The Ants go Marching One By One

posted Jun 19, 2013, 12:50 PM by Jon Rumfelt

Hurrah, Hurrah ... The trailer is set, the boxes are loading, the house is emptying. The workers are sweating like pigs because it's unusually warm this week! We all feel overwhelmed with the amount of packing we have to do, the things we have to throw away, the things we have to sell, and the things around the house we have to fix. As we take our times and pace ourselves, the goal dates creep up and pounce like Hobs on Calvin. We have no couch, Paige has no bed, the kitchen table is sold, paint is in the waiting, and trim about to me measured. I also still have to tidy up the water lines from my November fiasco with the pump. It's operational and doesn't leak, but it does look a bit tacky. And then the trim around the wood stove needs to be installed. Our yard is also going to be a bare! We just had 79 stumps ground up, so we need to level and seed that, along with taking down the dog fence, and cleaning up their winter business!! We have wood to move, rocks to place, and brush to burn (if the red flag warnings will stop!!). We have some goal dates in place, August 1st is our goal to be in Virginia. So lets see if we can get close to these: June 23rd, have the kids moved into the out-laws house. June 29th/30th, have house ready to paint inside and let the father-in-law at it! July 1, put For Sale By Owner signs up and post photos online. I love owning a house, but I just wish I would have known this was going to happen so quickly. I would have done some of this last year. Oh well, such is life. On the job front, I've been working with 3 recruiters who each have at least 3 positions they think I'm a "shoe in" for. But here's the "kicker" about this. I've applied for around 75 positions in the DC region. Of the 75, I've had contacts from about 15 positions. Of the 15, about 9 I'm told I should expect interview calls. But going on 4 months now, I've not had an interview! Between September 2012 and February 2013 I had 5 interviews, but now none! So I've gone from 5 applications and 5 interviews (100%) with offers that were retracted when they realized I was in Alaska and not Arizona or Arkansas and didn't want to wait for me, to 20% response on 75 applications with 0 interviews so far. Why the dry spell? I know there are jobs, I'm applying for them! I know they are hiring, because they close! The problem is, I'm competing with people who are already IN the region. So I need to get down there. But I can't go without the income because our house isn't sold yet and my income pays the mortgage. So we have to sell the house before I can quit my existing job. But then we have yet another problem! We can't move down without paying. And with no job, I can't afford the $1600 to $2000 it will cost to drive out. Add on the fact that neither vehicle will handle the drive and now I have to purchase a car, so add another payment to mix during unemployment. Oh, we need to buy a trailer, which here can run over $2500. Or I can rent from U Haul a trailer for a grand. But, that's money I don't have, and definitely won't have if I quit my existing job. So how do we move with no money? Faith. Wisdom. Planning. I am having faith that two things will happen very quickly, miracle quickly. 1) Our house sells in the same amount of time in which we bought it. 20 minutes!! 2) I receive an offer that will cover at least a portion of moving expenses. I'm asking that you pray for us as well, that both of these will happen with speed, without problems, and without a doubt giving glory to God as a testament of His rewarding the faithful. Thank you Jon