Just to recap... Three weeks ago this Wednesday my entire office was laid off during the 800-person Microsoft RIF. MS decided that we were too small of an office (10 people) working on too many things (as opposed to being a single team working on a single area of the product). Other groups in Danger weren't affected. We were expecting something like this when our lease came up in March (though we expected to be sent to the Cambridge office, not eliminated completely), but they decided to do it early so they could include us in the company-wide layoff, thereby being able to give us much better severance packages.

And my severance package is quite good (as were most of the packages give to my officemates). I wrapped up my Danger/MS work on Friday after the layoff and then have 60 days (until Jan 3) fully paid, fully benefited to look for work, within MS and outside. I can use the office or work from home, with full access to the corporate network -- I'm still an employee with all rights and privileges. I also get 16 weeks of outplacement assistance, including resume work, interviewing practice, career assessment, etc. I can split that up if I choose to put it on hold for the holidays or to deliver a kid. After I either secure an outside job or don't get a job at all, I get 5 weeks severance (both my normal pay AND however much MS would pay for 5 weeks of benefits for me) in a lump sum.

I plan to look for an internal MS position as first priority (there's 4 identical positions open in the Cambridge office with the Application Virtualization team) and polish my resume and career goals. If that doesn't work out, then I have to decide whether to look for an outside position (while 6mo+ pregnant) or stay home until I deliver and recover from that. I would rather have a position because that would make the finances happier and I wouldn't have to completely lay off my daycare provider (we've already taken her down from 5 days to 3 watching Eric), but there are some lesser positives to staying home too, such as house projects and not having to work at 9mo pregnant. I would have Eric home with me full time, though, which would be a bit challenging.

Our finances, with some strict cut-backs, can get us through until after delivery without putting more on credit cards and without dipping into savings. None of our cards would get more than the minimums paid to them (so NO headway on debt) and any extra expenses (such as delivery bills since Greg's insurance won't be as good as MS's was) would come out of savings. We might also need to get rid of the CRV or at least pay it off so we didn't have car payments. But we could do it without losing the house or annoying our creditors. I'm also pursuing a refinance of our mortgates, though we're not the best risk because we're fully-financed (no equity, though we might no longer be upside down). If we can reduce our rate, we can free up extra room in the budget.

We've also started an MLM called ACN which looks to be a good solid business and a better model than many we've looked at -- it sells services which customers/representatives pay every month instead of products which they have to reorder every month. That in itself makes it a good fit, but other aspects of it are strong as well. This is another option for generating income, and one which isn't subject to a layoff or a startup failure (they've been around since 1996). Residual income is always useful and who doesn't need extra income above their normal job?

So, that's where we're at right now. I would appreciate prayer on various fronts: 1) God's leading, 2) MS job, 3) refi, 4) ACN business would grow, 5) windfall from God that would pay off debt (which he could certainly do if he chose).

I also don't particularly want to answer questions or receive commiseration about the job search every time I talk with people. I'll let everyone know when I either get a job or decide to stay home for awhile. Thanks for your understanding. :-)

So, anyway, that's the reason why there's been a severe lack of blog posts and flicr pics/vids. I just haven't had the emotional space to dialog and document. I'll try to get more regular about that again as I settle into a new pattern, though I'm hoping the pattern changes back to my "normal" work pattern soonish.