We had a bit if a change of plans in the middle of June this year. Brad went to work one Friday morning and came home that evening unemployed. It seemed that his law firm wasn't actually making a profit, since they had quite a few deadbeat clients who didn't actually pay for the legal services they had received. So here we stood, with a brand new house and a new baby on the way in 8 short months and our breadwinner was not longer bringing home the bread. So Brad set about doing the same thing we had done just one short year before- sending his resume out to every law firm he could find in the area, hoping and praying someone would have a need for an associate with one year's experience.
It was something that he had actually been thinking about doing, anyway. He hadn't been happy at his job for a few months now for various reasons and had decided that he was going to start looking for a new job to try and start at the end of the summer- he was really trying to get his week's vacation to the mountains of North Carolina before changing jobs. So it wasn't that he was unhappy about losing the actual job itself, just the timing of everything.
After over a week of praying and emailing, Brad got a response that a partner at a firm in Tampa wanted to meet him for an interview. So we commenced on even more praying, desperately, in the days leading up to the interview. I woke up about the time he was meeting with the partner and prayed until I heard from him- 3 hours later. I had actually started to worry a little, but then I thought the longer he is there, the better the interview must be going. He left with a promise that they would contact him "sooner than later".
So with a good feeling in his heart, and another interview at a different firm scheduled for the following week, we packed Savannah, Peyton and Boone up into my car and headed North. We stopped first in Gainesville at my sister's house to visit for a overnight. She and Shawn had offered to watch the dogs for us- something I think they seriously regretted about the time we pulled out of their driveway Friday morning. Let's just say they are very happy dogs, who love to play and don't love to rest. Add to that Jaime and Shawn's boxer pup and I can only imagine the amount of destruction their house endured. But, hey- they offered!
So we got back in the car, Savannah snug in her car seat with DVDs and episodes of The Little Einsteins and My Friends, Tigger and Pooh saved on my iPod and pointed ourselves North again, this time destined for Columbia, South Carolina. Our dear friends Jamie and Shelby (Savannah's godparents!) live there and we actually hadn't seen them since the baptism just over a year ago. About 6 hours and only one major stop on the interstate later, we arrived and had such a wonderful weekend. We went to dinner and while we were eating Brad received a phone call from the firm he had interview with- they thought they would help him start his weekend off in a good mood and offered him a position!
After that we were really able to relax and enjoy ourselves. Jamie had just bought a boat a few weeks ago, so we spent Saturday out on the lake in the boat, which was a lot of fun. Savannah really enjoyed herself. I have a lot of pictures that I need to load. We watched fireworks from the boat Saturday night, which Savannah just loved. She kept pointing and clapping and couldn't get enough of them.
We headed back home on Monday, stopping in Gainesville to pick up the boys and then headed home. On Tuesday night, before the 4th, we were invited to a party at the home of the partner who had interviewed Brad. It was a really good time, we had a nice opportunity to meet the lawyers and support staff, and their spouses in a more casual atmosphere. Kevin was here, so he watched Savannah so we were able to stay for a few hours and got a really good feeling about the firm Brad would be working for.
Early on the 4th we packed up again and headed down to Cape Coral to visit my parents for a few days. They took full advantage of the opportunity to spoil Savannah silly and we came home with more toys than she even knows what to do with. Think, Christmas in July. We spent a lot of time in the pool, which she just loved. My parents have neighbors on the other side of their lake who actually pulled a barge out into the lake at dusk and started shooting off 2+ hours of fireworks, which were just awesome. Better than any I have seen in a while and much better than the city-organized ones.... we got to watch them from the comfort of home (actually relaxing in the pool!) and didn't have to fight traffic afterwards!
We are back home now, with just one more week until Brad starts work next Monday. We haven't really decided what, if anything, we are going to do but it is almost a nice thought to doing nothing, just relaxing for a few days. So while Brad didn't get his week in the mountains, he has actually had 4 weeks off to find a new job and then enjoy himself for 2 weeks and visit good friends and family.
