The Nudge

Ten days after George was born, my husband lost his job.
I wasn't worried. In fact, I was excited.
(I was also .... right. It's very different.)

Although the layoff was unexpected, it was a long time coming.  If you drive a car, you've seen our amazingly low gas prices. And if you read the news, you should know that the oilfield - and consequently, the rest of the economy - is suffering because of them.
(See here, here, here for local stories, here, here, and here for national news sources.)

Gas prices are tied to global events and complex economics that we have absolutely no control over.  In the last year and a half, thousands of people have lost their jobs. The Basin is seeing something of a mass exodus .... so, while a layoff wasn't inevitable for Slice, it was definitely possible.

A few months before, on a whim, we started looking at other jobs. Utah's economy is booming elsewhere and I've always said I could live in St. George! Okay, I could probably live anywhere. See:

It's more a matter of getting Slice on board. Anyway, we applied to a few random jobs in Washington County, but our search was half-hearted. It wasn't quite right yet.

Then the layoff happened. While I tried to act appropriately sad on Slice's account, I didn't do a great job of it. No more long, unpredictable long hours? No more weekends and holidays on call or working, no more Sundays at church without my husband?*

Plus, extra time with Slice right after I birthed our 4th baby??

Now's our chance!

*I'm well aware that all of these things could (and probably will) happen again. Just let me pretend.