Saturday, May 3, 2008

Weekend Assignment #214: Fresh Starts

Time for the Weekend Assignment from Karen over at Outpost Mavarin. This week she wants us to write about any big changes we've had in our lives.

Weekend Assignment #214: Sooner or later, pretty much everyone makes one or more major changes in their lives, sometimes several at once. We leave home, go off to college, get married, get divorced, change jobs, change careers, have kids, move to another house or another state, etc., etc. These things can be very stressful, but we do them in the hope of being better off in some way. Tell us of one change you voluntarily made in your life at some point, that worked out really well.


I've had the some of the same as many people. Going off to college is a big change. Meeting new people, learning how to take care of yourself, doing laundry; all are tough to do on your own for the first time. That's why we all go home to visit with large sacks of dirty clothes.

I've had a handful of jobs. All of them were changes that I thought would better myself in one way or another.

I'd say the biggest change when was my wife and I got married. Within a year's time, we bought our first place, got married and I went back to school. Quite a change for a newly married couple to go through. Most people have a hard enough time learning how to share a bathroom.

Our parents were good to us. They let us stay home while we saved up the money to get married and buy our place. They didn't even charge rent; that helped us out from the sart.

So, after living in the place a short time we talked about me going back to school and how we could afford it. Luckily, I was able to get a student loan, so off I went. I drove 500 miles a week back and forth to school and worked at a restaurant on my days off and at night. My wife and I didn't get to see each other much for those two years, though she would come in to the restaurant for dinner a lot. That was how we caught up with each other for a while.

It all worked out, though. Now we live in a house with two kids and a puppy, and we get to see each other a lot more. Though my family likes to say I have too many days off. They are just jealous.

Extra Credit: Tell us of a little tiny change that also went well!

We switched over from a powdered dishwasher detergent to the little tablets you put into the machine. That seems to be going well.

11 comments:

Florinda said...

500 miles a week round trip? That makes my weekly commute sound good by comparison.

Getting married is definitely one of those big changes. I think having kids may be an even bigger one, though, do you? Parenthood is forever...(and marriage is supposed to be, but I'm on my second one, so what can I tell you?)

It is nice to get to seem more of your family, though. :-)

Mike said...

You know, I was debating about writing about the kids, but I went with the other because there was more going on at one time. Yes, kids are a BIG change, no doubt about it.

It was a long commute, but it had very little traffic. It was 55 miles each way and once I was about 15 mile out from the house I barely saw another car.

Carly said...

:) Hi Mike

The true sign of a good marriage. If you can not just get through those first years, but actually thrive... you have something special. It sounds like you have a good thing going on over there. :)

-Carly :)

Mike said...

Carly: Thanks! I like to think we do.

Anonymous said...

Amazing!

... you know, I was going to say how horrible it must have been to be apart so much - and it must have been - but then I wondered whether it also made things easier, in a way?

Did you find that having a lot of time apart reduced the newlywed getting on each others' nerves at all? And perhaps find that, with time together so rare, it was easier to focus on making it pleasant for each other?

In any event, I'm glad you have it a little easier now!

Mike said...

Kristi: Thanks for stopping by. I don't know if it made it easier, but maybe it did without knowing it. I don't recall having any adjustment problems, though.

Karen Funk Blocher said...

Wow, that's a serious commute! I'm glad it all worked out!

Becky said...

I'm always impressed when people go back to school and do it all on their own. I think we appreciate our education a lot more when it's not handed to us from a parent with deep pockets.

Mike said...

Karen: Yes it was bad, especially in the winter. I put 4 years worth of miles on my car in two.

Becky: Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I was definitely more into school when it was all me. I did pay for half the first time around; so I was only half into it...

Kiva said...

Wow. When you make a change, you make a change. If you can make it through all that in the first years of marriage, I'd say that you were destined for each other.

FYI, I tried the tablets for a while, but have gone back to the powdered stuff now that they have reformulated it.

Mike said...

Kiva: Yeah, we like to think so. I like the tablets because the rinse agent is part of it. I always forget to buy it. :)