Family Planning

I've thought about this off and on lately. And after having a oh-$*&#-could-I-be-pregnant? moment and realizing that such a thing would at this point in time bring on a cold sweat and fill me with great terror, I feel safe in saying now is not quite the time for our next little baby. We are pretty sure we only want 2 and we thought the ideal spacing would be about 3 years apart. Which...puts having the next little one right about when I'm trying to start my new job - that is, assuming I get such a job upon graduating...and assuming I graduate "on time" to my current plan. A lot of assumptions! Either way, that doesn't seem wise.

So then we could have the little one sooner - say a 2.5 year spacing. Which would put me having the next little one...right around when I defend my dissertation (same assumptions as above). That wouldn't be so bad - except I'd also be going to job interviews either hugely pregnant or with a very new newborn. I'm not keen on either option. This is all, of course, if I get an academic job. I suppose an industry job might give a little more flexibility in the timing of interviews and such.

Which leaves me thinking about 4 years apart might not be so bad. Maybe we have the next little one after I finish my first academic year at this imaginary new job? That seems...reasonable. I really don't want them much further apart than that...

I just don't know.

Mr. Random's Deal

Mr. Random is wonderful.  He is an excellent husband and father.  He's smart, funny and good-looking (of course).  But he lacks one thing.  A dream.  And it's driving him nuts.

It has been for years, actually.  Part of the reason he's worked mediocre jobs that bring no satisfaction, but thankfully a stable paycheck, is because he didn't know what he wanted to do.  And in the absence of a strong desire to do something specific, he just did whatever he found.  Which lead to retail and other less-than-fun positions.  Positions he found miserable.

So, here we are - 4.5 years out of college and still...he's not sure what he wants to do.  He thinks he'd be happy as the stay-at-home-dad.  Unfortunately for him, we had a baby a few years too soon for that dream.  If we'd waited until I was done with my PhD and gainfully employed it might have been an option.  He's though about being a teacher off-and-on for years, but for some reason has always resisted it.  He's not entirely sure why, but thinks it might be because it's not "prestigious" enough for his dad's approval.  Despite that, the job of teacher fits a lot of his personal requirements for a job he'd enjoy.

He wants a job that is respected.  That helps people.  With lots of time off so he can travel.  (is there any other career besides teaching that fills those 3 things?)  So he's going back to school to be a teacher.  But he's still not 100% sure it's the right "career" for him to be happy.  So that's what I was alluding to in the previous post.  Not only is it a bad financial move, it's a bad financial move for a "I'll-probably-maybe-hopefully enjoy what I'm doing after" career change.  Gulp.

In our defense, while Mr. Random is doubtful...I feel pretty confident he'll find out he loves teaching.  And I do know the guy pretty well.  :)

Update

I was reading over old posts and realized I needed to update a few things to bring this blog current. First, we heard from the police department. They canceled their test and are rescheduling it for next year. Basically they said they didn't anticipate any openings for the rest of the year. Which boils down to the crappy economy. We need TH to get this job because of the crappy economy, but it looks like he won't get it until the economy uncrappifies. Bummer. It's a blow to be sure - this is his DREAM job. But at least it wasn't a solid No. There's still a chance. So, we'll take it. Meanwhile, BBBB loves his current job, and that's a definite plus.

Additionally, we've decided to keep our current course. We'll keep taking out student loans and paying our bills. Our bank definitely says they're processing us for the modification, so hopefully that will pan out. If it does it'll save us $6,000 per year. Instead of -$700 per month, we'd be at -$200. How great would that be! We'd only need $2,400 in student loans to break even. A far cry better than what we need now. So we're still definitely hoping this works out for us.

And, like the last post said, we're going for it and letting nature take its course as far as pregnancy is concerned. Basically, after all my whining and complaining, I realized that I should be grateful I at least have the option to take out student loans. No, it's not ideal...but we could be a lot worse off.

We're still trying to get BBBB's medical bill sorted out. The hospital wants more paperwork. Since we technically have the amount in our savings we're nervous they'll want us to pay the full amount...I can't say I'd be surprised, but it is frustrating. I mean, when you look at our debt to income ratio we should not have any savings, and really all we have is from before TH lost his job. Taking a big chunk of that to pay medical bills with our current situation would mean we're out the money for a long time. And if for some reason I can't get student loans next year we're royally screwed as we'll have no safety net. I guess all we can do is ask...