UNEMPLOYED...AGAIN

I’m unemployed again. I was let go from work at noon on Friday. I'm trying to stay upbeat about it...hated the job anyway, they were a bunch of jerks, depressing place to work, I would have looked for something else eventually...but even with all that...it is still such a horrible blow and makes me feel tainted somehow and unworthy. Other than the lay-off I suffered in January 2009, I have never been dismissed from a job.

I wasn’t given any concrete reason. I didn’t steal anything, get on the internet, talk on the phone incessantly, arrive late, go home early, take long three martini lunches…none of that. The only thing they would say was…”you’re just not the right fit.”

When I started, they hadn’t had a permanent Admin for over six months. They advertised this job three times before finally hiring someone…me. I worked so hard at getting everything in that office running like a fine oiled tool and now someone else will reap all those benefits. I was given no training, never told exactly what my duties were or how to implement them. The next person won’t have to suffer as I did because I put together an Office Procedures manual that outlines every little thing that needs to be done and how to do it. I had to research and find out all this information for myself, with no help from the Raleigh office. All my answers I got from the corporate office in Massachusetts.

Even realizing that this company has gone through Office Assistants, like wild fire the past two years, I still took this job and I thought I'd be the "one". Oh well, guess I was the "one", but just another "one". Another one kicked to the curb.

I am really trying not to let this get me down and to push past the feelings of rejection and anger, but it’s a hard pill to swallow. It sure was nice having that paycheck for a few brief weeks. Tightening the purse strings again! Onward and upward…………

TIME TO WRITE AGAIN..........

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. I’m working now and I’m so exhausted when I get home that I don’t have the energy to be witty, creative or entertaining. I do miss sharing though and the process of writing always warms my heart, so I’ve decided that I need to “suck it up” and start producing again.

Two of my brothers came for a visit this past weekend. I haven’t seen them for several years. One of them is battling lung cancer and although, to others, he may look strong, I could see the toll this horrible disease is taking on him. He never complained while he was here and kept apologizing for cutting outings short and needing to rest. I was hiding my tears. I admire him so much for the efforts he is making in fighting his way through this.

Both brothers have left and headed to Myrtle Beach to visit with our other two brothers. This weekend I will be heading out to join all of them. My brother with the cancer wanted this reunion. He feels like this might be the last time he’ll get to see all of us. This will be the first time in about 15 years that we have all been together and we weren’t attending a funeral.

Due to circumstances in our upbringing, we are not a close knit group, but we do love each other in our own way. As we all grow older, I find that we seem to be seeking out the solace and the comfort that comes from knowing that you have family out there sharing the world with you. I look forward to seeing everyone and I pray that my brother will win his battle and that we will soon have another gathering celebrating him being cancer free.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

A sore throat...really? Four days before starting a new job I wake up with a swollen gland and sore throat. Is this God's idea of a joke? After 18 months of being unemployed...I will NOT start my new job sick.

I am armed with orange juice, Vitamin C pills and Vicks. I rub the Vicks on my throat, wrap it with a towel and it usually will take care of that sore gland in one day. If I'm not 100% tomorrow, it's off to the doctor's office!

Gonna brew a cup of tea, get the Vicks spread on me and take it easy today!

NO LONGER UNEMPLOYED

I got a job! After eighteen months of looking, and patiently waiting till I found a position that paid close to what I was receiving when I was laid-off from my last job...I have finally been rewarded. Couldn't have come at a better time either. My husband needs to find another place to work and this will give him a chance to do just that. He can take a little less in salary now in order to get his foot in the door somewhere new.

I'm looking forward to getting started. It's nice to know that I will wake up each day with a specific purpose. I will be able to help a business be a success. Weekends will take on a whole new meaning...not just be another day. Holidays will be looked forward to. Vacation...will actually BE a vacation.

It's a tough market out there, but if you are persistent, don't settle (unless you absolutely have to), you will find something!

I've got one more week before I start. I'll enjoy every minute of it and hit the ground running on Monday, July 12th!

THE CAT'S AWAY.......

While the cat's away...this mouse is gonna play. I put my hubby on a plane, bound for Chicago, this morning. He spends four to five days, each year, with three of his guy buddies from his high school days. This is my time to spend four to five days, doing whatever I jolly well please.

During this time I don't make the bed, do laundry, cook meals, run the vacuum or pick up around the house. I make plans to spend time with my friends or go to the beach or catch up on my "chic flics".

Ladies, if your husband doesn't "disappear" for a few days each year...I thoroughly recommend that you try to get him to do so. This is such a time of re-energizing for me. It gives me a chance to miss him and appreciate him. When he comes home it's always great to see him again and we have stories to tell each other about our time apart. Conversation is possible again.

I hate that, this year, their gathering takes place over the Fourth of July weekend, but I've gotten an invitation to party with friends, so I'll be enjoying myself. It's only 8:00a.m., but I think I'll grab another cup of coffee and watch "Valentine's Day." Ahhhh, woman time!

MAH JONG SUNDAY

I played Mah Jong with a group of my girlfriends yesterday. It's only my second time playing, but I have to say...I really enjoy it. It's a little rough learning all the rules, but once you do it's a lot of fun. The ladies' I play with are very patient teaching all the newbies.

Mah Jong is played with tiles. You can buy them in different sizes. I prefer the bigger ones, cause at my age they're easier to see. There are different "suits", like in cards. Bamboo, Circles, Characters, Winds, Dragons and the all important "honor" tiles. The object is to make 3 or 4 of a kind. There's a lot of strategy involved, but once you start playing it's pretty easy to catch on.Four people is the ideal number to play, but we played one round with only three.

The hardest part of playing Mah Jong is the scoring. Even this becomes fairly routine, though, after you do it once or twice.

If you're looking for a game that is challenging, but fun, at the same time...give Mah Jong a try.

WORKAHOLIC SPOUSES

Do you ever wonder if you're really married or not? Do you ever look at the person who walks in the door in the evening and wonder, "who is this stranger?" My husband's presence in our home is becoming surreal to me. He is working such long ridiculous hours, that we barely get a chance to speak. When he is home...he's not HOME. He always has this glazed look in his eyes, and I know he's thinking about what needs to be done the next day at work or the World Cup.

Wednesday he finally had a day off, but because he really needed a chance to just unwind and relax, instead of giving him a "honey-do" list, I sent him off with our neighbor to play golf. They were gone...all day! I whisked him out to dinner as soon as he came home, thinking we'd then have some special "us" time. We ended up at a place where the TV's spew sports channels all day and night, so conversation was limited, to say the least.

Last night he closed the store. He got home around 11:00p.m. I'd already gone to bed and was watching HGTV. When he turned the handle and walked into the room, I was just drifting off to sleep and I jerked awake thinking, "who is this man?" It's a good thing I don't sleep with a gun under my pillow!

He came over, leaned down to give me a kiss and as I was drifting back to sleep, I thought, "oh yeah, I know him...and I miss him."