I am sure somewhere along the line, I have mentioned that I started a Girl Scout Daisy troop in January. At my very first meeting I had 7 girls, 2 of which were my own. By the end of January I had 18 daisies, need I mind you that daisies are kindergarten and 1st graders??? Oh, but there is more...By the end of March was up to 20 girls! It sure is a lot of fun but A LOT of work too! Thank goodness for amazing co-leaders.
Things started getting even more hectic in our everyday lives early on in February. Tad quit his job... YES, quit his job! Nothing brewing on the back burner, things had just gone way too far with his, at the time, employer. So, he had enough and decided it was time to look for something new.
In search for something close to home (where we are now), we also started searching out of state. Nothing was panning out and of course things started getting very stressful. March 11th Tad headed out on a red-eye flight to Elmira, New York. We were not sure if this would be a permanent thing or something to keep us a float until something else came along. I stayed behind with our 7 kiddos and kept plowing forward with our everyday lives. Things were hectic here and for Tad too. Thank goodness for Skype! That first trip to New York kept him away for just 2 days shy of 5 weeks. 5 WEEKS! It was the longest 5 weeks of my life, and the hardest 5 weeks of his life. The kids were such troopers, but we knew that daddy was doing what he had to do to support his family.
After the almost 5 weeks, Tad returned home for 9 whole days. It was so nice!! And then he departed once again for another 3 weeks. That 3 weeks was not nearly at long or as enduring as the first 5 weeks. However, we knew that this could not be a long term deal. Even though he was away from home he was still doing A LOT of traveling back East and was not happy at all.
During his 9 days home we did some extensive job searching...again! I distinctly remember applying for a job in Missouri with a company by the name of "Delta Companies". I never thought any more of it until one day while Tad was in New York (during the 3 week stretch) and he called me to tell me he had a phone interview with a company out of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. My first response was..."Cape What?!?!"...and this it was "You have got to be kidding me!!!"
The phone interview then led to an on site interview. Tad felt that the interview went GREAT and on his way back to catch his plane out of St. Louis, back to Georgia, he received a phone call from the regional manager. He had informed Tad that the job was his if he was willing to accept it and relocate. Then he proceeded to tell Tad that Delta Companies would like to fly us BOTH (Tad and I) out to Cape Girardeau for a few days to see if I liked to area and be sure that I would be willing to make that move.
So, Tad flew home on Friday, May 4th. Home from his 3 weeks away. Then on Monday, May 7th we (Tad and I) boarded a plane bound for St. Louis for a 4 day all expense paid trip, This was something major for us. The two of us together had never been away from our kids, except to spend a night or 2 in a hospital to have another (or two :). I was certainly looking forward to this trip, just for the pleasure! Tad, however, had his focus directly on the job.
I am so grateful to my mom who was more than willing to come to Eagle Mountain to stay with all 7 kids and tackle the everyday hustle and bustle of getting the older two to school. Oh, and baseball, T-ball, Dance, Scouts and shuttling us to and from the airport.
The entire 4 days was GREAT! Cape Girardeau was awesome! I loved it! We loved it! GREAT, GREAT, GREAT!! Our first night there we ate "Gator" and "Frog Legs"...REALLY! I did not mind the gator but one bite of the frog legs was good enough for me :)
I might as well get this out of the way right now...
It is official - WE ARE MOVING TO CAPE GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI!!!
The job offer seems to good to be true! So we are not going to pass this one up by no means! Tad will leave next Saturday to head to Missouri to start his new job, and the kids and I will stay behind until school is out. Then we will all be Missouri bound...and our family will be TOGETHER!!!! I am very excited about this new chapter in our life!
The stress level for Tad is going to be next to nothing. He will only have 1 quarry, not 3-6 at a time, to manage. Salary is great, and amazing benefits too! Delta Companies a division of Collas Companies, which is the 3rd largest construction company in the world.
We have already found a home that hopefully we will hear back on this coming week. It is quite a bit smaller than what we are used to but it is on 6 acres of land with LOTS, LOTS, LOTS of trees. It will be GREAT!!
There is never a dull moment for the Moats family... and I would not want to trade one day of it either!!
