I was in Mexico last week.
I know.
Let me back up, because it’s a long story.
Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about David’s law school graduation. I said:
We both, in our own ways, worked our asses off for Friday. And in the past three (or really four) years, we both learned a lot, both about ourselves and about the world. And when the words, “I now confer on you a JD, with all the rights and privileges therein” were said on Friday, I cried. When we walked from party to party in North Beach on Friday, looking at the moon on the bay and Coit Tower by night, the air crackled with possibility – not just the possibilities of the future, but with the possibilities achieved.
It’s been a long year. David and his classmates graduated into the worst law market in a generation, and even for those with killer resumes, there were no jobs. David’s focus is criminal law and litigation, areas that have been severely impacted by state and federal budget crisis. It was so bad, that there would be months when only two or three jobs would open up in the state of California that he was qualified for. In the sate of California. How crazy is that? And of course, with the job market in such a horrific state, each of those job openings would have hundreds, or thousands, of applicants.
It was rough. It was hard on our marriage, it was hard on our psyches. For a while I was supporting both of us, doing a corporate job that I didn’t love, while working on APW on the side. I felt like I was having to defer my dreams, to martyr myself, to keep us both afloat. Let’s just say martyrdom is not my best look. Then, in January, after a lot of planning, I made the leap to working for myself full time, and writing a book, and supporting two people. Things looked better, but we still felt like we were slogging through, emotionally.
Through all this, David kept busy. He took the California bar. Because he’s married to an overachieving mad-woman who believes in the power of being busy, he then took the New York Bar (he passed both, for the record. Go David.) He had a fellowship, and he volunteered his time as an attorney. This spring, he hung out his shingle, and started doing piecemeal work on a variety of cases. But we both really wanted his legal career to really get started. Even though we pool all our money, we wanted him to feel like he was financially contributing to the household (though dear-God-in-heaven, the man cooks and cleans, and handles tons of domestic stuff that I’m terrible at, so he was contributing to the household in huge ways the whole time.)
Then, this spring, we hit what felt like rock bottom. We realized that we were looking down the gun of a year of un/marginal employment, coming out of three years of David working hard and doing phenomenally well in law school. It was awful. I’ll only speak for myself, but there was a day in early April where I sobbed all morning long. Rather hilariously, because I was on book deadline, I sobbed while typing dutifully away on my book. (That’s the story of my life, by the way. I may be sobbing, but I’m still efficient, goddammit.)
And then I just surrendered, to all of it. I totally stopped fighting—I didn’t have it in me to fight anymore. I decided I had no control over the outcome, and I was just going to let things play out. And, because isn’t that always the way, David started getting interviews. And I surrendered some more. There were interviews in various places around the state (urban centers, because I do know my limits), and I decided I was fine with moving. I just wanted him to get a job. People would ask me did I prefer this location to that location, and I’d say, “I honestly don’t care. I can get excited about whatever I need to get excited about. But he needs a job.”
And then it happened. He got a job in the Bay Area, and he starts tomorrow. Almost exactly a year from his law school graduation.
Better than that, after all the tough work situations we’ve been through in the last four years, with me stuck working really long hours because we didn’t have options… after all that, he got a job where we’ll have good quality of life. How amazing is that?
So, when we found out two weeks ago, we decided to do something crazy. When we made a list, as part of our pre-marital preparation, of goals we had for our life together, one of the dreams that made both lists was, “take a last minute trip somewhere.” So we did that. On one week’s notice, we booked a trip to the Yucatan, where we’d never been. (Which, by the way? Was crazy affordable. We stayed part of a trip in a luxury boutique hotel for half price.) We spent a lot of time in hammocks, napping. We kicked some dirt. We swam in the Caribbean. We climbed to the top of Mayan ruins. And in the middle of all of that, I edited the second half of my book by a pool, overlooking the ocean.
We closed the door on a hard era this week. One that started with us moving to San Francisco for David’s law school, where I toughed out a hard job, where the economy collapsed around us, where we got married in the middle of it all. We toasted survival, and the way our relationship held steady. We toasted a return to doing work that we love. We toasted growing a little older together.
I’m sharing all this today, because, well, I finally can. And because I know that so many of you are going through, or have gone through, similar really rough patches. The economy is shitty. Unemployment is painful. Supporting a partner doing work you don’t love is hard. Keeping faith through all of it sometimes seems impossible. And I know I’m not the only person who’s spent hours sobbing and sobbing and sobbing over all of this.
I don’t have a grand message here, other than if you’re going through the madness that is un/marginal employment, you’re not alone. And there is, always, light at the end of the tunnel, even when it seems so dim as to be a mirage. And the shared history, and entwined support that is marriage? Well. That’s what got me through.
So here is to David. May you continue to love the law, over many, many happy years. I’ll be here, cheering you on.
As a teacher who’s just been “displaced” (read: fired) by a district trimming the budget, I needed to read this today! Thanks and congratulations to David!
May 18, 2011 4:47 am
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Marginal employment – a phrase I hadn’t heard before but captures my situation pretty neatly. Thanks for the inspiring words – I needed a story of something working out. Delighted that the hard work paid off for David and that you’re getting to live your dream alongside his. Love makes things easier – that’s for sure.
May 18, 2011 4:56 am
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Yay David!!! Yay Marriage!! You made it through! There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for reminding us Meg!
May 18, 2011 4:58 am
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Fellow sobber-for-hours-on-end here… when I couldn’t get employed (with a nursing degree, of all things!) after moving across the country so my brand-spanking-new husband could start working on his PhD, it was one of the lowest times of my life. SO. DAMN. HARD. And you’re right, in the end it was his support that got me through it. And still gets me through the rough patches, whatever they may be.
ps. That first picture rocks. And this trips sounds spectacular– good for you guys!! :) And congrats, to you both, on the new direction your lives are heading.
May 18, 2011 5:05 am
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My husband’s a nurse, and it took him 9 months of applying to at least 3 or 4 jobs a week to find his current job. You’re not alone!
May 18, 2011 3:14 pm
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Thank you Meg, I really needed that today. After a trip home that lasted a week,(having not been home in almost a year) coming back to a job I don’t *love*, in a town I sort of like, I have to remember there is light at the end of the tunnel.
May 18, 2011 5:07 am
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Despite working his ass of every day, both at his old job and in his unemployment, my fiance has been out of a job for ten months now. We try every day to not let this put a damper on planning our wedding. But this story gives me hope — MORE hope, I should say, since I never once stopped having faith that something will come along for him. I needed this story too. Congrats to you both!
May 18, 2011 5:09 am
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I loved this post! Very well said, Meg. Congrats on all of your accomplishments in the last couple of years (and David’s, too), especially for hanging in there and keeping faith when the going got tough. So happy you’re finding yourselves on the other side of a rough patch! Can’t wait until your book comes out!
May 18, 2011 5:14 am
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Thanks Meg! And congrats to David! We moved for my masters program to France, and then Germany. My husband has finally found a job after 1 year of unemployment and stress and worries. We felt like we were barely treading water, and it was so hard–no longer sure if we were following a dream or just drowning. This was the perfect post–it helps me realize how many other people in this community are going through similar difficult things (and in our first year of marriage!). Thanks for helping keep me sane in the last year!
May 18, 2011 5:17 am
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Don’t know what to say here – but thank you. We’re in a tough space due to employment, unemployment, and marginal employment, and its good to hear that a) this is tough, this is something that other people struggle with too, and b) there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I am one of the *lucky* law grads – graduated from law school in 2009, into the height of the recession. Through an amazing turn of fate, I got an amazing, incredible, life-changing clerkship, and then an amazing, incredible, life-affirming job. I have never been happier at work, and my decision to be a lawyer has been affirmed every day. Good stuff.
But my better half – the guy who keeps me sane, happy and fulfilled – had to leave an amazing, incredible job in D.C. (where I went to school) to follow me after graduation. He stayed in DC for about a year after graduation, hoping to find a job in our new state before moving, but it didn’t happen. So we took a leap of faith and he moved, without a job. It’s been about 13 months now, of marginal employment, freelance, a temp-job that was promising but ended in tears. It’s been so tough. Money’s not the problem (my job is an incredible blessing), but we both need him to be fulfilled. And he needs to feel like he’s contributing more than by doing just household chores, taking care of our sweet puppy, and keeping me afloat. It’s been a learning process for me – suddenly, I can’t make everything perfect. I’m slowly learning to be nicer to myself.
We’re taking another leap of faith – he’s starting school again on Monday. We both know that its not a magic pill, and there are still tough times ahead. Tough times, and hopefully good times – our wedding, in the middle of all of this, is in August.
Congrats to David – I am proud to share the profession with someone with so much determination and grit :) May the law bring him many happy and fulfilling years.
May 18, 2011 5:19 am
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Congrats to David! Congrats to Meg!
May 18, 2011 5:25 am
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Dear Meg, first of all congratulations to David (yay) and to you for this new beginning. As a mexican living in Holland (hubby is dutch, got married last September), we are going through this and it is incredibly hard. I have not one but 2 degrees (Biology and Veterinary medicine) and am fluent in 3 languages and still after 1 year and a half of trying like crazy I am not able to find a job. I have applied to all kinds of things within the biological area, I am currently doing research at a university in a volunteer basis, and well there has been a lot of crying. Your timing as always is perfect as I was not feeling so well today again.In the meantime I have done internships, and worked at a call center. I feel like a snob for wanting a job that matters, and I hate it that I am not contributing economically to our marriage.
I really want to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. So thanks for ths post.
May 18, 2011 5:26 am
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This made me tear up… I’m right there with you, except not living it out in a foreign country – if it feels this hard to me, I can’t imagine how much stress living in a different country would add to the mix. And you speak 3 lanuages, wow!
“I feel like a snob for wanting a job that matters”
Yes, this is what I was crying over last night… lots of self-doubt, guilt. I keep hanging onto the idea of using at least one of my degrees, or of being in a field I care about, or at least working somewhere I don’t hate… but I can’t seem to find that, and then I wonder if my standards are too high. :-P Sucky, sucky time.
May 18, 2011 8:16 am
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We approached the problem of wanting a job that matters (which totally doesn’t make you a snob!) from the opposite side. When I switched countries for grad school, the boy was really worried about finding a fulfilling job by me. So when he fell into an amazing job on another continent, I knew I had to let him go. The distance, while painful, has always been temporary — once I finish my PhD, we’ll both move back together. We had more faith in our ability to survive apart than with him unhappy and unfulfilled here. We’ve gone from long-distance relationship to long-distance engagement to long-distance marriage and, umm, we’re still wedding planning because visas are complicated like that.
Now that I have about a year left in my PhD, I can see the cliff approaching… the one where we both have to jump and pray we land with jobs together in the same place. I’m not looking forward to that (the jumping and praying, not the part where we finally get to live together)!
May 18, 2011 9:58 am
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Margaret and Sarah,
Thanks for your comments. I am sending you all my support, let’s just keep on hoping and hang in there for a while.
And Sarah, you can do it, we also were long distance for a while, but it is worth it and it is for the best.
May 18, 2011 10:13 am
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Dear Amanda,
you might probably already know this, but there’s a great job agency for higher educated expats in the Netherlands called the undutchables who might be able to help you out. And I understand your pain: I moved a year and half from the Netherlands to Greece with my fiance and still no job in sight either… We might have to move countries once more, but I’m not yet willing to give up hope!
May 18, 2011 12:12 pm
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Congratulations David & Meg, and well deserved!
May 18, 2011 5:26 am
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What a beautiful post. I graduated from my Master’s program in December 2009 and went through my own year of marginal employment. It was a year filled with panic attacks, anxiety about the future, and yes sobbing. But it was also during that year that I got engaged and realized for the first time, how much easier it is to carry life burdens when you have a wonderful partner.
Congrats, David and congrats, Meg. May you both continue to be fulfilled and happy in your work over many, many years.
May 18, 2011 5:26 am
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Supporting a partner doing work you don’t love is hard.
Oh man. I cried at my desk today because this is my life right now (whilst also being at grad school and not sleeping even nearly enough). Talk about timing… bring on the end of that tunnel!
May 18, 2011 5:26 am
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First: hooray and congratulations to both of you!
Second: THIS: “…so he was contributing to the household in huge ways the whole time.” YES. Wife & I both tried really hard to remind each other during our respective periods of un- or underemployment that we were doing this and that it IS so important… but it’s so good to hear it from someone who isn’t one of us, who we can’t write off by saying, “You’re just saying that.”
Third: This reminded me that we should be recognizing those things louder and more often, even when we are both employed. Thanks for today’s post, Meg! Good luck with your new job, David!
May 18, 2011 5:27 am
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Oh, man, recognizing the daily domestic tasks is HARD. Especially if one or both of us isn’t doing them that well and therefore the other is holding a grudge. Not that I’d know about any of that or anything. (Sigh.) But it’s so important. Running a household takes time and energy, and appreciating that makes it all so much better.
May 18, 2011 7:15 am
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Oh Meg! Thank you so much for this post today and your always honest approach. My husband and I were married in September and he was laid off in January. Financially, we are okay, but much like you, I am working a job that I am not in love with. You didn’t speak to this exactly, but for me the hardest part is seeing my partner, the man I love, be so down on himself. Its damn hard. But you have given me so much hope today. Because bad economy or not, this will not and cannot last forever.
Yay for y’all! Congratulations on everything!
May 18, 2011 5:31 am
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Met is stinks that we didn’t get to meet up out there. But… by chance did you stay in or near La Luna Playa Media in Isla Mujeres?
May 18, 2011 5:31 am
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Yeah. In the hotel next door….
May 18, 2011 7:44 am
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Oh man, this post totally made me tear up. When Eric moved out to Long Island for me, he was making a 5 hour driving commute to CT everyday for work (an abusive work enviroment, at that). We knew he had to switch jobs because the commute was literally wearing down his soul, all too fast. It was a trying time, for sure. We looked for jobs, I would get excited, and then upset when it didn’t pan out. However, I remember one morning, driving to work, seeing the moon, and just having that sense that something was going to work out. I got to work that morning with an email from Eric about a job interview–he eventually not only got the job, but rocked at it that, now after a year there, he’s turned it into his dream job.
But, man was that a hard time. We felt like we couldn’t start living, or dreaming, or seeing the future together until he could get a job closer to our home. A job isn’t just about the job, money, or career path–it’s about the ability to be proud, live, and forsee a future. Thank god we can now, and YAY for David, but, there’s no denying watching your loved one get down about jobs (and I don’t mean in the dancing way) is one of the hardest scenes to endure.
Here’s to walking toward the sunshine.
May 18, 2011 5:34 am
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Congratulations to both of you! Doing the marginal unemployment thing right now, and it can be soul-destroying when it feels as if there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. Good for you for working to make sure the both of you and your marriage stayed strong during such a difficult time!
May 18, 2011 5:45 am
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Yay! Congratulations David and Meg, for all your hard work and sticking together to finally pay off!
May 18, 2011 5:46 am
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This could not have come at a better time. Thank you.
May 18, 2011 5:50 am
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I’m one of the very lucky to graduate from law school, take the February 2011 bar exam, & get a job in my chosen field just weeks before the results were announced. Unfortunately my soon-to-be fiance graduated from law school, passed the bar in November 2010, and hasn’t had much aside from temp work. Now he’s moving 100 miles to be with me & looking for a job here. It’s been difficult and definitely not the experience we expected upon entering law school, but it’s going alright. Congrats to you & David!
May 18, 2011 5:50 am
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OH I am so happy for you guys. That period of life, right after you finally bounce off the bottom, is so, so sweet. Breathing, living — it all feels so fresh, so warm. Congratulations!
May 18, 2011 6:02 am
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What awesome news! I am so happy for you both. Big congratulations to David! Hooray!
May 18, 2011 6:06 am
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Oh, Meg, thanks for this! My fiance and I have spent the first part of our relationship being very thankful that we both had steady jobs with benefits that we at least didn’t hate in this crazy economy. Right as wedding planning started in earnest for us, my job situation became alot less stable due to some restructuring (though I haven’t been let go yet, and might not be) and he had a major realization that he hates the city where we live and it’s making both of us miserable. We need to relocate, and I may need to find a new job before that.
It’s tough, but we’ll make it through. Thanks for sharing how hard your own journey has been – so glad things are finally looking up!
May 18, 2011 6:12 am
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What awesome news – congrats, David! And congrats, Meg! I was unemployed last year and my fiance kept me afloat emotionally. I am thankful for him everyday, but he really came through for me even when it was tough on him and on us, but it was always wonderful to know that in all the crap we were drudging through, we were happy to have each other.
May 18, 2011 6:14 am
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Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. I just started the first related-to-my-major job that I’ve had since I graduated from college two years ago. So exciting! Congrats and I am so jealous of your last-minute trip!
May 18, 2011 6:15 am
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Congratulations! My husband-to-be is graduating from grad school next week and we just found out he got a job (not only a job- the only job he really applied for and really wanted!) This post came at a great time, we are also seeing the end of the tunnel. Also, I guess the economy is picking up!
May 18, 2011 6:16 am
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What FANTASTIC news! Congratulations, Meg, and congrats to your lovely husband! So glad to hear this.
May 18, 2011 6:23 am
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Meg! I needed a happy ending this morning. I’ve got happy tears for you.
May 18, 2011 6:24 am
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Huge congratulations to David, that is wonderful news! We have experienced two long periods of unemployment, both following very sudden redundancy, and they were hard, horribly hard. I haven’t even tried to explain it to people who haven’t been through it. The second time was nine months. I was in work and would come home tired to someone who had been desperately unhappy all day. There were tears (from me) and eventually from him (which broke my heart – at that point we had been together for almost 12 years and I had never seen him cry), there were evenings when we had run out of ways to talk about this thing that was so all consuming, there was the realisation that sometimes all you can do is make dinner, pour a large glass of wine and watch something completely mindless on TV as a distraction. Even thinking about that time is making my stomach tie up in knots and my eyes tear up. Anyway, all that to say yes, so pleased for you both and so pleased that you took yourselves off for a much deserved break. I hope David’s first day goes well!
May 18, 2011 6:29 am
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“there were evenings when we had run out of ways to talk about this thing that was so all consuming, there was the realisation that sometimes all you can do is make dinner, pour a large glass of wine and watch something completely mindless on TV as a distraction.”
Oh, man, that’s the truth. I feel like we’ve talked and analyzed and cried over this issue for 5 months, never really getting anywhere. I surely sound like a broken record. Sometimes I have to remind myself that obsessing over the problem will NOT necessarily lead to a job, especially not at 11:30pm at night; however, it will make me miserable and unable to sleep. :P
May 18, 2011 8:25 am
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First of all, congrats to you and David! My own Fiance graduated law school in the Bay Area in 2010, and rough it was. We ended up moving 3000 to DC for his job. It hasn’t been too traumatizing for us, but I feel your shock at graduating from a great school with a degree that is supposed to set you up for life… with no prospects. It is devastating. We know people who technically were made job offers…. for January 2012. (Again, they graduated in May 2010!!) So yeah, ROUGH.
Secondly, congrats for knowing how to celebrate! I am so inspired. We’ve been trying to scout a sunny, affordable destination, and I am looking into Yucatan!
May 18, 2011 6:30 am
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Awesome! I’ve heard the bar in Calif. and N.Y. are both really difficult, so David MUST have his shiz together! Congratulations.
May 18, 2011 6:31 am
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Hell Yes! For all of it the job, the trip, the wonderful marriage and the JOY!
May 18, 2011 6:34 am
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Yay for you! Yay for David!!
May 18, 2011 6:35 am
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Congratulations to you guys! On accomplishing so much, and rewarding yourselves, too!
These are important things: the goals, the celebrations, and someone to share it with.
So thank you for the inspiration.
May 18, 2011 6:38 am
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Marginally employed class of 2010 law graduate here, and I loved this post! Congrats, David!
May 18, 2011 6:52 am
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Yay for David, and thank you for sharing this! As a 2010 law school graduate, I know exactly how it felt to graduate in this economy. Kudos to both of you for leaning on each other through it all!
May 18, 2011 6:55 am
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Thanks Meg – it was really good to hear that this morning. With over a year of unemployment under his belt my fiance and I are planning a wedding anyways and seeing where things take us. Congrats to David! :)
May 18, 2011 7:00 am
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I absolutely teared up at the end of this, Meg. I’m toughing out a job that I SWEAR is draining the life from me little by little every day. He’s working, but we both have to work right now. And it is HARD. And we’ve battled job uncertainty and life uncertainty and all sorts of mess. And he keeps saying – “we’re going to be ok. we’ve got each other, so it’s going to be ok!”
It’s hard to remember. He works nights. Before that he worked weekends. Our schedules are never the same. He works ALL. THE. TIME. trying to get us to a place where we can both live out our dreams. I fight the urge to say “I quit” at least once a week. (I guess it’s working? I did get a nice raise. That was God taking care of us right there)
And never did his words ring truer until I read this and realized what we have waiting for us at the end. This post is so full of hope. Thank you for the reminder.
(AND BIG BIG BIG CONGRATS TO DAVID!!!!!)
May 18, 2011 7:03 am
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Oh Melissa . . . I had to do more than ‘exactly’ what you said, because it resonates with me. The first two paragraphs are almost as if I wrote them myself (well, except for the part about the raise!). Keep hanging in there.
May 18, 2011 8:44 am
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You, too!!! We started looking into Dave Ramsey’s program to help us get to a point where there isn’t so much misery. We were able to pay cash for our wedding, so that’s awesome. Now we just have a mountain of existing bills, student loans, a mortgage, cars, etcetcetcetc that plagues our generation. We weren’t exempt. It’s just sometimes a ridiculous struggle to remember that it won’t stay this way forever.
It’s always nice to see someone first hand step out of the cycle and into the happiness we all strive for. That it’s worth it
May 18, 2011 10:37 am
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Dave Ramsey should totally be our next book club reading.
“I’m toughing out a job that I SWEAR is draining the life from me little by little every day.”
I’ve been there and cried over the soul killing (first two paragraphs sound very familiar). Found a different job through a co-worker. Then moved to a different city (Baltimore, which I’ve also cried tears over ) and only working part-time now through a temp agency. It’s very frustrating.
However, on the up side we’ll be moving to California at the end of August, Mr. EG has a better post-doc lined up, and I’m considering starting my own photo business. Not to mention I’ve met a great group of women here in Bmore through the book club (hung out with some of them just last night). They’re so awesome we’re starting to work on helping each other to make our dreams come true.
Keep with it and things will get better. Hugs.
May 19, 2011 12:52 pm
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So happy for you and David, Meg! We are seriously struggling financially, too, and R still has school left. It’s really tough and so, so scary for me to think about the possibility of all that school turning up a year of unemployment or more, plus the student loans, especially because my job doesn’t have benefits. I keep trying to tell myself that so many others are going through the same thing, and that we’ll get through this! It really helped to read your post, so thank you for sharing.
May 18, 2011 7:05 am
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Congratulations!!! Yay for finding new (better) jobs!!
I’m on the train heading to the job I don’t like, so that my fiancé can do the job he loves. There’s nothing worse than a man in a job he despises. I saw it in my father. I do not want to see it in my future husband. So if this means working a completely unfulfilling job while taking graduate classes at night, I can do this. It’s not forever.
May 18, 2011 7:15 am
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and here I thought I was the only one planning a wedding on 1 paycheck. THANK YOU!
May 18, 2011 7:17 am
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Oh lord, my dear, no. We’ve NEVER had two paychecks. Well, we did back in New York, but we didn’t live together and those paychecks were so small they added up to less than one of our current non-extravagant paychecks, so that doesn’t help. We’ve done the last four years on one paycheck, wedding and all. And I know we’re not alone on that! You’re in good company.
May 18, 2011 7:48 am
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Mmm hmmm! *raises hand* We paid for our wedding ourselves (keeping enough in savings to pay for it all again and then some, huzzah!), and during our engagement I was unemployed for the better part of a year, then he lost his job. I think we had two paychecks for about five minutes. :)
We’re actually closing in on a full year of unemployment for him, which means the end of unemployment benefits. My salary is enough to pay our bills (and save next to nothing), so, ya know, no pressure… but on the other hand, what I *really* freak out about is the prospect of him getting a job and then us finding that with neither of us at home, our house falls apart, we stop eating well, etc (orrr, we have to choose between maintaining our household and sleeping).
May 18, 2011 4:19 pm
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First, congratulations to David and to you!
Second, this is so very appropriate for so many of us and it’s good to know that I’m not the only one feeling awful about the economy. Thank you.
May 18, 2011 7:22 am
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Such a good post! Isn’t that just the way the universe works at times? It’s a learning lesson for sure, and sometimes you just have to hit rock bottom (or close to it) before things change. My husband has gone through several bouts of lengthy employment, and we struggled, but somehow always got by. Sure, creditors might have been calling and sure, we had to share a small house with roommates that was bad all around, but we got through it. Sure, we have a ton of debt we’re trying to pay off, and because he’s a contract worker unemployment can hit a few times a year, but we know in time it won’t be a worry.
It was nice to read your post and see things working out for you both. This economy is rough on so many, so it’s always nice to see when people make it. Hooray for happy tales!
May 18, 2011 7:24 am
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Yay and congrats to you both! Such a relief! I really relate to this post. My husband just finished his masters in art education (after being laid off from an industry he no longer wanted to be a part of 2 years ago). There are very few job prospects available and we are looking at a year at least of substitute teaching and picking up odd jobs and possibly moving.
As I have played the role of sole bread winner in my “don’t love it but need health insurance job”, we have postponed major vacations (and honeymoons) through his schooling. The day he finished school, I said let’s just go for it. We can afford some alone time and vacation. We finally took a trip to Mexico last week! We were at Chichen Itza on May 11th. It looks like you were there too! Such a small world.
Thanks for helping to keep things in perspective. I feel guilty when I’m sad about our financial future and employment prospects. Its good to know that other (well balanced, stable, happy, successful) people go through this and in the end, its all going to be ok! Oh Meg, I swear you are my personal therapy sometimes :)
May 18, 2011 7:26 am
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Ha! We were there May 9!
May 18, 2011 7:50 am
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Yahoo!! David’s now another example of people I know (or know of) who looked for a job for a year or more, but finally, finally found one as the economy begins to turn back around. And these are all massively qualified, smart, driven people. Good for you both for staying positive and working hard! It’s the only way, and that attitude will just continue to pay dividends, employed or not! (As a fellow freelancer, and an opera singer, no less, I know this SO WELL.)
May 18, 2011 7:30 am
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Ohmygoodness!!! Congratulations to you both!!! I just graduated from Boalt on Friday, and I felt like my husband had graduated right along with me – just like you said, we both worked our asses off to get here. I feel indescribably lucky to have found a job I love while in the tail end of this awful recession, but this post makes me feel so much luckier that I have someone to lean on, who will work just as hard as I will, and who will do whatever needs to be done to make sure we get through the inevitable hard times.
P.S. I LOVE that you went to Mexico last minute. Perfect way to celebrate!
May 18, 2011 7:31 am
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There is nothing quite like the phone call/email that your partner got a job after months of unemployment. Yay for David!
May 18, 2011 7:37 am
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Congrats to you both, lady.
Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like when Meg and David are winning, I’m winning too?
May 18, 2011 7:49 am
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