Now that I've had a couple of weeks off and some time to talk through things with Stacey, it's pretty clear to me that taking some time off was a good decision. On one end of the spectrum, I've been able to do things like clean and vacuum the mud from May 2009 out of my truck. On the other end of the spectrum, I've been able to spend a lot of time with Julia and grab coffee and go for walks with Stacey. Amazingly enough, I seem to have time for everything. Due to our "low overhead" position, Stacey's salary is going to be able to cover our month to month expenses including insurance. So, we could probably do this for quite a long time if we wanted.
The good news for everyone is that we aren't planning on doing this for an extended period of time. The plan right now is for me to take about 6 months off and then to start looking for a job. Around March 1 I'll hit the streets. If it takes 6 weeks or 6 months to find another job then that's just bonus time with the family. In the meantime, I'm going to stay busy with the family, playing soccer, and am going to tackle the last remaining indoor project on my list: crown molding. Oh, and GT5 comes out in November, so I've got plenty of things to keep me busy during the winter in addition to the holidays.
Most likely I will look for a military contractor position (like my neighbor's job). Really, I can't think of another job that I would be better qualified for and that would pay as much. You see, if I got a job like my neighbor (I have more experience and education then he did) then we could meet our financial goals very fast. Specifically, we could pay off our house in about 3 years. Also, that would give us options for Stacey's job too. If all goes according to plan, by the time Jonathan starts kindergarten we should be debt free and have a full time stay at home Mom.
We've had a lot of fun talking about our future these past few weeks. It's great to finally see our hard work, discipline, and blessings about to pay off.