A New Start

When Doug and I moved down here last August, we were excited about all the possibilities that living in Florida would bring us at the time. Doug would be able to take Friday afternoons off and we would have all weekend to explore areas around Ocala and further. Our life had always revolved around our children’s schedules, and we loved that, but with everyone out of the house, we thought that we would take advantage of the free time and see what life brought us.

In November, our easy-going lifestyle changed once again as Champion and Winco merged unexpectedly. Doug had to work a lot to make that happen and starting on January first, he worked every single day up until last week. That included Saturdays and Sundays, Meg's wedding, and all of the trips that we took with Cameron this summer. It was just too much. There were weeks that Doug worked 70+ hours. By April all of the management that had started the new year with Doug had moved on to other jobs.  Doug's workload increased greatly, and he decided that it was time to move on himself. He wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go, but after looking around, he found the perfect job for him as a controller of another manufacturing company in the area. It was a little stressful as the interviewing process took a long time but two weeks ago, he found out that he had a new position and was very excited about the fresh start.

Doug had hoped to take an entire week off of work since he hadn't had a real vacation in several years. He wasn't quite able to do that as he still worked 20 hours champion while we were in the Midwest, but he was still able to really enjoy himself while we were there. By the end of the week, he was super relaxed and ready for this new chapter in his life.

Doug had orientation today and was very excited about his new position. The hours will be more realistic, even though the drive is a little bit longer. We have talked about ways to make the drive easier, maybe some nights he will stay in Orlando, or he might start earlier so he can miss rush-hour traffic. I told him that I don’t care what he decides to help with his commute.  I just wanted him to be happy.  I am thrilled that we will get our weekends back and I have already started to make plans for our free time.