Change 10-11-12

Well it more or less took me by surprise today and I'm still trying to grasp the reality of the situation. I've kept quiet since the start of this school year about a few things and I don't have to anymore really. I'm so looking forward to my wife coming home tonight, she plans to take care of a few things for the most part, it means an extra day the family gets to spend with her tomorrow and over the weekend too.

See, she's been teaching in Athens, Texas for the past few months now and in doing so, she commutes during the week and returns home on the weekends. Its been tough in a lot of ways, but I'm very proud of her and this is allowing her to focus on school and teaching. The first year for teachers is always the hardest they say.

So I've only told a few of the people that I work with about my situation. Pretty much my boss and I let him know from the start about all of this, "I don't plan on going anywhere and like working for APHA." It really doesn't concern them (Management) as to what my family does in the end I feel. I didn't want them to think, well he must be planning on quiting soon in the end.

What I didn't expect, was APHA being finished with me so soon. I was surprised after taking a couple of approved days off this week, to take care of my kids and I even did some work from home during this time; only to be lais off upon returning to work this morning. That was how things went for the past few years. No real vacations and still being called upon and asked to work on stuff from home when I'd take my days off.

So over the past few years I've seen a lot of my co-workers leave for various reasons, some on their own terms and some not ready to go, but being asked to leave like this? Looks, like today I join the ranks of those being asked to leave now. It's still a shock, having worked for APHA since January 2000 and I'll miss a lot of things over time I think in the end.

Well this marks only the 2nd time if my life that I've been let go from a job, actually being laid off is different than the first time. Perhaps I should have took a page from my past co-workers and left along time ago and on my own terms. I think I really enjoyed working for the Association in the end and for the members and that is why I held on as long as I did.

Change came early at the start of this year and now I'll be looking hopefully towards better things to come. I think in time I'll see some relief, I mean I'll get my summer months free again as well as the fall and not be tied down to those long hours of working at a horse show anymore. Then again, that was the part of my job I had really liked the most, seeing the members and being around the horses.