What had happened was...Part 3 in bullet form

• Guy has lunch with Sven from Design Associates and proposes that he gives it a shot at DA, for maybe 6 months to 2 years. Sven asks Guy: "What about Pixie? She had a lot to say when she left." Guy replies that he's not me, and he knows the downsides of working with DA and has no illusions about Howie and Bosley. Guy takes the job at slightly less than he made at MegaARCH.
• I continue working at MegaARCH but seem to spend more time working on smaller local projects with my past clients than with the larger national planning group. An international project falls through; another project gets delayed. When I do work on a master planning project in a neighboring state, I'm relegated to a bit of a note taker role with a little planning.
• Guy starts at DA on a big project with Molly, who promptly pisses Guy off by attempting to treat him like her child or her lackey but not as a colleague with 18 years' experience. Guy confronts her about it and she removes him from the project.
• A really good architect gets laid off from MegaARCH three weeks before a major deadline on a government project. The regional architecture director pulls me aside and says not to worry even though I'm not that busy right now, because I'm part of a longer-term strategy to rebuild MegaARCH's healthcare practice in the Front Range/Western Region.
• Three members of DA leadership corner Guy in a conference room to talk to him about his "assertive" behavior and he threatens to quit. They back down because DA hates confrontation.
• 2016 ends with neither of us getting raises. I get no bonus; Guy gets a very small bonus.
• I start 2017 with anticipating some more local work that I helped us get in an RFP/interview process. A project manager with that client gives my contact info to the new COO of a hospital who is looking for "a really good planner" to help with some master planning of some outpatient clinics.
• Guy starts 2017 working with Howie, who apparently sees some of himself in Guy's somewhat brusque communication style. Guy finds Howie micromanaging and tedious, but at least Howie thanks him for doing good work and for stepping in when necessary.
• MegaARCH lays me off in early February. The national group just doesn't have enough work for me. I have to email my clients to let them know I've been let go.
• I go home and cry and pace and cry some more. I email colleagues in all fields--architecture, engineering, owner's reps, furniture vendors--to get the word out that I'm available and looking.
• I get a call from a contractor who was on vacation with someone I'd emailed--he eventually offers me a position with his company. I'm seriously thinking about it.
• I called the COO at the hospital to let him know I'm no longer with MegaARCH but would be glad to do his planning as a single person. He calls me back; I visit with him and his staff and tour the facility. I send him an agreement and am waiting to hear back.
• I go to the library and start figuring out if I should be an LLC or an S corp.
• Three more firms contact me outright to do planning contract work and/or to join them as a full-time employee.
• I tell one of the firms that they might want to talk to Guy instead--he's pretty done with the DA bullshittery. Guy meets with them and accepts an offer pending a few logistics and paperwork. If all goes well, he can be in a new firm in the next month or two.
• Guy and I celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary in Vegas. We rock.