Tonight James got home from work, asked me if the fruit salad I'd made could wait until tomorrow night, and loaded the kids in the car to go out to eat.
As we exited the kitchen into the garage, he paused, and in a subdued voice said, "I resigned today."
"Are you kidding me???", I asked in a shocked whisper.
He replied, "It's just time for me to move on. I can't take it anymore. "
And then, "But I did give them 60 days' notice instead of 30."
Me: "You're resigning??? You're serious???" I knew he was getting burned out at work. In Human Resources, every day is a new crisis, and crisis after crisis gets to a person after awhile. He's been looking for another job for the past few months anyway, but I never anticipated it playing out like this.
Him: "It's just time for a change."
I sat in stunned silence all the way to Carl's Junior, and then at the restaurant as we waited for our food. We ate in the same awkward quietness as the kids chattered and whined and looked gleefully at the playground through the glass window, having no idea our lives had just changed forever.
I felt like I'd been punched. My mind raced with thought after thought after thought: No wonder he went to the temple last Saturday. How could he make a decision like this without talking to me about it, without even letting me know it was in the works? Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing. Wait, what on earth was he thinking? Doesn't he know that it's typically taking people six months or more to find a new job? Six months is a lot longer than 60 days! What are we doing to do? How will we buy school clothes for Dallin? Maybe I can have enough faith that he will find something soon. Yeah, that's it--a good chance to trust in the Lord. But wait, this is just insane! To quit a job when you don't have one lined up--insane! What was he thinking??? I wanted to go shopping and get some new clothes for the workshop I'm teaching at in a few weeks. I can't go shopping now! Why didn't he talk to me about this? This is a decision for our whole family--how could he do this without talking to me??? Our food storage is just starting to accumulate, and now we'll have to actually live off of it??? Maybe he has a job lead and is waiting to tell me about it. But what if it doesn't pan out? What will we do? I don't want to spend all our adoption money (what tiny amount there is) on living expenses because my husband was crazy enough to quit his job! What? Oh yes, faith! Maybe he's had a prompting that this is the right thing to do. I can do this! No! Oh my goodness, what was he thinking???
And on and on and on.
I stewed on this for a good 25 minutes before James turned to me and quietly remarked, "You know I'm just kidding, don't you? I didn't quit my job."
Oh. My. Goodness. Talk about a heart attack! He jokes with me like this every so often, but usually gives it away after about 2 minutes. He must have really been enjoying watching me sweat this time! I would try to get him back, but I've got no poker face at all!
As we exited the kitchen into the garage, he paused, and in a subdued voice said, "I resigned today."
"Are you kidding me???", I asked in a shocked whisper.
He replied, "It's just time for me to move on. I can't take it anymore. "
And then, "But I did give them 60 days' notice instead of 30."
Me: "You're resigning??? You're serious???" I knew he was getting burned out at work. In Human Resources, every day is a new crisis, and crisis after crisis gets to a person after awhile. He's been looking for another job for the past few months anyway, but I never anticipated it playing out like this.
Him: "It's just time for a change."
I sat in stunned silence all the way to Carl's Junior, and then at the restaurant as we waited for our food. We ate in the same awkward quietness as the kids chattered and whined and looked gleefully at the playground through the glass window, having no idea our lives had just changed forever.
I felt like I'd been punched. My mind raced with thought after thought after thought: No wonder he went to the temple last Saturday. How could he make a decision like this without talking to me about it, without even letting me know it was in the works? Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing. Wait, what on earth was he thinking? Doesn't he know that it's typically taking people six months or more to find a new job? Six months is a lot longer than 60 days! What are we doing to do? How will we buy school clothes for Dallin? Maybe I can have enough faith that he will find something soon. Yeah, that's it--a good chance to trust in the Lord. But wait, this is just insane! To quit a job when you don't have one lined up--insane! What was he thinking??? I wanted to go shopping and get some new clothes for the workshop I'm teaching at in a few weeks. I can't go shopping now! Why didn't he talk to me about this? This is a decision for our whole family--how could he do this without talking to me??? Our food storage is just starting to accumulate, and now we'll have to actually live off of it??? Maybe he has a job lead and is waiting to tell me about it. But what if it doesn't pan out? What will we do? I don't want to spend all our adoption money (what tiny amount there is) on living expenses because my husband was crazy enough to quit his job! What? Oh yes, faith! Maybe he's had a prompting that this is the right thing to do. I can do this! No! Oh my goodness, what was he thinking???
And on and on and on.
I stewed on this for a good 25 minutes before James turned to me and quietly remarked, "You know I'm just kidding, don't you? I didn't quit my job."
Oh. My. Goodness. Talk about a heart attack! He jokes with me like this every so often, but usually gives it away after about 2 minutes. He must have really been enjoying watching me sweat this time! I would try to get him back, but I've got no poker face at all!
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