Love it when a plan comes together!

About a year ago, Nick and I sat in our house back in Maryland and came up with a plan... a plan for our lives that we figured would take a few years to accomplish. And, well, honestly, I figured it would never happen (because we've never been really good at the whole planning thing, in any way, shape, or form!).

The Plan:

1. Nick was going to work really hard to get his CDL.
2. Nick was going to get a job driving for a trucking company, and probably spend at least 1 year driving over the road for them.
3. After that OTR experience, Nick was going to look for a "regional" driving job near the Ohio Valley, so that we could move back to his beloved River (where we've both always dreamed of raising our children).
4. Hopefully once we got back to the Hills/River/Valley, Nick would eventually find some sort of local driving job, so that he would be home every night with his family (kinda like a normal person!).

Like I said, we figured this would take a while... years. It was a pretty big plan with lots of changes for our whole family and a whole lotta work involved for Nick.

But, today, only about 1 year later, I'm thrilled to announce that the Plan worked!!

It didn't always seem like things were going "according to plan," and life has been far from ideal for the past year. It took several tries for Nick to get his CDL; his time out on the road was a nightmare for all of us, and to this day, we're still recovering from some not-so-great things as a result; the move to the Hills was hard for everyone (especially poor Damon); and the regional driving job wasn't much better than the OTR one (still lots of time away from home and Nick working himself to death).

Two days ago, Nick got frustrated (like Nick tends to do) and quit his job... the job that he worked so hard for and that brought us here, back to the Ohio Valley (where jobs are not always easy to come by).

Oddly enough, I didn't panic. I should have panicked... because we're having enough trouble as it is making ends meet and the thought of Nick NOT getting a paycheck should have been enough to send me head first into the Ohio River. But I didn't panic. Simply because I've spent the past 9 years stressing about Nick's jobs and health insurance (or lack thereof) and our inability to pay bills (and shamelessly asking more-than-generous family members for handouts)... and, well, I think I'm to the point where I just can't allow myself to worry about it. In the back of my mind, somewhere, I'm sure there was panic. But I kept the tears at bay and put a smile on my face and told myself "it will all work out; it always works out." And I enjoyed the fact that Nick was home with me for a change.

This morning, I stood on my porch and kissed my husband and said, "Now, go find a job, you fool!" (Still smiling.)

Less than 2 hours later, Nick returned home, smiled at me and said, "Well, I got a job... just like you told me to."

He got a job. And completed Step 4 of our master plan.

Tomorrow morning, Nick starts his new job... driving a truck for a local beer/wine distributor. He'll have to drive his own vehicle only 2 miles to work each day (thank God, because the possibility of additional commuting expenses was almost enough to send me into panic mode). And he'll work Monday through Friday, during the day, and will be home every night and every weekend with his family, for once! The pay is decent (really decent for the Ohio Valley), and our health benefits will be paid 100% by the company (a huge improvement over his last job; benefits were taking a HUGE portion of his paycheck each week).

Needless to say, we're both beyond excited. And I'm really glad I listened to the little voices in my head that told me NOT to panic two days ago when Nick came home unemployed. It all worked out, just like the voices said it would.

And, for once, Nick and I stuck with a plan and made it happen. Whew!