I worked my last day of full-time work for Saint Luke's Hospital and Central High School on June 8, 2008. That was the beginning of what was to be a nearly 14 month period of waiting before being able to work full-time again.
It wasn't all bad. It served as time for our little family to grow closer to one another. We got to finish projects, spend time together and enjoy being at home with each other ALL THE TIME!
The first thing I did was finish up my course work to complete a Master of Science Degree in Physical Education, Exercise & Sport Science (with a Fitness/Wellness emphasis) from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Missouri. That was long overdue, but a welcome addition to my resume, and proved to be a vital piece to finding a better-paying job in the end.
The day after graduation, we headed to Germany for Christmas to visit Grit's family in Berlin. This was the first time they would meet our little Bear Bear. He was a hit.
When we came home, I immediately started working for a friend of mine as the Head Athletic Trainer at Grandview High School. The company he worked for made an offer to me for full-time employment. I made a counter-offer, asking them to consider a salary that was a bit higher, and they pulled the full-time offer off the table and kept me working on-call. It wasn't alot of hours, and offered no benefits at all, but the hourly rate for on-call workers was really quite good, and I was working literally four miles from my house. That position dried up though as the school year came to a close.
While working at Grandview, I was able to land an interview with a small university near Oklahoma City. The interview went great and I felt like I had a good job with a very good salary in the bag. The problem was that they never really made it official. I actually waited for feedback from them for nearly three months. I still have never been told anything further.
Well, while I was waiting for some feedback from them, I began sending out resumes all over the Midwest. I started getting looks from several different employers in Missouri and Kansas. One was a company where I would have been working with a railroad. Another would have had me working with the employees of the J.C. Penny factory. Neither of those brought about anything except phone interviews. Then I got a look from the largest employer in southwest Missouri...a large Non-Profit Hospital System called CoxHealth, in Springfield Missouri. That interview went so well, that I knew they would be making an offer the next day, which they did. They also allowed me to take some time to decide....ten days to be exact.
During that ten days, I heard back from a Division-II University in Western Kansas. They made an offer that seemed very good to me, so we announced to all our friends and loved ones that we would be taking the position in Kansas, and headed out the next day to find housing. On the way, we called the fellow in Springfield and left a message (because he didn't answer) letting him know that we would be taking another position. All that day, we searched and searched for housing, and could find nothing...NOTHING...that was acceptable to raise a small family in, for less than $1100, and our budget for housing was $700. IMPOSSIBLE!! I had been having subtle impressions to call the man in Springfield back and ask if he would let me accept the offer after all, before it was too late. When we pulled up in front of about the tenth place that was over priced and way too small and in horrible condition, Grit started to cry and I, finally listening to the impressions that I was receiving, called Springfield.
Sheepishly I explained our dilemma and asked if they were still interested in having me as an employee. They were, and not only that, I was given another 2 days to finalize my decision. We headed home immediately (it was a five hour drive to get back to Kansas City, and we arrived at 11:00 pm.) When we got home, Grit went right to bed, and I started researching homes in Springfield. I ended up staying up til about 2:30 am. Then we got back up at the crack of dawn and headed to Springfield to look for housing. We looked at about 22 of the 25 that I had printed off from the internet. Eventually we settled on a place that is centrally located between where I work (at Evangel University), where my boss's office is (at the Cox South hospital complex) and Church. We love our little house, and are finally getting settled in, although it has been a crazy ride. Soon, I will try to do a post with pictures of our nice little rental.
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