We expected her to get fired.
What we did not expect was her boss to roll over, essentially forcing her to quit. What we did not expect was her boss to practically beg her to stay and offer to keep her on as long as she would allow it-- at the same salary and same hours.
So here we are, the best of all possible outcomes: Speedy is still gainfully employed and yet has the keys to the car-- she can leave at any time. I have a conference for my company in May, after which I will tell my (exceptionally wonderful) boss that I am jumping ship.
We are putting our co-op on the market at the end of this month. We are going up to Western Mass to house hunt when our weekends allow it. And we are actively planning to flee. I still can't quite believe it. But even as I type, Speedy is going to pick up some moving boxes so that we can pack away our tchotchkes and make our place at least appear pristine for the professional photographer who is coming Monday to take promotional pictures.
Hey, Mass: anyone know the insurance deal? If I sign off on Project Speetus 2.0, we'd be looking at a January start date, which means if neither of us has gotten a real job by then, we'd be buying individual insurance after COBRA runs out. Does Mass have a law about maternity/prenatal insurance? If I buy insurance, can I expect any prenatal/maternity care to be out of pocket until a waiting period has passed? Do I have to purchase that insurance separately? Or should we expect to come out of pocket for all fertility/pregnancy/maternity expenses?
I am scared and suddenly pre-remorseful, the way I get right before a haircut-- I almost always wake up the day of, thinking, my hair looks fantastic-- why would I want to change it now? But we all know that it is time to hack off the split ends. And, yeah, Brooklyn. Now you're a split end. But I will miss you terribly.
Here is The Boy who will resent us horribly for selling our Brooklyn co-op well before he was able to appreciate it.
P.S. Add this to "Things We Thought We'd Never Do": Oh shit, we're co-sleeping!
Do give us a holla when you're up here for house hunting. We can give you a whirlwind tour. Any idea what towns you're going for? As for insurance, I'm not sure what the deal is with self-service, only that Mass has a mandatory insurance law, so you can buy state insurance for a good price. I do not know how good the coverage is, but I do know that we have mandatory infertility coverage after 12 cycles. This *should* transfer from NY to MA, as ours did when we moved here from NY.
ReplyDeleteexciting! sound like things are working out really well.
ReplyDeletei'm sure the boy ( who is adorable, btw!) will forgive you for leaving nyc, as long as you dont move to utah or texas or something. :)
if you get insurance coverage through employment, i would think everything medical is covered. for FMLA benefits, though, you have to have been at the job for a year. also, i'm pretty sure massachusetts is one of the handful of states with mandatory fertility insurance coverage. i'm not sure how it would work if your employer's insurance is based out of another state, but if it's based out of MA, i think you're set.
all in all, sounds like a good move.
Wow, sounds like a lot is going on, but it all sounds positive. Congrats on the best-case-scenarios.
ReplyDeleteyeah! you guys will be "local" -- well sort of...as CD/SP said, MA has mandatory insurance and the Mass plan is pretty affordable AND has awesome fertility coverage. I know people who have switched off their company plans to get the MA plan as it covers IVF fairly quickly. Not sure about the other benefits, but it also covers cost of sperm (or so Ive heard)
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to you gals...I know you'll make it through this ok.
ReplyDeletePS- That baby is C-U-T-E.
You are going to love MA. (My former home state...still miss it there.) Land of being legally married, mandatory insurance coverage for infertility and, let's not forget, NoHo...lesbian capital of the world.
ReplyDeleteYay! Come north my friends!
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand, MA has the best fertility coverage in the country. It varies from policy to policy, but I was shocked to learn that R's public education job offered us 6 rounds of IVF after we had tried unsuccessfully for 6 months. If you have a male partner, you walk in the door and say "we've been trying for 6 months and haven't gotten pregnant" and you're covered. But you know how THAT goes, as I recall...
It might take some probing, but I think you'll find you can buy a policy here that prioritizes fertility. There is a midwife in Florence, btw, who comes and does home IUIs for free. If you wind up there, let me know and I'll find out the deets for you.
Ruby- so funny you should mention that-- that is exactly where we are looking!
ReplyDeleteWe would love to move to MA too! Love the new pic - he is a cutie!! p.s. I just finished 10 days on injections and have 33 follicles...we triggered with Lupron last night - tomorrow is our retrievel so keep us in your thoughts! Love reading your blog!!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck F &W!! I will be looking for your update :)
ReplyDeleteflorence is duper-cute. a potential town for us, too, for sure, if we can ever get out of our hillbilly town one of these days...
ReplyDeletewow, sounds like everything is going really well then! great news that speedy is still employed, if only for now (hmm, now i want to listen to the ave q soundtrack).
ReplyDeletelittle speetus is a cute little guy. i think he's looking more like you now, don't you think??
congrats on cutting out of the rat race! hope that your place sells more quickly than the last. but it should b/c it sounds kind of awesome.
Look at how shamefully behind I am on commenting!
ReplyDelete1. Good job to Speedy for holding her ground with the boss. Those job circumstances sound insane! Insane!
2. You're moving to Western MA - that's AMAZING. My parents moved us out of NYC to western MA when we were young. I always wished I had grown up in the city but I know we had it a lot better than we could have had we stayed.
3. I'm jealous of your quitting and moving - especially to MA. Save a space for me, we'll get back there one day.
4. I can't wait to see you! What are the dates?
Oh and, duh, 5. Speetus is amazingly big and a total beauty!
ReplyDelete