Everything has changed

[Chris]

I have to look at my records because I can't remember the last time I was vaccinated for pnuemonia or if I did, how long that one last. I need to see my doctor Monday to for catching something with symptoms I have never had before.

[billybags]

Chris, it was my understanding that you only have one injection for pnuemonia that will last for ever and ever. Yes right.

[Chris]

Chris, it was my understanding that you only have one injection for pnuemonia that will last for ever and ever. Yes right.

I looked at my records and have had pneumonia injections in 2004 and 2009, so maybe another on in 2013? I do not have any previous records of injections prior to going to my transplant hospital.

[cariad]

Update, or is it?

Gwyn and I have decided to do what it takes to live together again. We had planned on one year in SoCal followed by a move overseas. I just knew that the days and days spent agonizing over this would come to exactly the result at which we have arrived: Gwyn met with his department supervisor after we made our decision and said he needed to be sure that he could have the three of us move out there and not find we are stuck with no relocation and the response was "I wouldn't do that if I were you." I am just so tired. Long, sad conversation with Gwyn last night until 3 AM. Another this afternoon. We cannot seem to catch a break nor come to agreement. I am going to start selling off our possessions in hopes of a quick move back to the UK. If we could go to Wales the boys will be OK - they understand more Welsh than 75% of the residents.

We are also looking at Oz but don't like our odds there. I may apply to school there if it would mean authority to work card for Gwyn. All this planning and it's all come crashing down before it's even begun.

[jbeany]

 

[RichardMEL]

maybe you could marry me and we could adopt Gwyn??

 

oh, umm ok that wouldn't work - would it?

gee, yeah that's tough for you guys!!! *hugs* wish I knew what the best solution was for you both

[monrein]

Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!!!


 

[cariad]

maybe you could marry me and we could adopt Gwyn??

 

oh, umm ok that wouldn't work - would it?

gee, yeah that's tough for you guys!!! *hugs* wish I knew what the best solution was for you both

Well, as they say, nothing's off the table....

Gwyn is much more confident than I am that LA will still work for the next year. If the company can survive, then we'll be fine. I did mention, however, that every time I have taken the negative view in the past 5 years, I've been right.

Something will have to change by mid-August because my kids are stressed to the limit and I am not far behind.

Thanks for the support everyone!

[willowtreewren]

Since the boys are stressed (and so are YOU!) I would "stress" to them that everything will work out. It does in the end, doesn't it? Even if it may not be what we ultimately want...

I'm thinking of you. 

You have a vast support system here. Don't forget to lean on us and ask for what you may need. 

Aleta

[MooseMom]

Oh, LimboLand is just hell.  I can see why you all are so anxious, not knowing what's around the corner and not being able to plan anything.  Kids need a certain amount of stability, it's true, but then again, they can be remarkably resilient.  It would be nice to be able to tell them exactly what's going to happen, but we can't always do that as parents.  I hope your situation gets sorted very soon and that you will be able to make some concrete decisions.   

[rsudock]

    thinking of you...

xoxo,
R

[okarol]

  Man that is stressful! So sorry, but still hoping it all works out for the best!

[cariad]

Thanks everyone. I will try to implement your excellent advice, Aleta. We are going to try to rent our house out, maybe anyhow. Apparently, rental homes are in good demand around here.

Our daft festival friend keeps calling, so I left her a brief message. She finds us every summer, apologises profusely for not keeping in contact, invites us to every festival in town (that's a lot, we've been called The City of Festivals or something) and then drops out of our lives again. Of course she did not realise Gwyn had gone. There is a celtic band playing at one of the weekly jazz in the park locations but I told her that we honestly have too much to do to try to get out of this house. At least Aidan was able to play baseball last night with his ankle taped, though they lost. Did I mention Aidan injured his ankle severely? He was upset at the loss, which is not like him for baseball, so I think there is something else going on. Stress. I have no patience with the boys, getting angry over nothing then apologizing shortly thereafter. Oh, and Liot has broken out in some sort of heat rash or possibly a rash from a virus. It does not hurt nor itch, but it looks painful and scary - lacey, deep red, both cheeks look like he has a bad burn. S at the summer program is trying to help me with it, her daughter gets something similar periodically. S thinks it might be Fifth's Disease which I have to take a moment to research. Medical bills are another brutal part of life and I'm trying to avoid a pointless GP visit for him.

Off to have a cup of tea, a homemade scone and go through papers. Thanks for the well wishes and good thoughts.

[willowtreewren]

I was going to say Fifth's Disease even before I read the entire post. It is NOT serious at all. And not much you can do about it, either.

If he looks like you slapped him (now fess up, you didn't, did you?? LOL), that is probably what it is.

 

Aleta

[cariad]

Good to know it's not serious, Aleta, because having read up on the symptoms, it seems quite likely it is Fifth's Disease. Apparently, when the virus is active kids may have no symptoms or may experience a range of general symptoms such as a headache. I picked Liot up at school early 2 weeks ago because he said he had a headache. I thought he just wanted away from you-know-who. Maybe he did in fact have a headache, although it magically resolved when I asked if he wanted to go to his afterschool program. The redness has faded quite a bit from his face, so looks like I'll get away with slapping him after all! 

The executives at the company where Gwyn works are flying in for a meeting Friday. The consensus is that this is not going to be positive news. They have already let a large number of people go, saying their performance was an issue and that it is not due to finances. Oh, please. Been through this before! They never take any responsibility.

G did get a call that he is being put forward for a UK position, not in Wales, though. They have already looked at his cv and decided on a ballpark figure for salary. Not great, but probably competitive for Britain. It would be a high level position at a very stable company, not exactly what he wants to do with his time, but they won't always be dream jobs. I have every confidence that if they do decide to move forward with hiring for the position, it will go to Gwyn. Whether an offer will come in time to help us avoid financial ruin remains to be seen.

[Poppylicious]

G did get a call that he is being put forward for a UK position, not in Wales, though. They have already looked at his cv and decided on a ballpark figure for salary. Not great, but probably competitive for Britain. It would be a high level position at a very stable company, not exactly what he wants to do with his time, but they won't always be dream jobs. I have every confidence that if they do decide to move forward with hiring for the position, it will go to Gwyn. Whether an offer will come in time to help us avoid financial ruin remains to be seen.

Hope everything works out for you all ... *huggles*

[willowtreewren]

Should we start planning a trip to visit you in the UK?

Joking aside.... I hope everything resolves soon and advantageously! 

Aleta

[cariad]

And Aleta, yes, please plan to visit us wherever we land!

[paris]

Wow!  I can feel the stress level just reading this.  You made my stress seem manageable.   I am so sorry that it is one major thing after another.  The worst part, is that you aren't in control of any of it. You can only sit and wait.  And the boys will be stressed.  My oldest son told me over the weekend that when we had Beth (Todd was 13) that he wasn't happy, his grades went down and he was never in a good mood. Then we moved him from St. Louis to N.C. and we thought we had ruined his life for ever.  As soon as the family was together, he made new friends and got involved, things smoothed out for him.   They feel our stress, our anger and I hate it for them. 

And I am with you on the friends and doing things --- right now I want to hibernate and not do anything outside the house or ralk to anyone.  Cliches don't help me right now.     Cariad, I'm hoping something happens soon. Once you know what/where you will be, you can move ahead emotionally.  Take care of yourself, hug the boys, and remember we all love you.   {{{hugs}}}

[lmunchkin]

Hope things improve for you Cariad.  I thought the same as Paris about the "stress" in reading this. Makes my situation look minor in comparison!
Will be thinking & praying things settle for you and the whole family!  It is a tough situation you are in. The uncertainty can be hellish, Im sure.

God Bless,
lmunchkin

[cariad]

Thanks for the support, paris and lmunchkin! I know you both have your own stresses weighing down upon you and appreciate that you still took the time to extend your best wishes to me.

Aidan tried out for select soccer league on Thursday with his sprained ankle. Although I told him multiple times to not push it, he told me after the fact "Well, I couldn't make any long passes because every time I tried to use the inside of my right foot, I wanted to scream [in pain]. It was good, though, because it forced me to use my left foot." This was frustrating because I thought they probably don't know he's not a lefty, and they might think that is the best he can play. I saw his performance and I would say it had its moments but was a bit tepid for him. So, we were told that offers would be extended as of 12:01 PM via email. On the way to his baseball game, since I had received no email, I told Aidan that it did not look like he placed initially but as kids decline their spots, he will probably be offered a spot, and they had not even decided on a third team roster because they wanted the top teams set up first. Well, at about 12:45 I got an email that he was offered a spot U11 White (B-team) and was first alternate for Blue. One of his best friends was extended the exact same offer, so we have no idea what it means.

Still, I would estimate that 60-80 kids tried out for this level and he got an offer even with his wonky ankle. I am delighted! He also received the same offer as his friend who is very, very good, so that is also encouraging. It makes our decision to leave town a bit more difficult, but we are trying to see if he can play with them until we leave.

[cariad]

Gah! Not such a great start to the week.

Recruiter that was supposed to phone Gwyn this morning to discuss job in England has not rung yet and Gwyn has a meeting in half an hour and it is already gone 5PM in the UK. I woke up with my right eye very sore and swollen. Our insurance sucks, I'm not going to the GP. I have some Goldeneye from Britain as I don't think they sell an OTC product like that here, I've slathered it on, but this is probably viral and I've only wasted it. It is getting worse, I can barely open my eye. And no, I cannot refrain from driving or carrying on as normal. Only major appointment today is gymnastics for Liot but he does not get to do as much as his older brother and so long as I can see with one eye, he's going. Aidan has been told his coach wants him to pitch so I have to stay on high alert for a possible last minute practice. Aidan asks me every time he sees me if I've received any word from coach. Supposed to be 100 degrees here Thursday and it's been confirmed that they will not go on summer outings if it is that hot. That means Aidan misses canoeing and Liot misses a fantastic water park. Every year something goes wrong with these activities, and it always seems to be the best ones that they miss. One year there was such a bad storm that the summer program building flooded and they couldn't do their sleepover - that was a bad one to be forced to cancel. If memory serves, there were tears.

[willowtreewren]

Oh, Cariad!

I wish I could be there to help out! What next?!?!

Please give the boys my love. We are suffering from heat here, too, but at least we can just jump in the pool when we need to.

 

Aleta

[cariad]

Thanks so much, Aleta. Eye swelling is much improved - I don't look like a freakish zombie anymore. (don't think so anyway!)

Gwyn called me last night to discuss questions for the man who was to interview him this morning. He had asked the recruiter if he could just do a Skype interview rather than fly the brutal 11 hours from California to Britain, all while taking time off that he doesn't have to use. Recruiter said no, this is Britain, that isn't done here (oh, please, with your excuses!) and then the recruiter asked Gwyn if he would be willing to pay his own way to the interview. As I shouted down the phone Red flag! Red flag! Gwyn said absolutely not and she argued that if we were going to move to Britain anyway, we should cover the cost. Uh, moving to Britain is different from killing yourself to take a 2-day nightmare journey to meet up with prissy traditionalists. So, the questions that I thought up for the interviewer last night all began with "Where do you get off....?"

Gwyn had a long chat with the British manager this morning. They want someone today, and Gwyn would absolutely be enormously competent in the role. They are a stable, well-established company. Benefits are great, salary has yet to be discussed but is likely to fall 20% below what he makes now, but with NHS plus private insurance, plus we assume extra holiday, plus annual bonus of 10-30%, it would probably be a wash. Then he asked about work/life balance (my question!) and the interviewer explained that he feels things are too laid back there at the moment (Red flag!) and that he works 8-6 and would expect the same from Gwyn (say it with me.... Red Flag!!!!) Excuse me, but where is the "This is Britain" chorus now? Let me tell you something, Europe, if you start treating your working people the same as America treats theirs , better learn the term 'going postal' now.

Anyway, Gwyn has been asked to be available for a second phone interview, this time with the same person who spoke with him this morning and a technical employee who actually knows this aspect of engineering.

Rumor has it that Gwyn's current employer will be receiving a huge influx of cash this week. Oh, and Gwyn found a perfect little house for lease only a matter of minutes from where he works and right down the road from where we want the kids to go to school.

Round and round we go..... 

[jbeany]

 

They don't do interviews by Skype for applicants in other countries?  Seriously?  Good grief.  I can see wanting him to come in person for a final interview when the job offer is on the table, salary discussed, etc., but in the preliminary stage?