We are the New Leading American Economic Indicators

It would appear that our family might be a new leading economic indicator that economists and families might want to follow. Everyone is saying the recession has just gotten started or that it hasn't bottomed out yet. Well, I beg to differ.

Tim and I have spent the last two years living with my parents. There we said it for all to hear! Now media is reporting that it is a new trend for families with job loss or economic worries to move back in with their parents to get back on their feet. As this is coming out as a reportedly growing trend, we are moving back out into the unsheltered world, one paycheck from the street again. Things are different. Before we had a house with a half acre of land. Now, we have no real estate, no savings and no retirement, having used every bit of it to survive and pay our bills on - sans house. We actually sold our home just before the real estate crash, thus allowing us a pool of money that has been drained by our never ending bills from the old life. But, we have managed to keep paying those bills, not even late once, thanks to these parental living arrangments.

Now, with the new job Tim procured a few weeks ago, we do have enough income to get back into our own little place. And that is what we are in the process of looking for in Huntsville, Alabama. Tim has found employment in a city that seems relatively unaffected by the economic troubles around us. All is not completely rosy - they do have state income tax at 5%, Florida's is 0%. And they charge sales tax on groceries! 8%! Florida's charge 0% - so this is going to put a hurt on our food and other budgets right away.

I would not have chosen to leave Florida, but I choose to try to get back on our feet as an independent family again. I know my parents will be happy to have their space back, their organization back and the quiet, unassuming lives of retirees back. But they'll miss watching the grand kids going to school and growing up. I know we'll be happy to have control of the air conditioning temperature back - probably more than anything! But we are thankful to have had a soft place to land and to not be homeless. Family is good for that.

I will hope that we are the new economic leading indicators, seeing that our employment is improving, we are now moving out of parental homes and hopefully going to start rebuilding savings and retirement, just in time for college!

Return from Alabama

I got back yesterday from our trip to Huntsville to relocate Tim for his new job. It was good I stayed for five days, as it gave me a chance to travel around the city and see more about schools and housing.

There are really too many choices for areas to live and schools - there will be many hard decisions to make to pick one over another. A complicating factor is that we have to rent, instead of buy. There aren't a lot of rental homes available and the apartments don't always mesh with the best schools. Also we have a lot of "stuff" to condense into an apartment, even though we weeded it out before we last moved.

The coolest elementary school is one located on the top of a mountain. It has only 250 students and a fabulous gifted program. It just scares me to ride up a mountain drop off road to go to school. Plus they have sea-type fog envelop the road from time to time.

More to come later on!

Alabama Native Helen Keller in Newly Found Photo

No, this post isn't an Alabama song, but it's just as Alabama-y. It's amazing how many people and things in the world are connected to Alabama. Today, CNN reports that a newly discovered photo of Alabama native, Helen Keller, shown with her teacher, Annie Sullivan, was published. It shows Helen with her beloved doll and teacher in Cape Cod on vacation. It's amazing how much my oldest daughter looks like young Helen.

I will try to be less disparaging of Alabama and Alabamans in general, since we are going to join them shortly. Certainly, Helen Keller is a role model Alabaman. And her image graces the back of Alabama's state quarter.

Countdown to Alabama - two days until our road trip in to the Bama lands.

Off to Alabama with My Banjo on My Knee...

You know how every Hannah Montana episode is titled by using takeoffs from popular pop songs....what, you didn't know that? Check it out sometime. I'm going to title the next ?? posts with Alabama related songs. I guess we'll find out how many there really are....

Me and the hubby are headin' out on the lonesome highway later this week to check out Bama. He'll be establishing a lone, single life without all of us until we get moved on up. I'm going to check out housing and the entire area in just a few days...oh boy! Photos to come later!

See ya!

Changes to My Parent Trap

Well, the blog is not changing, at least not yet....but my Parent Trap, aka my home will be. Tim decided (well, we decided) to make a big change in our lives, hopefully improving them for the better. We will be relocating our home, our jobs, our kids, our LIVES to Huntsville, Alabama.

Huntsville, Alabama?

Yes, Alabama. Sweet Home Alabama. Forrest Gump's Alabama. Roll Tide (if that's how you say it) Alabama (Go Gators!). Yikes! See my accompanying photo - scary! These are the people that live in Alabama - rednecks! I have never resided anywhere but Florida, except when I was born in Colorado and then one year in Atlanta, when I was nine, so my father could get his Master's Degree at Georgia Tech.

You can read more on Tim's blog why we are going to the land of the deep South (even though we are technically more south than they are right now). He gives all the dirty details over at Florida Sun Dog blog, which maybe now should be Alabama Hog Blog or something like that. We are all kind of freaked out by facing such a monumental move. I wake up all the time, every night, obsessed with moving details and how we are going to fit our piles of stuff into a rental. The kids are freaking out because they are changing schools - again! Annie's been to seven schools so far, including three preschools. She's been facing moves and life like we are in the military. Emily was a toddler when we moved in with my parents after nearly going bankrupt. So she's sad about leaving Grandma and Grandpa. We will be faced with the challenges of living in a new city, new schools, new lives with no relatives or friends to help.

More to come on this life-changing event soon - I have to stop writing - my heart is racing again.