All change!

So, in a massive shock to all of us, Steve was made redundant oh, about 6 or 8 weeks ago. 

He negotiated a redundancy deal that leaves us in no immediate panic, but my initial (and abiding) concern was for my husband and how he would cope with the emotional fall out of it all.  He is such a wonderful provider and I know that a lot of his sense of self is wrapped up in that.

When he first told me, I was frozen - not in panic about what would happen to us, but just from shock.  Shock that the company could treat him so badly after all his dedication and relentless hard work.  But then when the shock passed I realised that this is actually a gift.  My lovely husband has been miserable in his job for the last few years, and I have watched as the cheerful enjoyment of life that so characterised the man I met all those years ago, slowly evaporated.   But now!  He has been given the chance to get that exultation of spirit back again! He would never would have taken that chance voluntarily, because of the risks to his family.

So he has started looking for work seriously now, but there is not a lot available in his field up in the North East. He could get something up here and take a 40% pay cut and endure days of boredom, and I could look for work to try and make up some of that lost salary.
We could move back down south and get the same salary as he had before, but where the cost of living is so much higher. 
He could get a job down South and commute Monday to Friday
...  whatever route we end up going down, it's going to mean big changes for the Cards. 

It doesn't necessarily mean bad news though, as long as we can all stick together and support each other, it should be a wonderful adventure!