About a month and a half ago my brother told me about a job opportunity in Nashville, TN, very near, and actually, associated with his own job. I read through the job requirements and agreed that the job could be perfect for me. I immediately applied for the job and submitted my resume to HR. With my experience and my brother’s voice in the hiring manager’s ear, I was quite sure that I would be offered the job. Or at least get an interview.

One of the pre requirements of the job was that I needed to take a manager’s test to see if I was manager material in general. I drove down to NYC and took the test and passed. (I got a parking ticket, too…) I was feeling pretty confident about the whole thing. When I initially talked with HR about this position, they said that it needed to be filled by mid-May. As it was already early May at that time, I thought things were going to move along quickly and I’d likely be heading to Nashville with in the month to interview in person and then, if all went well, be moving down my family a few weeks later.

Well, mid-May came and went with no updates on the position. My brother was confident that no one had been interviewed for the position. I contacted HR another time just to let the I know I was still interested in the job.

Finally, at the beginning of June, HR contacted me to let me know that I was no longer in the running for the position. Nathan did some research into it and found that one person had interviewed for the job and s/he was internal. Of course, that really sucked and I’m a bit upset that I didn’t even get an interview. It’s almost as if the position wasn’t really available.

Anyway, what I really started thing about was the psychological impact a possible move has on you. I remember when I was in middle school my mom told me that there was a possibility that my dad could be transferred – I think it was to Minnesota or something. The next day at school I was taking it all in, trying to set things into my memory so I wouldn’t forget about them. I wasn’t sad about the prospect of moving, just sentimental. That transfer ended up falling through and we never moved.

With the prospect of moving to another city for this job, both Jacquelyn and I had a difficult time of trying to move forward with our existing life. It certainly wasn’t as sentimental, as we’ve only been here less than 2 years. And in that 2 years, we’ve always felt like we could be ready to move again any time. But planning even for smaller thing like gymnastics for your children have an additional stressor. I mean, if we register, will we be able to get our money back? Should we plan on not doing the activity at all? I even struggled with my fish tank. I didn’t want to invest any more money into if we’re just going to sell it off or even take it with us to the new job. Should we buy a leaf blower? Should I resign from my volunteer positions at the church?

When the job opportunity fell through, I actually felt a sense of relief. The stress of possibly moving was pretty heavy. I may not have a better paying job with better opportunities for growth, but at least we were finally able to get our daughter enrolled in gymnastics camp.