Much Stress = Little Stitching

Just a general update from me:

There was massive blood letting at work on Friday. About 50% of the contractors in the area I sit were cut from the company I'm placed at. It was a really tough week. I was told on Tues. that the contractor that reports to me and one other from my writing group were going to get the ax. I wasn't allowed to say anything though - they only told me so that I could make sure all the work was backed up somewhere and such. I was pretty troubled by that alone, but when Friday came and lots and lots of contractors across the company all found out it was their last day that was really hard. Also on Tuesday I found out from my contracting agency that someone who was "benched" (we are all on salary so we get paid when we don't have a placement, otherwise known as being "benched") had to be let go because there were no forseeable placements for him. He was a friend with two young kids at home and his wife is a SAHM, so I felt really bad for him.

Of course much of this news came on Tues - right when we were trying to negotiate the offer on the house. It definitely influenced us not to be as flexible with our price. No use buying a bigger house if I'm getting layed off and cannot make the payments. There is rumor at work that they are going to be getting rid of all the "local" (non-offshore) contractors over the next several months. It is just rumor, but it makes sense that is where they would cut if more cuts are needed so I'm not feeling very secure. Then again, I know my department has more work than it can handle and technical writing does not lend itself well to offshore contracting (not that they won't try to do it anyway though).

So DH and I are weighing the options with the house. Right now we still have it on the market. I'm not afraid to sell - we can rent for about what our mortgage is now. I am worried about buying bigger and having a larger payment though. We might go ahead and sell, and then wait to see what happens (if we are even lucky enough to sell that is). We'll save whatever we make on the sale and buy when and if we feel my job is secure enough. I hate to think this way, and I know some who read my blog are Obama fans, but some of the economic decisions being made right now have me thinking home prices are only going to plummet for the next while. Might be smart to sell at a reasonable price now (again if possible) and buy even lower in a year or so. We know the house we are in now is not our "forever" house, so there is no fear of "losing it" to a buyer.

So stressing over all of the above means that I've gotten almost no stitching done recently. I do have some progress on "Hen Party" for the SAL I've been doing with Holly and Susan, but it seems silly to show a WIP pic for such a small design. I will post a pic when I finish it, which should be soon.

The bright spot? I'm still going to Celebration - no matter what - and I've picked out my classes. I'm taking:

Bumbling Bullions (always wanted to learn bullions properly)
Make it/Take It
Both RRs
Mary Queen of Scots sampler
Hardanger Intermediate Techniques

A lot of classes for 3 days I know, but I don't know when I'll get another opportunity to go to one of these, so I want to take what interests me.