Rebuilding after Financial Crisis and Bankruptcy in a Recession (Part 6)

This is an ongoing post in the series Surviving the Lien Years - Rebuilding after Financial Crisis and Bankruptcy in a Recession.  Learning Hard Lessons is part six in the about how my husband and I are surviving the lien years (financial crisis and bankruptcy).

After being married for almost 9 years, I left THD in April, 2001.  My primary motivating factor for leaving was because we had been trying to get pregnant for nearly 2 years and had been unsuccessful.  We knew something was wrong but did not know what or how long it would ultimately take to become pregnant.   What I did know was that I did not want all my (mostly male) co-workers to learn about these intimate details of my life.  We had planned our finances with the ultimate goal in mind that I could stop working to become a Stay-At-Home-Mom.  Since according to our plans, we should have already been able to allow me to quit working, we had the financial means for me to stop and the motivation as well.  Lee thought in addition to the upcoming doctor visits that it would be extremely helpful to him if I was home throughout the day.  He was working 60+ hours a week and did not have the energy or the inclination to come home to do laundry, cook, clean, etc.  It would be easier if he knew that many of these tasks were taken care of and I was ready for a break from corporate America anyway.

My grandmother’s death and Lee’s business startup prepared us for what was truly our first major life hurdle and life let down.  We had set goals and worked hard to achieve them throughout our marriage.  While my grandmother’s death was difficult for us, she was “old” and it is somewhat normal in a life cycle for grandparents to die.  So, here we were in our large house with lots of bedrooms waiting to be filled.

As we began treatments for infertility, Lee bought out one of his business partners and racked up some debt in the process.  While things on the fertility front were not very good for us, his business was doing well.  He brought on new staff to help grow the business.

The fertility treatments were nightmares.  The hormones were wreaking havoc on my body emotionally and physically.  With each passing month and negative pregnancy test results, my depression, anger, and frustration over being unable to reproduce grew.  That depression, naturally, intensified in the wake of the terror attacks on 9-11.  I seriously considered giving up on trying to conceive and instead enlisting in the military.  In the end, Lee convinced me that was not the right decision for our lives or for me physically.

As with many American businesses after the terror attacks on 9-11, Lee’s business suffered financially.  We had to reinvest money we had saved into the company to keep it afloat.  The company was not strong enough to support a week of America being shutdown.  We really never stopped to think twice about re-investing our money into the company.  The company needed it, the thousands of people he was employing through the temporary company needed it, and it seemed like the right thing to do.  We probably should have stopped to think twice about it.  At this point, we no longer had much savings and our entire financial portfolio was tied up in 1 stream of income.

Our marriage grew stronger during this time as we had to face various medical and life decisions.  Lee was a solid rock for me during this trying period.  I could barley watch a baptism at church without falling apart emotionally but Lee stood by me every step of the way.  If I had to leave church or a movie or any other event early because of my emotions, he was right there helping me out the door before I broke down into tears.  I became a master at evading questions about family planning.  What business was it of others anyway!?  While silently and privately I was in hell, outwardly I did the best I could to keep a positive attitude.  Keeping that positive attitude and training myself to compartmentalize was preparing me for even greater challenges in the years to come.

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You know the story. You buy a brand new super fast computer and a few months later they release faster and superer (my word) computers that relegate yours to antique status. Constant rapid advances in technology and the increased role of memory hogging graphics, video, and audio in web content make it mandatory for you to frequently blow money on new hardware.

Well, it may be possible for you to improve your computing experience without forking over the cash for a whole new computer. There’s a good chance your computer has expansion slots that will allow you to add more memory (RAM). Adding more memory will allow you to open larger files, deal with more files simultaneously, and run more advanced software. And memory is very inexpensive right now. So it’s a good time to buy.

I recommend visiting the website http://crucial.com/. This site has a handy tool that will scan your machine and tell you how much memory can be added to your motherboard. It will also give you several options and the ability to order it online. But you can also buy your memory at most office supply stores.

If you’re comfortable opening up your computer and plugging in a new chip, take a look at this video for a basic walk-through of how to add memory to a computer.

I hope you found this post helpful. Check out today’s Works for Me Wednesday for other money saving tips from fellow bloggers.

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The newest book by Charlaine Harris, Dead and Gone, just came out today. All day long I was twitching with anxious anticipation of the trip I had planned to the bookstore in the late afternoon. Fortunately I survived the day and made it to the local Barnes & Noble in time to pick up my copy.

I began reading it immediately in the car while my husband drove us to dinner. I even sneaked in a few pages at the dinner table while my kids were focused on their pasta and my husband on his baked chicken. They love me and understand my need to read, so they let it slide.

For those of you not familiar with this series of books, they center around a Louisiana girl named Sookie Stackhouse. She lives in present day America with a twist. Vampires exist and, thanks to a synthetic blood that they can drink without killing people, they have gone public in an effort to join mainstream society. Some of them are good, some of them are bad, and there are a lot of other supernatural creatures lurking out there as well. Sookie, of course, is right in the middle of all of them, and it turns out she has some supernatural secrets of her own.

HBO turned the books into a series called True Blood, which is one of the brand names of the synthetic blood, like Coke is to cola.

The series is a little weird, but highly addictive. I recommend ordering all 9 books right away so that you can immediately move from one book into the next without waiting!

The links that you see below are to buy the set of books 1 through 7, then book #8, then the first season DVD from HBO. Happy reading!

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If you have been reading my blog lately or following me on Twitter and Facebook, you will know that I am one of the Co-Coordinators of the Atlanta Tea Party.  You also know that I try to keep this blog more about my life as a Peach State Mom of Twins and less about politics.  Yet, politics is what I am passionate about and sometimes (often) the two overlap.

While the Tea Parties are a political statement, I have had some cool (and mostly non-political) things happen as a result of my involvement in the Atlanta Tea Party and in Tea Party Patriots, home of the Nationwide Tea Party Movement.

1. I have had some extra business for my husband’s and my computer repair work we are currently doing.  This is good because heaven knows we need the money.
2. Facebook and the Tea Parties have reconnected me with many of my friends from the past, especially high school friends.  There are so many people who I have not been in touch with in years and years.  While we would have caught up some from Facebook, the Tea Parties have really increased that communication.  One friend who I carpooled with in high school, Eric, has commented on several of my posts on Facebook and has been very supportive and encouraging.  Michael, who was one of my brother’s and my neighborhood group.  Michael and Ben were in between my brother, Jonathan, and me in age.  It is hard to separate my memories from the summers in high school from the three of them.  Michael now owns a framing shop in Alabama and does wonderful photography.  Check his site out Hanging Around Hoover!  Another friend from my high school and church, Scott, who lives in Dallas now has been in touch with me as well.  On the morning of my first live tv interview on Fox and Friends, he texted me to let me know he was thinking of me and planning to watch me.  Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention Daniel.  He and I were in high school together but were in different grades and did not hang out.  He has been incredibly supportive.  He has sent me several words of wisdom through email and I really appreciate his friendship!
3. There are so many other friends that have been awesome during the planning process for the Atlanta Tea Party:  Bart, Charlice, Ali, Karen, Jeff, Christine, Linda, and Terri have been an extra special help to me and I appreciate their friendship and support.
4. Before last week, I had never been on live tv.  Now, I have been on live tv three times.  Once with my husband, Lee, on Fox and Friends and twice on Fox Business.  I have also been on Montel Williams’ Air America radio show live.  Oh, that was brutal!  I still have a lot to learn if I ever want to be a talking head and debate issues in front of a live audience.
5. One of Atlanta’s shock jock radio personalities, Regular Guy Eric von Haessler, has been a speaker at both of our Atlanta Tea Parties.  I have listened to Larry, Eric, and Southside Steve for years.  It is awesome to have a face and real conversations to put with their voices in the mornings.  Eric gave me some good pointers about how to handle live interviews in the future, which I very much appreciate!
6. I visited Los Angeles for the first time.  Unfortunately, all I saw was an office building, a hotel, and the airport.  As we were taking off on the flight back to Atlanta, Amy, the Nationwide Event Coordinator said to me, “Look, there’s the beach.”  I did get to see the beach out of the window of the airplane but that was all.  If I ever go to LA again, I am making sure I see more than offices, hotels, and airports!
7. During the production planning, I learned what “stringers” are.  Kenny Stokes from Fuse AV is incredibly awesome.  He was patient as I was learning about the technical aspects for the av equipment.  He and his Co-Worker Bob were  incredibly patient as we re-shuffled the schedule - AGAIN - not only before we went live but as we were live the night of the Atlanta Tax Day Tea Party.
8. Joel Aaron of Atlanta WGKA 920 AM has been more than incredibly supportive of our movement.  He is working on a project to get a pocket US Constitution in the hands of every Georgian.  Oh, and speaking of Joel Aaron, Eric Odom of DontGo, Lloyd Marcus who performed the “official” Tea Party Movement anthem, and I are all preacher’s kids or PKs for short.  I wonder how many more PKs there are in the movement.
9. Jonathan Dressler and his band, That 30/60, volunteered to be our live band long before Sean Hannity announced he would be broadcasting live from Atlanta.  He is an incredible young man with a very bright future.
10. Before the Tea Parties I would never have considered myself great at fundraising.  I have learned when I believe in something passionately I will ask for money for it from anyone, pretty much anywhere.
11. Amy, Debbie, and Virginia are great to have as your Co-Coordinators.  Lucky for me they are my Co-Coordinators!
12. It is kind of scary to think you are going to speak to a crowd of 10,000 + people.  When you actually have to give your speech and realize the crowd is 20,000 + the fear goes away and the energy of the crowd gives you confidence without fear.
13. I might qualify for a job as a diplomat considering all the ruffled feathers I had to smooth and negotiating I had to do to keep various speakers, sponsors, media, and volunteers, and participants/protesters happy.  I might qualify to be an Event Planner since I was able (with the help of many, many other wonderful people) to pull off the Atlanta Tea Party.   But, my favorite job by far is being mom to GigglyGirl and BusyBoy and wife to Lee!!

For those who are interested in the Atlanta Tea Party, check out this awesome video that Luke Livingston from Ground Floor Video created.

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When I started the Surviving the Lien Years series, I anticipated posting each installment every week day until I was finished with the series. I have even written each installment. I have not formatted and proofed them.

What I did not know or anticipate when I started the series was how incredibly huge the Tea Party Movement would become or that it would literally take over every aspect of my life.

The following is not about whether or not you agree with the politics of the Tea Party Movement but more about what I have been doing the past 8 weeks in relation to the Tea Party Movement. When I was on the first nationwide conference call for the Tea Party Movement on February 20th, there were about 22 of us on the call. When we hung up we thought there would be 5 or 6 Tea Parties across the nation the following Friday. Instead there were 48. In that one week, I put in many hours and had a conference call every single night.

Since then in the second wave of Tea Parties, there are now over 700 Tea Parties planned nationwide for today. I have continued to be involved at both a national level and here in Atlanta. The movement has taken over every single aspect of my life. I am working on it literally 18 - 20 hours a day. Over the last 3 weeks, I can think of 3 nights when I have had over 6 hours of sleep. Most nights I am going to bed around 2 - 3 in the morning. There have been conference calls that stretch into the wee hours of the morning. Even with all the work that has been involved in volunteering for this movement, it has been a joy to do.

The Atlanta Tea Party is the biggest event I have ever managed. I am so lucky and blessed to have 3 other women Co-Coordinating the event with me. I am also lucky and blessed to have an even larger volunteer team who has stepped up to help out and been able to run with their expertise and experience to make the event a success.

I am learning so much from this experience. I am making so many new contacts, acquaintances, and friends. The use of tools to make these connections possible is incredible. We have used social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others), blogging, Skpe, and conference calls. The ability to keep costs low and plan a nationwide event on a shoestring budgets is amazing. When this wave of Tea Parties is over today, I am really going to have to sit down and think about the things I have learned and how they can be applied to other parts of my life and to business life.

My brief tweets updating what I am doing that are pushed both here and to Facebook have given me the opportunity to reconnect with friends from earlier parts of my life (high school and even elementary school) in a way that I never would have before. Several of my friends from high school who I literally have not talked to in over 16 years have sent me the kindest messages on Facebook and through my cell phone. I know without a doubt that some of them do not even agree with my politics but they have still been supportive of my efforts as friends.

I have had experiences that I never imagined I would have. I have been interviewed on live tv, live internet tv, and live radio. Yesterday I was on the Montel Williams radio show on Air America. Air America?!! Going in I knew it was going to be a tough interview and it was. But I learned so much from it. The opportunities and experiences are incredible.

I do intend to finish posting my Surviving the Lien Years series. I plan and hope to begin that again next week. It is a series that I have internalized for months and have worked hard to put all my thoughts down on paper. Those thoughts deserve to be proofed and edited appropriately and not rushed. Thank you for bearing with me and putting up with my slack blogging habits. Obviously, as I continue to be involved in the Tea Party movement, I am going to have to develop a better plan of action to keep my blog up to date and to keep up with my fellow bloggers who I have come to consider my online friends.

If you have heard about the Tea Party Movement and have any thoughts on it, feel free to leave them here. I cannot promise that I will reply to them in the next few days but I will read all of them. Feel free to leave comments saying you do not like what the movement stand for as well. As long as the comments are polite and family friends (as is the theme of this blog), then they will remain posted here.

Have a great day! All my regular readers, thank you for putting up with my slack blog habits over the last few weeks!!

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