A Sign of the Times

Hello readers
As most of you know Nathan has worked as an electrician for over ten years, but almost two years ago, he was laid off from his job (two weeks before Christmas to be exact.) He worked on side jobs here and there, but because no one is remodeling, or looking to build new construction, etc., no one is hiring, and there are just little to zero jobs out there for an electrician. Nathan is very fortunate that he was able to be hired by his father to work at his father's company, AOTCO, in the quality control dept. and he really loves his job. He is very good at what he does, and like I said in this economy, we are so lucky that he has this to do.
Unfortunately, there is just not as much money coming in as there was, and for me to work, it would cost more than one week's paycheck to get the kids in day care, and there just needs to be two parents here in the evening, when there are sports and soon homework and when the children tend to be crankier. We have, as a result had to take a long hard look at our spending and budget, and had to break things down from necessity to luxury. It was in doing this that we decided that we are going to do away with cable/internet for a while. We have Nate's birthday and Brody's birthday, and quite a few family birthdays, as well as the holidays to prepare for, and we just can't see how we will be able to do it all without making some sacrifices. I will tell you, I had a very difficult time with this at first. It sounds so petty to whine about having tv or the internet when I should be grateful we will have money for diapers and gifts for the kids, but there is a little, ok great sting of selfishness that comes along with it. We told the kids last night, and I felt incredibly guilty when their reactions were much more understanding. Ty was of course immediately concerned with the Red Sox games, but then said "It will be hard at first but that's okay, I'll get over it." and Nate, (because we explained this means we'll be playing lots of games together at night) jumped for joy and just said "We can play Uno Attack and Go Fish EVERY night!) Yes, my children showed me up. Just goes to show, there is a lot you can learn from your kids.
I will stay connected as much as possible, but here's the kicker... you may actually need to pick up a phone to get a hold of me if you want a response quickly. Shocking in these times, where emails and texting replace actual person to person conversations. I will try to do weekly updates if possible. (We do have internet access on Nathan's cell phone, which we may make my cell phone, and I know, that seems like a luxury to cut out, but that phone won't work without the internet on it, so it has to stay.)
We have not decided a time table as to when we will turn everything back on. We will no longer have it as of this weekend. We do know this will be long enough for us to feel like we have breathing room. Whenever that may be...