The Offer

The Philly job offer came in on Friday. The salary was the very bottom of the range George specified, though it did include full relocation, including one vehicle, a house-hunting trip, and one month of temporary housing if needed. After reviewing our expenses and budget, we determined we couldn't make it in Philly on his income alone so he called them this morning with his counter offer. It included a significantly higher salary plus a signing bonus. So, we'll see what they do with it. The HR person said he would probably hear back from her by Wednesday. That also gives us a few more days to see if an offer comes in from the Red Cross.

Ahh, the joys of salary negotiation. Seems to me that his job search is too much like shopping for a new car. It should be fun and exciting, but it really ends up being a sucky process and inevitably you end up feeling taken advantage of despite your best efforts to be prepared and drive a hard bargain. George thinks that HR people and car salesmen are basically the same breed of people. This process makes me think he's right.

On a brighter note, George's mom was visiting this weekend. She arrived on Friday evening and we had a nice birthday dinner for George. Saturday we spent some time at the Farmer's Market followed by a trip to her favorite quilt shop and lunch. Sunday we ventured out to KMart so she could buy Nate some birthday presents. We also spent some time outside Sunday evening. George was busy in the yard, raking and setting off smoke bombs to kill the moles. He found several nice, big, juicy worms for Olivia to play with. Olivia was so excited that she ran up to show Nanni, who didn't share her enthusiasm for the slimy little things. "Look Nanni! Look what me found! It's a sweet wormy worm. It's so sweet. And a baby worm too." I asked her what their names were. She decided to call the big one "Mr. Wormy Worm." "What about the baby one?" I asked. "Tootie" she replied. We all got a giggle.

In case you're wondering because of Olivia's outfit, no, it's not cold in Montana already. We had a few chilly days last week and ever since, Olivia has insisted on wearing a coat AND hat when she goes outside, even if it's 80. Gotta love the iron will of a two year old.