Last spring Tim and I had a lot of big discussions about where our hearts were with our family and careers. These discussions started because of the awful work schedule Tim had. He was working Tuesday-Friday from 9:30am-7:30pm (but almost never finished on time) and every Saturday from 8 or 9am-2pm. Tim and I felt like he was seeing the kids for less than two hours per day and that time wasn't really quality time because it was either getting them ready to go to our neighbor's house (I taught in Port until 9:45am so the kids spent about 30 min to an hour at our neighbor's house until I was done) or getting them ready for bed. We didn't eat a single meal together unless Tim had the day off. And the company Tim worked for was a practice that valued quantity versus quality. We discussed several options but one exciting idea we had was for Tim to practice optometry in the Navy. It's something we've talked about before and Tim was very excited for the opportunity to serve his country and we were both excited about the possibilities of being able to live in a variety of locations and expose our children to different states/countries. The process was slow, but Tim interviewed in the summer and received the highest marks and we thought we were headed to the Navy. We were both thrilled. Our families were sad and nervous about our decision. Fast forward to the sequester and government shutdown and all of sudden everything was put on hold indefinitely. In the middle of this Tim started getting strange spots and welts all over his body. It took him weeks to go the doctor and when he finally did we found out that he had Lyme's disease. A few months earlier Tim's brother and I spotted a tick on Tim's neck at a waterpark and Tim's brother quickly removed it. Tim even went to the doctor the next day since he had been bit and took antibiotics but he still was exposed to Lyme's disease.
In the mean time I had stumbled across an optometry job that sounded like an absolute dream job. It was a non-profit clinic in Madison, Wisconsin. Their goals/mission were directly in line with what Tim and I both value. Tim didn't become an optometrist to "get rich". Tim was interested in career that challenged him while also allowing him to provide quality care to his patients while also giving our family a nice quality of life. Tim applied and I also applied for a part time Spanish job in the area thinking if Tim got the job I would also be set up with a part time job. I was called for an interview within a week and during the interview the committee asked about my Master's degree in Instructional Technology and asked me what my "dream job" would be. I explained that I wasn't interested in anything full time right now but eventually my dream job would be teaching a couple of Spanish classes but also spending time helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. I was elated when the district called me later that day to offer me 3 different jobs. They said I could either teach Spanish part time, provide IT support part time, or work full time with half of each (my dream job). I was thrilled but unfortunately the job Tim applied for wasn't interviewing for 3 more weeks. Madison is a two hour drive from where we were currently living so I made the difficult decision to decline the position because the school could not wait 3 weeks (school was starting in 4 weeks) and I did not want to commute 4 hours per day and we definitely could not afford to move our family to Madison without Tim having a full time job.
So we decided to continue our lives as they were with hopes that either the Navy would call or Tim would be offered a position at the non-profit clinic. A couple of weeks later Tim interviewed and came home so happy. He said the clinic was amazing but he didn't want to get his hopes up because it seemed like such an incredible career opportunity. Tim was offered the position the next day. Unfortunately this all happened two weeks into the start of the school year while I was teaching Spanish part time. Tim's previous employer also decided they would not let Tim resign without 90 days of notice. Long story short, the non-profit said they were willing to wait for Tim (wow!). Tim offered to work at the clinic every Monday (his "Saturday" day off) so he could really hit the ground running in December. This started 90 very busy and stressful days. Tim had to leave the house by 4:30am every Monday to get to the clinic in time and would generally make it home by 7:30pm or so (the kids' bedtime). Then he would work the next five days at his other job while also trying to fit in doctors appointments to properly evaluate his exposure to Lyme's disease. I tried to keep life as normal as possible for the kids. I continued teaching, which was incredibly heart breaking. This was my second year and my eighth grade students had been with me the year before and I felt like I had an amazing class. The most heart breaking part of all of this was that Sofia had started her first year of preschool. It was a preschool that I knew I wanted her to go to since the day we moved to the area, the Schlitz Audubon Nature Preschool. She was in the lottery a year before to even get a spot and we all were thrilled to see just how amazing the program was. So it really was difficult for me to take her to preschool knowing that she would only be able to spend a semester there. Her teachers, my friends, neighbors and my Principal were all extremely gracious and understanding during this process.
The final piece was selling our house. The spring before we felt like we had really finished the house. We completed several big projects (hardwood floors, basement, painting every single room, fenced in yard, deck_ in the two years we lived in it and we were really enjoying living in the house as a finished project. Our house had multiple offers just days after we listed it. Fortunately we had one offer that was willing to wait to close until we officially moved to Madison. Once we sold the house we started to look at possible houses in Madison hoping that we could move directly to a house instead of renting. We were shocked to see how little inventory there was in the Madison area. Because of the low inventory and popularity of the area, the prices were much higher than Port Washington. We decided we would rent so we could actually look at homes in person and see if I was able to get a job. We moved the first week of December. Tim's parents had both taken new jobs in the Madison area so we were actually hoping to live with them but their house had not sold so they were renting a duplex. They very graciously said we could live with them in the duplex while we were house hunting. We expected that we would find a house quickly so we decided to move into the duplex with them. Tim's parents are two of the most genuine, kind and giving people you'll ever meet. The duplex only had three bedrooms and we couldn't have all 3 kids share a room because Sofia isn't a consistent napper anymore. So the boys took one room, Sofia another, and we offered to stay in the basement. Tim's parents again showed just how amazing they are by allowing us to stay in the bedroom near the kids instead of being two floors away in the basement.
Moving in December, in Wisconsin, is not ideal. It was extremely hard for me to say goodbye to the community and friends I loved, the job I loved, and to take Sofia away from such an amazing preschool experience. But I was willing to do it with the hopes of having Tim around more and allowing our family to really live a life that allows us to maintain our hopes and dreams. After the move I made the two hour drive each way back to the SANC preschool so Sofia could finish the semester. I only had to do this for about two weeks but it was challenging because of the winter weather and asking all three of the kids to sit in the car for four hours on Mondays and Wednesdays. I think what made everything even more challenging was not having our own home. It's wonderful to have family around but it changes the dynamics of our own family. And we didn't unpack anything but the essentials since we thought we would be moving fairly quickly. The most difficult thing was the weather. This was the coldest/harshest winter Wisconsin has faced in over 50 years and suddenly we found ourselves sharing 1500 sq feet with 7 people. And I lost all of the resources I had with play date friends and places for the kids to run and play inside when the weather is too cold outside. Christmas came very quickly and Tim's brother, his wife and son came to visit for Christmas. We love them dearly but it was even more challenging to fit an extra three people in the house for a week over Christmas. I felt like my world flipped upside down within a matter of 3 weeks. The shining light throughout this time was that Tim absolutely LOVED and still loves his new position and the organization he works for. On the other hand the kids and I had lost our entire routine and community that we were thriving in. I knew it would just take time to adjust. We started house hunting and unfortunately every house we put an offer in on we lost due to multiple bidders driving the price way over asking. Normally there are 6,000 homes on the market in the Dane County area and one realtor told us that there are only about 2,500 homes on the market which is sparking higher prices, intense competition, and bidding wars. In order to get a house you basically have to see it and bid on it the day it comes on the market. This was difficult for Tim and I to do since he works and we still didn't feel entirely familiar with the area or where we wanted to live.
Babies are awake so time to sign off. Hopefully Part II will come tomorrow.
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