Life's Twists & Turns

Son, I've been reawakened to a hard reality of life: sometimes it stinks. Yesterday, my boss told me that they needed to make some changes. That I needed to choose to come into the office everyday or transition to contract employment and work from home everyday. For the past 3 years, I have helped build this company from 2 employees into nearly 40. We did it side by side, busting our butts, sacrificing time with our families, and having fun along the way. Part of my employment agreement from the beginning was to work 2 days a week from home. I've built my schedule around that arrangement, and take advantage of the days at home to get allergy shots on those days. I also have enjoyed being able to take your mom to lunch on those days most weeks. There are many many intangibles that I'm losing by losing these 2 days at home. On the other side of things, I *could* take up his offer to move to contract labor. It would afford me many positive things, mostly a flexible schedule. However, it's incredibly daunting to take that leap...I would no longer have any of the benefits I now enjoy such as 3 weeks paid vacation, paid insurance for myself, and being part of a team of pretty good developers. Plus the paid training and conferences that we go to are nice. All of that would be my financial responsibility if I go contract. My nature is to prefer feeling uncaged, and left to work in an environment where productivity is valued over appearances of productivity. We recently got a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) that is taking away some of the benefits of my job such as wearing shorts to work. Believe me when I say, I LOVE wearing shorts, and over the past 3 years have worn pants very little (even to church). This COO guy is proving to be full of hot air - promising that our dress code wouldn't change, then changing it. Let me take a moment here to let you know that we don't *EVER* see clients in our office. So this change is just gratuitous. The COO thinks that he has to make a big splash apparently in order to prove his worth. The hard thing for me is that I like some of the changes that he's making but this one really affects a few of us that hinge part of our reason to work so hard on the fact that we're trusted with the freedom to dress in a way that is comfortable to us. It is a BIG disincentive for me (and other colleagues I've spoken with). Go figure - we're an "Incentive Management" company. Needless to say, I have some trust issues with my boss and this COO. Also, I didn't mention that it really hurts me that my boss (with all our history) is ready to cut ties so easily - "Off the team"... So sometimes life goes from sweet, sweet smelling aroma to a really awful stench. And this is what I've been dealing with for the past 30+ hours. I'm stressed, I'm inconsolable, and nothing takes my mind off this worrying. Until I think of you...innocent and pure, curled up in Kendra's belly. That gives me a peace that is hard to explain. I can't wait to see you. Thinking of you makes me think that I can endure these awful changes to my dream job, and stick it out. At least til the next good offer comes along. I love you so much already son, and we're going to have a great time getting to know each other starting in just a few weeks.
~Dad