8 years ago this holiday season, I spent some time with my bride-to-be in Chicago, celebrating Christmas with her family. The month before, I had asked her dad for permission to marry her, at a Denny’s restaurant no less, and I was happy to have been given the go ahead. Things were running along smoothly over Christmas break until my 1993 Blazer, Old Blue, threw a serpentine belt in the parking lot of Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park. A belt isn’t that expensive, but I barely had enough money to my name to cover gas on the way back home. Without knowing my situation, Mel’s dad, Bob, offered to pay for the belt and I gladly accepted. Melissa knew I didn’t have much money, and also knew I wasn’t working that semester (I’d saved my money from my summer job and decided I would enjoy one last semester spending time with my friends before real life called my number!). What she didn’t know was the reason I had no money was because I’d purchased an engagement ring for her with my savings, and that I was planning to start working as soon as second semester started. Armed with the limited knowledge she had of my finances, she shared with her dad all of her concerns about my lack of funds and that she had no idea how I would even be able to afford an engagement ring. This prompted dear sweet dad to take his future son-in-law on a little drive around town. I knew what was coming, and to make the conversation a bit shorter and sweeter, I stuffed the little ring box in my pocket and pulled it out at just the right time. After seeing I had already purchased a ring, Bob breathed a bit easier knowing I would work hard to care for his daughter, and we had a good ole time visiting different parts stores trying to track down the aforementioned serpentine.
          Later in the week, as we were celebrating at her Uncle Joe and Aunt Deb’s, Mel’s worries finally got the best of her and she let me have it with both barrels. She had tons of heated questions about my work ethic, money saving principles, ability to care for her and a family, you know, all sorts of fun stuff! I tried to reassure her I would always take good care of our family, even pick up an extra job if needed, and she didn’t need to worry, but it finally came down to me blurting out “I’ve already got your freaking ring!” At that point, her eyes leaked a little bit, the conversation took a much brighter turn, and we were able to move past her concerns. It was a Merry Christmas indeed, as less than a month later, we were engaged!
           I tell you all that to bring us to the present. Due to my job at camp which requires me to raise my own support, we’re at a point financially where I’ve had to pick up that extra work I promised I was willing to pick up 8 years ago. We just picked up health insurance and were charged for the first 2 months at one time, plus recently picked up a car payment, plus have the expenses of having a new son, plus lots of other stuff I won’t bore you with. As it stands, after paying our necessary bills, we have a little less than $100 to get us through the month. I know this is something of our choosing, and I’m perfectly happy with our position in life, but it has made for a very busy Christmas break around our house. Aside from a few days in Chicago, I’ve spent most every possible work day just outside of Bedford, my hometown, at Crane Naval Base, working with my brother on a job remodeling one of the office buildings for the Army. It’s an hour long drive from my brother Josh’s house, where I’ve been staying, and we’ve usually been on the road by around 6-6:15. I generally get back around dark, and have just enough time to shower, get something to eat, and think about bed. It’s a tiring schedule, while trying to keep up with things at camp, but the extra money has certainly made a difference the last few weeks. I’m hoping to be able to keep up some extra work on the side for as long as necessary to make ends meet. We’re currently at about 65% of our monthly fundraising goal, and if I can avoid hitting myself in the knee with a sledgehammer again in the near future, I should be able to make up the difference until our fundraising allows the extra work to yield extra money, instead of necessary money. This is the part of the blog for the obligatory “If you’re looking for a place to send your tithes and offerings, I know a guy working at a camp whose family could really make a difference with it” speech! Seriously though, if you’d like to partner with us to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people both here and around the world, let me know and we’ll chat.
         To further explain the sledgehammer comment, I was working on Tuesday, trying to bust off some bolts that were hopelessly stuck in 60 year old concrete where we are doing the remodel. I was on my knees with a 3 lb sledge and swinging it hard enough to bend the 1/2 inch bolts one way and then the other to break it off. I had managed to bend one away from me and was trying to hammer it back when one of my swings glanced off the bolt and found it’s mark on the meaty part of my knee, just above the knee cap. For that, I was fortunate, as hitting my knee cap would have probably shattered it. I did what I generally do when I’m in so much pain I can barely speak, I laughed. For me, that’s my general response to pain, as it keeps me from crying or cussing! The next couple days were rough, as I had to keep my leg out straight to even bend over, but it feels better now. The only bad part is having to tell everyone that yes, I was a big enough idiot to hit myself with a sledgehammer!
            To close this one off, I know I’m not the only one whose ever had to pick up an extra job, so let the world know what your craziest side job has been. I know there’s some weird stuff out there. I think mine was dressing up like a two-legged horse and spouting off about how great 1340 WBIW is as a radio station. Perks: $25/hr and no one can actually see your face. Drawbacks: Wearing a 50 lb horse costume in 90 degree+ heat, having to keep bags of ice in your “hooves” to keep the blood circulating past your wrists cool enough to keep you alive!

Happy New Year everyone!

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 1st, 2010 at 10:35 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.