figured Taylor could have the basement as "her domain", only sharing it when we have guests (we're going to put a sofa bed down there), and when I do laundry.

We told the Manager we would get back to her about the townhome, and asked if she knew how much our deposit for living in the complex was going to be. (We had paid the application fees but were waiting for the head mananger to determine our exact deposit...which was based on our rental history (nonexistant) and our credit report (ugly). We were told that the deposit could be as high as two month's rent..or almost $1500. We were prepared to paty whatever we had to, since we just REALLY wanted to live in that complex. So, when the manager sighed before giving us her answer, I was fully expacting to have to sell everything I own to pay the $1500 deposit.

Then she uttered the words "You'd have to come up with $500, but the first month's rent would still be waived."

I could have done backflips. Lou looked at her and said between laughs "you mean that's IT?" so we made arrangement to move into the complex on the 9th of June...found out who our utilities would be through and all that fun stuff. I was so stoked. I love that place. It's the best place we've found and I am greatful that we were able to get in there.

But there was still one hurdle left...we needed jobs to pay for it.

Next post -- "We can either stay here and suffer, or take another leap and hope we hit the other side" or "What do you mean you changed your mind?"
- posted by Kim @ 4:19 PM