Again, we’ve kind of stunk at keeping this thing up-to-date. Originally it was meant to be a “baby blog”, but if you look a few posts down, you’ll see why we haven’t put much time into it lately. That said, we really do want to keep some sort of journal on the web, so I’ve decided to re-purpose this blog into something more generic about Bren and I. And with a little luck, someday it will contain even more baby stuff 
So my last entry was in December. How time flies. I’ll try to give the skinny on the high (and low) points as briefly as possible.
The first thing we need to do is say, YES, we will be trying again on the baby front. But not right now. More on that later.
For quite a while, business on the web development front was pretty rocky. Seemed nobody wanted to spend any money. During that time, we were still trying to sell our old house, but with two floods under our belt, it seemed it wasn’t going to happen. After we’d gotten a few months behind on the mortgage we had to make the tough decision to let the bank take it back. We hate what this will look like on our credit report, but we thought things would just get worse if we kept letting it slide.
Just talked to US Bank and as of July 1st, we are officially “done” with the Front Street house. The bank bought it at the auction and will most likely turn it over to HUD. Hopefully it will make a nice home for a family that can use the nice yard.
Also during this dry period, I started contemplating the idea of going back to salaried employment. I sort of rationalized it by saying, well not everyone is cut out to be in business for themselves. And oh, how I miss getting that regular paycheck and insurance.
Around that time, an associate of mine from Atlanta was starting to talk more seriously about bringing me on board with his company. Which meant we’d have to move, and a LOT further than Front Street to Scammel Street. After we’d gotten over our initial shock from the idea of moving, we started thinking it might be a good move for us. We’re still fairly young, and better to do it now, than have to transfer a child out of school.
We felt strongly enough about the opportunity that we made a rather impromptu trip to Atlanta one weekend to check out the area. Wow, what a difference. So much to do. That trip was our first trip to IHOP and Starbucks, if you can believe it. And to the naysayers that say it’s so much more expensive, not really. Food is about the same. Movies are cheaper than Marietta. And you’ve always got Target and Wal-mart whose prices are the same everywhere (mmmmmm, Target).
So long story short, we loved it and were ready to make the move. Unfortunately, this associate was not quite as prepared to bring on a new person as we had thought, so that kind of got put on hold. I’ve started doing some project work for him, and might even work part-time for him from Marietta as a transitional period. Atlanta is still very much a possibility, but it’s looking more like a Spring thing now.
And it’s just as well, because business for FireBox is really picking up. We won another award and clients are coming out of the woodwork. I’ve learned to enjoy it while it lasts, because the market could dry up again a month from now. Closer to Christmas is when it really gets bad, as many businesses have shot their yearly budgets and won’t want to talk until the next quarter.
While all this was going on, Brenda lost her job. I won’t try to explain the details; I’m sure Brenda would do a much better job. It’s honestly for the best, as she hated the job. Doesn’t mean it still didn’t sting a bit. The worst part is not having health insurance, but with any luck, it won’t last too long.
The good news is that Brenda just got enrolled in an online paralegal course with Ohio University. She’s pretty excited about it and I think it will be a great fit for her. It’s a great (and growing) field, and jobs are more plentiful. In fact, there are at TON of them in Atlanta that start around $30k.
We’re getting ready to leave for Myrtle Beach (more about that in the next post), and when we get back we’re going to install new carpet in the downstairs family room (aka, the ‘game room’). I’m going to go ahead and move the office into that room, as it has better access for clients and my employee, Ryan. Ryan has been effectively “laid off” for a few months now, but things are picking up and I’m going to try my best to get him back on. The next move after that is installing central air, at least downstairs. Brenda doesn’t mind it as much, but this heat as about driven me bonkers.
So that’s it in a nutshell. I’m sure I’m missing a hundred things, but you should have the gist of it. More regular posts coming soon.