Deja New

Another decade has reached the end and for me it’s funny to see how despite 10 years going by, I find myself relatively in the same place I was when 2010 began, just with some more wear and tear.
We arrived in Augusta, Georgia, on Jan. 1, 2010, just one day removed from a 16-hour journey from Okinawa, where we had lived for the previous two and a half years. We came for Melanie’s job, meaning I was unemployed, much as I am now after being laid off just days after Thanksgiving.
Of course, there are some distinct advantages to what lies ahead. When we got here it had been almost seven years since we had cell phones, including our four-year stint in Germany. We don’t need to ask friends and family for advice on phones or carriers, nor do we have to adjust to the steering wheel being on the left side of the car. It took me about a year before I stopped heading to the passenger’s side.
We came with our belongings and our Labrador, Bo. While getting acclimated, we all lived in the Staybridge Suites for a few months. It was quite the sight, mixing in a 70-pound dog into a hotel room.
Now we have a wonderful house in Evans, Georgia, but alas Bo is no longer with us having died shortly after the Masters in 2016. We have two incredible additions to the family, however, with our 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. They have turned our lives upside down in the most amazing way.
The job hunt appears to be the same, except this time I have an idea what to expect. In 2010 I got a full-time temporary job working for the local U.S. Census Bureau, and I’m hoping that comes to fruition in 2010 while looking for a permanent situation.
I also know I can get a job in April, working security for the Masters. The hours are long and the pay is decent, but more importantly it allows for a week on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National. I tried to work security in 2010, but my background check didn’t come through in time (the whole overseas thing). I got on in 2011, then worked as a sportswriter covering the tournament in 2014 for the Augusta Chronicle. I went back as security in 2016 after being laid off from my sportswriter job at the Columbia County News Times at the beginning of that year.
Medically it can only get better (fingers crossed), as in the past decade I’ve gone from having a family doctor to acquiring a physical therapist, orthopedic surgeon, a pulmonologist and most recently a cardiologist.
While there is no telling what the new decade will bring, I enter it with high hopes. With two kids who are restless during the night, I might even be awake to ring in the new year.