We Have Arrived! and the DPS Credo

We have arrived... at what? Well the Dirt Poor Survival (aka DPS) Club. How did we get here? Here's our story.

I had the pleasure of working for a wonderful company for 10 years. Mosaics was what we did from creating the tiles to assembly of the final product. These colorful aquatic based designs were largely used in pools. Us assemblers (that's what I did) used to make a game out of ... if we had a pool, which designs would we put in our pool. As inventory grew, our answers always changed.

Then the economy troubles hit... by now it all seems so cliche (blame our troubles on the ecomony) but this was a direct cause. People weren't putting in pools so much any more let alone decorating them with some fabulous mosaics.

So that's the back story. My husband, being a stroke survivor, didn't work. I found myself layed off. Thus became the incarnation of the DPS Club, though I didn't know it at the time.

The natural decision was to get another job. Many obstacles... most out there I was not qualified for (needed a college degree), no wardrobe for an office job, long distance was not an option (our ol' van worries us when we drive to the next town 15 minutes away... she tries..). The list goes on, I won't bore you with the rest. The bottom line is here we are now, very little income coming in, unemployment has run out, though the Nut is still on an food assistance program with helps out immensely (we'll talk more on that one in future posts). So, as Sally Fields says in the movie Murphy's Romance, "we gotta use it up and wear it out!" and that's exactly where we find each other right now.

I decided to do this blog because I know how many of us are out there. That is why I decided to share our daily lives as we now know it. I don't pretend to be an expert on... anything!! But I would call myself quirky creative... Making things happen with what is on hand and taking pleasures on the smiles around me. If you slow down enough, you will find them.

The DPS credo: Use what you have, make the most of the resources around you, and be greatful for what you have and/or what you can create.