The Verdict is in...

Yes, the worst but not so bad has happened. I was laid off today. And actually eventhough I was quite a mess prior to the notice with all the waiting (I was the last to find out). I felt a lot of peace afterwards. I do have an interview Friday, but honestly I as I drove off into the sunset today I felt quite the excitement of building my consulting business full time. Ben and I will not make any major decisions right away but we are okay with walking away from the house. It is such an unpredictable market right now and we think it might be the best decision for us and our future. So we will keep you posted. For now I am off to the Grand Cayman Islands and Jamaica for the most perfectly timed vacation ever!

Cast your votes now for my new comany logo...

Logo #1

Logo #2

Up in the air...

That is our life right now. Many of you saw on my facebook status or received calls from us regarding are current situation which is quite up in the air at the moment.

Here is a play by play...

Thursday 3pm-My boss brings Corrin (the other meeting planner who has been at Henry V 5 years) and I (only a year under my belt, but none the less a rock star) into the conference room and proceeds to tell us that with the recent news of Intel, Northface, Adidas and Freightliner (our clients) all cutting back on not only staff but meetings they need planned, that this very much effects us at Henry V. That even though we have already made three rounds of lay-offs, that we are probably going to make more. He wanted to have this meeting to get us to start thinking of creative ways to make cut-backs without hopefully laying off the whole company since we are down to 12 anyways. Some of their current ideas are: have employees volunteer to take unpaid time off, go down to a 3 or 4 day work week and supplement with unemployment, and find more ways to bring in money.

Thursday 3:23pm-Post meeting, I freak out.

Thursday 3:24pm-Leave message for Ben...."CALL ME BACK ASAP...need to talk"

Thursday 3:26pm-Like a good husband, he called back. Inform him of situation...think about house and losing house and losing job...start weeping..pull it back together...

Thursday 3:31pm-Go back to work...LOOK BUSY!

Thursday 3:32pm-Bring up Internet and apply for every travel director position I know of (4 completed)

Thursday 5:30pm-Go to gym, kickbox my stress away...well kind of away.

Thursday 7:00pm-Get home, hug Ben (and he had dinner ready :)

Thursday 7:30pm-Discuss options (below), too many variations to deal with (below)

Thursday 9:00pm-Look for jobs, found one (ONLY 1!!!), applied.

Thursday 10:30pm-Go to bed depressed because there are no jobs out there.

Friday through Monday AM-Doing okay in light of the situation. Mostly because we are so unsure of what is really going to go down this week.

Monday 10:46am-Corrin is pulled into conference room with Katja (another director). She reports afterwards that Katja informed her that she is safe that she should not be looking for other jobs and that Jerry (our boss) should have had said that "it would not be a bad idea to look for other opportunities". Hmmmmmm....I did not get a special meeting, what does that mean????? Exactly what I suspected.

The three possible scenarios:

#1, They lay me off. I take my SACUBO client with me and will make same amount until April (not so bad), no job after April except any contract-travel director (which is basically an on site only meeting planner) work I get, but Ben will hopefully be working by then. In this scenario we lose the house unless I can find another job ASAP which is not likely. But you never know the one job I applied could call?

#2, they cut my hours or my pay, I would receive supplemental unemployment for 1 to 2 days a week (Oregon program, know nothing about it). If I can keep 32 hours a week, I would get to keep benefits I think. It would insure a steady smaller paycheck until at least April. If market does not improve then in my opinion I would still be cut after April. You see, currently they are getting the revenue for the SACUBO meeting I brought to them (about $19K). Also could give me the freedom to still get contract work. Henry V would basically put me on an hourly base.

#3 they keep me on full time, this would be ideal, not sure if this is likely??? But I did not get the special meeting telling me I'm safe :(

In the mean time to lessen the thoughts and possible scenarios I have taken up oil painting. Here is what I am painting compliments of my friend/wedding photographer Steve Wagner. I hope mine looks this beautiful...doubt it but I will try!







Thank you for your prayers and thoughts!