Big News....I think

Well, as of this morning, I think it's pretty much official that we're moving to Alabama! The guy from Harley Davidson called this morning & verbally "accepted" Tom's counter-offer to their offer that we got last week. Make sense? Anyways, they're gonna get an updated offer letter out to him, and do their background check, etc. Tom will also have to pass a drug test before he's officially hired, so hopefully he can pass that :)

We will have to break the news to Mackenzie this afternoon when she gets home from school. Ever since Tom went for his interview, she has been telling us she does NOT want to move. (Maybe it's due to the fact that Tom told her quite some time ago that if we moved, it would mean she would never see her friends again?! - what was he thinking??) As for me, I'm finding that I seem to be OK with the whole thing until I actually start to talk about it out loud. We'll be OK, and the Lord will take care of us, but please do keep us in your prayers as we start working on this whole transition. We obviously don't know the official start date yet or anything, but it definitely won't be until at least January.

Thanks for checking on us, and I'll continue to keep you posted with any other news.

Food

You may be wondering what we're doing for food around here since Tom is on strike. Well, last week when he went to pick up his big strike check, he was able to get a voucher for food at the food bank here in town. Plus, there were food donations brought in to the union hall that everyone was allowed to help themselves to. So, when it was all said & done, we had food coming out our ears. Ok, maybe not our ears, but so much that I don't think our pantry has ever been as full as it is right now! (This picture was taken after I had already unpacked 2 other boxes, and about 3 other brown bags full of groceries!!)



And speaking of food, Camden is really into food right now. He LOVES to feed himself, so we try to keep him busy with stuff he can feed himself. And he's not afraid to make a mess either!




Not much other news to report. Still no news on when the strike may end...negotiations are supposed to start again next Monday, and they're supposed to hear any day now from the National Labor Relations Board with a ruling on the paperwork filed for the Unfair Labor practices. We're keeping our fingers crossed that in the next week or so there will be some kind of news. Until then, Tom continues to walk the picket line once a week...

Talladega?

For those that don't know, Tom interviewed with Harley Davidson on Tuesday. The job is down in Talladega, Alabama. He took a few pictures while he was down there:

This is supposed to be a picture of the "rolling hills":


Here's the famous speedway that I'd LOVE to go see a race at!!!


And lastly, this a lake Tom would like to get a house on if we actually move down there:


He got a call from Harley today & it looks like they're interested in him, so thus begins another series of "negotiations" that I dread! He did finally turn down the job in Memphis, though, so at least that's one option out of the picture.

I'll do my best to keep you posted on any other news around here.

As for the kids, Camden has been babbling "dadadadada" like crazy lately. I'm not sure if I'm ready to call his first word "da da" yet though!!

Lots of Misc. stuff to post

First off, I wanted to include a couple pictures from Halloween...




Secondly, just figured I'd tell you that Tom's strike duty has changed. Now, unless they're a strike captain, they only have 4 hour shifts, and his is from 4 a.m - 8 a.m. on Thurs. morning. He feels this is much more do-able. Strike captains get to do 8 hour shifts now. Doesn't that stink? Everyone else gets reduced to 4 hours, and they get extended to 8 hours...hmmm?? Who signed up for that job? Ha ha ha!

Then, I wanted to comment real quick on the poll I had up a few weeks ago about the keys being locked in the van. I LOVED all the comments we got! We sat & laughed at them partly because some of them were inside jokes to us that we completely understood, but others were just plain funny. In the end, Tom obviously was person B and Ruth was person A. I felt it was both of our faults for lack of communication, and Tom felt it was ALL my fault. Doesn't really matter...it was a lesson learned when it was all said & done :)

With that said, I have another poll to take....(WARNING - gross picture at the end!!!)
Tom wants me to go back to work while he's on strike. I keep trying to remind him of all the things he'll have to do while I'm at work, and the biggest being that he'll have to change poopy diapers! Everyone that knows Tom knows this won't go over well. So my question is, what is Tom gonna do when he gets a diaper that looks like this???

AGAIN...WARNING - GROSS PICTURE, but see if you can find the humor in it!

A family affair...

We visited the picket line this afternoon to support the UAW! Camden thought it was a great idea to picket! Jenna thought the sun was too bright.



But, Jenna did like the burn barrel:



And for those of you anxiously awaiting news of Tom's decision whether or not to go to Memphis...I guess we keep on waiting. He e-mailed them yesteray & asked for an extension. So, now he's got till Monday morning. I'm so aggravated - just make a decision already!!