Isn't Corporate America Great?

Huh, where do I begin with this post?

I would say that pretty much all of my friends and family know how much I love my job, love the people I work with, and have loved Pfizer for the past 10 years. Unfortunately that will all be coming to an end. After weeks of speculation and rumors, I was told that Pfizer is eliminating the recruiting department for our field sales division. Blah. I wasn't shocked, but it is still hard to fully take in that the end of my career at Pfizer is here. It's one thing to choose to leave a company, but it's another to be told you are leaving.

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The reasons for Pfizer to make such a big cut is very clear and makes total sense: we will not be hiring anyone outside the company for at least 2 years. What on earth would I be doing that entire time? Certainly not what I was hired to do. It still sucks, I loved my job and I know I will land on my feet at another great company.

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The plus side to this is that I am getting an amazing severance package. Let's just say that if I choose to not work for a year, I can. Me and my family will keep the amazing benefits for a year. When I say amazing, I mean amazing. It cost us zero dollars to have Joshua. That's right folks, nothing, nada, zilch. When Joshua had his open heart surgery, the total bill was almost $70,000. What did we pay? Just take a guess. $100 bucks is all we had to shell out. And did I mention we pay nothing for our prescriptions? You now get the picture, they are incredible benefits. I have already told myself to not expect that anywhere else.

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My last day is July 18th, then I am paid through September 15th. Not too shabby of a deal....stay home with my kids while I get P-A-I-D. But now I have to decide what to do: start looking and interview for jobs so that I can start working late September or early October so that I can invest my severance pay? Or stay home for awhile? I have been thinking and thinking about that for the past week.

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I have decided that I am going to keep Sammi in preschool part time until she starts Kindergarten on Aug. 25th. They take field trips twice a week that she loves, so I'll keep her doing that. Then after she starts school I will not have her go to daycare before or after school until I start a new job. Keller ISD still has half day Kindergarten. Can you believe that? And I'll keep Joshua in his home care part time so that I don't lose his spot. I just adore the woman that watches him (she watched Sammi too when she was a baby) and don't want to take him out and lose his spot! He is not ready for preschool yet, so I want to keep him there until he is. So at least I have what will happen to the kids figured out! I will truly enjoy being a stay at home mom for awhile. But I am not used to being home so much, so we will see how soon it will be that I am climbing the walls and calling my friends that stay at home to get some tips and ideas. :)

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This past week has also left me feeling nostalgic. Thinking of so many I have formed amazing relationships with, what all the company has allowed for me to do, places I have travelled, things I have learned, etc. When Joshua was recovering from his heart surgery for 6 weeks, my boss allowed for me to work from home that entire time so that I did not have to take unpaid time off. Can you believe that? So generous of him. I love my boss, he is a great person and friend. I was telling another friend just today of all the places I have travelled to with Pfizer. You ready to read my long list? Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, NYC (a kagillion times. and yes, I just made up that word), Boston, Providence, Baltimore, Parsippany, Newark, Charleston, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, and the best two saved for last....Honolulu and Cabo San Lucas. I can thank Pfizer for my frequent flier miles and high status with American Airlines!

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Ok I know this has bored many, so I'll close this post. Goodbye Pfizer, thank you for the many great years!

Go Rangers!

Tuesday night we went to the Texas Rangers baseball game with my dad, Jason, and Sammi. We thought we were going to get rained out, but it ended up being breezy and nice! This was the first time for Sammi to see them play and my Dad's first time at the "new" stadium since he moved back to Texas.

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Sammi was so giddy with excitement and that she could wear her Rangers jersey to an actual game. Jason got that for her for Christmas. Most of the game Jason was explaining things to her about the game. It was cute. We left Joshua at home with Jason's dad for obvious reasons! We would have been chasing him up and down the stairs and all over. No thanks!

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I hate this picture of me and my double chin! But at that angle, there was no choice. :(

Aren't we cute? Sammi took this picture. Not bad!

Jason, Sammi, and my dad. He was just as excited as Sammi was. I grew up with him taking me to many Ranger games, but at the old stadium. I have many fond memories of those times!

This picture is of several Golden Knights skydivers from the Army. When they jumped out over the stadium, they were so high up that they were just specks in the sky. No thanks! I'll stay on the ground!

Here some are landing on the field. Several bounced from landing so hard. But it was neat to watch!

Me, my dad , and Sammi

Sammi and my dad playing. She was giving him her mean glare.

Me and my girl. I might be biased, but she is so stinkin' cute!

Jason, the pushover, got Sammi a big foam finger. We had to apologize to the people in front of us a few times from her accidentally hitting them. Oops!

I love this picture of the three of them as we were walking back to the car.

Small Blessings

Joshua had a checkup with his cardiologist today. It is standard to have his heart checked up on every several months after the wall was built between the top two chambers to make sure there is no leaking. Another reason for his checkup is to keep an eye on his pulmonary valve.

Without getting too technical and detailed, basically his pulmonary valve is narrow. The surgeon and cardiologist did not want to fix it during his surgery for many conservative reasons. They were hopeful that it would open up on it's own, which sometimes happens. There was the possibility to have another surgery to open it up. That thought worried me....I did NOT want him to be put under and cut open his chest again.

So, I just prayed and prayed that Joshua's valve was just slow to open up. Well, God was listening because his doctor told me today that she was really pleased with what she saw from his EKG and echocardiogram. She told me he has less than a 50% chance to have surgery again in his future. Woo-hoo! I love those odds!

Throughout all of this, I have been proven, yet again, that all of this is not in my control. But His control. I didn't dwell on it or really talk about it because there was nothing I could do except pray and ask others to do the same. That's it. Pretty simple!

For those of you that have included my precious Joshua in your prayers....thank you. I will keep praying so the next time we see her, the % is even less. One thing that made me even happier was when the doctor told us that she won't need to see Joshua for 1 year. Wow!

Again, thank you. I am forever grateful!