Thinking about moving

When Tyson told me back in April that he needed to leave his current job, I agreed. The mistreatment he was suffering at the hands of his administrators was taking its toll on our relationship. I knew that regardless of what happened after, leaving was the right thing to do.

What I didn't fully understand and anticipate was the reality that if he wasn't able to find a teaching job it would become necessary to move. I guess I always assumed he (or I) would be able to find full time employment wherever we were. That seems to be not the case. In the 8 years I have known Tyson, we have been laid off a combined 3 times, from 3 different districts. Research be damned, people do NOT care if arts benefit their child's education if there's 40 kids in the math class.

Moving means selling our house at a loss. Moving means me leaving my job(s). Moving means packing, selling stuff we can't take with us, driving a U-Haul---with a toddler in it this time. Moving means deciding what possessions we are attached to, and what we are not (answer: photo albums and musical instruments are a necessity. Our dining table is not). Moving to or near an Army post means being neighbors with people who you can't really become close to because within 2 or 3 years, one or both of you will be moving. Again.

It took a lot of discussion before we came to the conclusion that leaving was better than one of us trying to find a job in a different field here. We're not sure why Tyson hasn't been able to find a better teaching job here, although we have our suspicions. The schools here have made it clear that they don't want him. Vancouver made his life miserable (and how that magically happened right after he joined the Army is a paperwork mystery....hmmmm....) and no other district seems to find him good enough to get past the final interview, even when he's one of two finalists. Whether that's because his Vancouver supervisor has blacklisted him, or because he keeps interviewing for jobs where they already have someone pre-selected (we know of at least 3 where that was the case) is irrelevant. He's not employed, and my job is not full time (thank you Longview for your support of arts education) so we must move.

The process begins. Anyone want to buy some high quality lawn tools and a couch?