terminated

So I guess it’s a good thing we postponed our wedding for the umpteenth time…

Lemme go back…

We had been planning to do the deed on October 9, 2009. This year. Get married, that is. Then (June08) CFMIL had herself a big hissy fit about nothing important and it prompted us to seriously think about our plans. After a few months (in Aug08), we decided that spending the money on ourselves was the best option for us. It eliminated a lot of other wedding issues as well – having our families so far apart geographically, etc. We determined to travel to South Africa in June 2009 instead to get married on safari. Just the two of us. BLISS.

January09 brought a demotion for BF at work due to corporate restructuring thanks to the bad news from the world economy; thus, our belaboured decision to postpone our plans again. I am way too practical to spend thousands of dollars, basically all our savings, on a big event and then have no safety net should the worst happen and BF lose his job. It’s very frustrating to be perpetually engaged as I have been for the past few years… it’s disheartening to see all my friends get married and start having kids while I’m still "waiting" for the "right" moment. Anyway, we held off coming up with a new date and left thoughts of weddings indefinitely but recently I started thinking that sometime after May 1st next year (2010) will work for our "weddingmoon" trip… maybe September. I think the economy should be starting to look up by then. Things will be more secure, etc etc. It will give us a chance to save up some more money and for me to lose the weight I want to lose. (more on that later).

The other thing that has been held up by all this economy nonsense is our move back to Ottawa. Obviously I want far far away from the crazies. BF has desperately been wanting to change jobs because of the idiocy happening at work but getting paid a manager’s wage to do an entry level job has just too good a deal to pass up. There isn’t a lot of opportunity around here for jobs making what he is making now either. So, with a pay cut, we’d be okay living here but probably not up in Ottawa where apartments are about $300 more expensive for a lot less ammenity. He’ll have to find something paying what he’s making now but it will be hard if he has to start at the bottom for most jobs… since employers can basically pick and choose whomever they want to hire at the moment. It’s also crazy hard to find a job up there from way down here!! How do you schedule interviews?? I know it’s possible but damn. We were having issues with that for sure. Hard to commit to another job here when we are thinking of moving in a few months too… I mean, I’d do it but damn.

Anyway, since the restructuring and demoting earlier in the year, things have been weird at BF’s work. Then with about 2 weeks left in the month, CFBIL was laid off from the same company (different part of it) – gone at the end of April. With the way the company is being run currently, we knew they were going to shut down entirely in the near future. By the end of the year at the most. So it was not a total shock today when BF came home to tell me that his section of the company will be closing permanently and as of August 3rd at the latest he will be terminated/laid off. At the latest. They could give him 2 weeks notice at any time between now and then though, depending on call volumes, company requirements and performance, etc etc etc. They did say something about severance so that’s good news although I don’t know how much.

And, to think, we had been planning to leave for a month to get married in JUNE – that is NEXT month!!! Imagine if we had carried on with our plans and spent all that money and then found out NOW that BF was losing his job!! OMG! So I guess things work out the way they’re supposed to but damn. Yeah, but damn.

The tentative plan, as we let this semi-shock wear off, is actually for BF to go back to school in the fall. As soon as he gets his notification of termination letter from this stupid-ass company, we apply for EI. Then he is applying at a college for the Second Career program they are offering these days. He may even start the application process now. He will do something computer repair/networking oriented and get a diploma which will help him get a better, higher-paying job in the future. He’s looking at a 2 year program. This will work because SC pays full tuition, books, transportation, housing up to $28K, depending on need.
Meanwhile, my assistance amount will increase to cover BF’s financial decrease – to a certain extent… I think they even have some extra assistance for people starting school/new jobs that we would be entitled to. I think we will be okay. I think this will end up being a good thing…

So, the hope is that we can get him into Algonquin College in Ottawa and with the help of SC be able to afford our own apartment. Second option will be to live with my mom for a while. Definitely not permanently and not something we really want to do – at all. It makes little sense to commit to two more years at a college here when we ultimately want to be in Ottawa and, when this recession finally lifts, there will be more opportunities there.

With that all said, I think a plan for our wedding of "sometime after May 1st, 2010" should hold up very well. June 11-July 11 is the World Cup in South Africa so prices will be crazy before then… but, if these past Olympics are any indication, flights to the host country should be relatively cheap afterwards. That’s why I think maybe September will work. We shall see though. I’m not doing too much planning in advance this time. Just research.