HOORAY!!! But (grumble, grumble) Blah...

Alright, so I mentioned before that Brandon got a new job in Utah and we're MOVING!  It is such a great thing and it is happy, happy news.  Let me start from the "beginning".

We went up to Utah at the end of June for a vacation/job hunting trip.  We were going to be there for almost 3 weeks and were hoping to return to Arizona with a JOB.  It sounded really good.  We'll find a job in Utah and move up there.  That is what I've been dreaming of for the 13 years since I'd left.  After all, I'd always planned on moving back to Utah after I graduated from ASU, but I met Brandon and the rest is history.

So, within the first week of being in Utah, Brandon had secured 3 job interviews with different restoration companies.  One of them, Servpro, was in Bountiful and it seemed everything was falling into place.  Ever since my dad passed away, I've had this dream of living somewhere in my mom's neighborhood so my kids could ride their bikes to Grandmas house.  I'm sure this is more ideal for me than for her, since she's very independent, but my thought was that we could keep her company.  If Brandon worked in Bountiful, then we could live in Kaysville and close to my mom. : )

Anywho, the interview with Servpro went really well.  Brandon was told that his timing was perfect and several franchises in the Salt Lake valley were thinking of teaming up to hire a Commercial Sales Rep, since most of their focus is on residential.  Brandon got a second meeting set up with all of the owners of these franchises (after their trip to Hawaii for a conference that week).  He put together a killer presentation while they were gone, about all the great things he could do for them and has done for others.  He was scheduled to give the presentation the day after we were supposed to go home, so we booked him a flight back to PHX and the kids and I drove home without him.

He gave the presentation and I'm pretty sure they loved him.  They called him within a couple of hours and offered him the job, without any negotiation of the salary that he asked for.  It was wonderful news.  I cried.  We knew that it was the right decision.

Then it all started to sink in.  WE were MOVING... to UTAH.  I had told Brandon that if he got the job to make sure he had two weeks to help me get the house ready to sell.  I don't think I really believed this would happen, but all of a sudden it did and there was SO MUCH TO DO!  Fortunately our house was in pretty good condition but it still took the entire two weeks of tirelessly working both inside and outside to get it ready.  Brandon left on Sunday the 1st of August.  I spent all day on Monday finishing things up and cleaning.  I had a little help with the blinds and baseboards, but still spent about 10 hours making everything perfect.

The house went up for sale on Tuesday.

I was faced with the very daunting task of keeping the house clean for potential buyers, while living with four small (messy) children, and NO husband.  Plus, keeping up with a small cake business.  It was more than I could have handled.  So, I asked my mom if we could move into her Arizona home while our house is up for sale.  She agreed and we packed up just enough stuff to survive at Grandma's house.

My mother, who is a saint in my eyes right now, offered to come down to help me every other week while Brandon is working in Utah.  Our finances have been stretched because of several months without a job, so we decided to not bring Brandon home until his Brother's wedding on August 28th.  That is a LONG stretch without my handsome husband to hold me tight.  It is the LONGEST we have been apart. 

Brandon left on the 1st, and my mom came in that night, so the first week went really well.  She was a HUGE help (dare I say more than Brandon??!!).  Then mom left on Thursday to make sure she was back in SLC for her Temple shifts on Friday and Saturday.   It was time for me to start my longest stint of being a single parent- 10 days.  Right now I am 8 days in.  I'm just gonna keep it real here, since this is my journal, and it's private  : )  This is the toughest time I've ever had as a parent (maybe even as a human).  Every one of the problems that I've known we need to work on with the boys has been multiplied by 10.  Daxton is more of a smart alec.  Grady is more disrespectful.  Tabitha is more whiney and cries if Grady gets within 10 feet of her.  Hyatt is wonderful, as always, but 16 hours a day of being the only one to give him the attention he wants is really wearing on me.  I don't know how real single mother's do it.

At the end of the day, when I get them all into bed and the house is quiet, I don't have a warm body to snuggle up to or any eyes to gaze into.  No one to hug me and kiss my forehead.  No one to tell me I'm doing a good job (not that I am because I spend more time yelling and getting frustrated than anything else).  All I've got is a cold, empty bed and "Instant Watch" Netflix.  This is NOT fun.  I knew it wouldn't be fun, and I knew it would be hard, but I also knew it would be the sacrifice I'd have to make in order for us to have a job again... sigh.

And so, here we are.  We have a job.  We'll be able to pay our bills and give our kids Christmas, but we'll have to be unsettled for at least 3 months, maybe more.  If you know me well, you know that I'm a planner.  Since we have no idea what to plan for, I'm kind of going crazy.  Will we sell the house?  Will we need to rent?  Where would we rent?  When will we move?  Should I sell my sofa's?  What if I can't afford new ones because our house didn't sell for a decent price?  Will the house appraise for the right price?  What happens if it doesn't.  SO MANY QUESTIONS!!  I don't like it.  It's teaching me patience, but KILLING me that we've set the sale price $125,000 less than what we bought it for, and we're still stressing about if the appraisal will match the asking price.  Grrr...

I'll keep ya'll posted.  For now I'm just going to try and make it through the week.