Saturday, April 25, 2009

I've been feeling pretty down lately. Sometimes I don't know where my life has gone, and how is it that I am only a year away from the big 3-0. Have not heard back from any of the places I interviewed at. I know I ought to call back to see the process, but it is so disappointing to call them and hear, "I'm sorry..."  


Tuesday, April 7, 2009

For not having a job, I've been super busy. I'm officially now a Mrs. and not Miss. It is weird. I still forget to put my wedding band on everyday. It was a beautiful wedding. Even though it rained and was cloudy for most of our time there, the whole trip was better than I could have hoped for. It was lovely and magical. I truly felt so beautiful and happy, as every bride should feel on her wedding day.

We have not decided where to honeymoon yet. I wish we had planned the honeymoon before, but neither of us are very proactive. It was stressful enough for us to just even think about the wedding. April would have been an ideal time for us to go somewhere, since I am not working at all. I am afraid that once I start working, I will not be able to take time off work so soon in the job to go somewhere. There are already two big trips planned that I need to take time off for if I do (by some miracle) get hired this month.

Speaking of finding work, I came home to a phone call for a job interview. I am really interested in the position, but I think they are gonna pass on me. I only guess this because they never contacted the reference I gave them. I'm not too thrilled with the schedule but the location is ideal. I could take the bus easily and learn a lot in this new job. Sometimes I wish people could be more open to my ability to learn something quickly instead of writing me off because I don't have the necessary experience. I realize it's a risk most agencies would rather not take. I don't blame them. 

There will be some big changes coming this year; I can feel it. It's all scary and exciting at the same time. I am ready for something new in my life. 

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I've been obsessively checking my online money account. I realized that I am spending way more money not working than when I was working. Part of this is having a wedding to pay for, but I think the other part is that I have a lot more free time on my hand. It's easy to go to Starbucks and drop $4 on a soy latte. I also go out to lunch with friends more frequently now. My previous job provided free meals for us, so I never had to venture far for food. Overall, I am not doing very well being frugal. 

Speaking of not being frugal, I had the BEST facial today. It is at this very unassuming loft space run by a husband and wife team. My esthetician is amazing! The place was small but extremely relaxing. She had my tea waiting for me when I arrived in this dainty cup. She did a great job making me feel comfortable and sat down with me to talk about my skin and what I wanted from the treatment. Fabulous customer service &  my skin is glowing! 

During my treatment, I received a phone call about a job interview on Friday. The pay is better than my last job, but it is about an hour away from where I currently live. Also, I am not enthusiastic about the clients I'll have to work with. Regardless, I have decided to go to the interview anyway. I need the practice. I hate interviews with a passion. I tend to perform poorly on them due to my shyness and inability to think on my feet quickly. I wish I could be more articulate. 


Monday, March 16, 2009

It's been a while since I bothered to post anything. I went to visit family this past weekend. It was fun (though exhausting) to hang out with my little nephew. I also found out some troubling financial news about my parents. I am extremely worried about them, but they are so hush hush about money. I guess there is not much I can do about it, seeing as how they are not willing to share or be open with the information that I know. 

I attempted to go shopping with my sister and realized how much junk there are out there. I mean, do we really need all the plastic crap? It just seems so silly to constantly be collecting things we don't need. I guess that is the one good thing about this whole financial crisis business. At least people are realizing more and more how little "things" really do matter. Relationships with people are so much more fulfilling and important.

It is exactly one week until the wedding. I am so nervous. I had good intentions to exercise and eat well to look my best for the special day. Well, that is not gonna happen. I know it's going to be a stressful week. I already want it to be over with, so I can just relax and enjoy being married to the man I love. I am so lucky. Even though I am laid off, I am not in a destitute situation. I still have a lot of positives in my life right now, and I need to remember that. 

Friday, March 6, 2009

Today was beautiful and sunny outside. I wish I had remembered to bring my camera. I met my friend J for lunch at Matt's in the Market. J insisted on paying, citing that I didn't have a job and he did. It was very kind of him, though it made me feel bad. Allowing people to pay for you is always tricky. I feel bad that people feel the need to pay for me just because I am out of a job, but then again, I don't want them to think I am trying to be ungrateful by arguing that I want to pay for myself. It's a fine line and is dependent on who I am with. 

Moving on, the food was good but overpriced. Sometimes the service can be a little snotty. We did not have a reservation (it was at 11:30 AM), and the hostess said, "No reservation? Well...I'll have to check to see if we have a table." He then left and probably pretended to look around. He later came back and told us that they had "one more" table left. Okay...the place is practically empty. For not having a reservation, we scored a pretty nice spot right by the window. I had my usual catfish sandwich and J had a swordfish sandwich. Both were excellent, though the swordfish sandwich was a bit heavy. It was deep-fried and shaped like a crab cake. 

Afterward, I walked around Pike Market. For a week day, it was surprisingly crowded. Sometimes I like to stare at people and wonder what their lives must be like. Do they have a job? Are they visiting? Are they laid off? Maybe they are just independently wealthy or taking the day off to enjoy the sunshine? Who knows, there are so many explanations. 


Thursday, March 5, 2009

I've been rather unproductive lately. My day consists of napping & watching television. Although it sounds nice, I am getting very little accomplished. I am so tensed when I go through the process of looking for a job. It's depressing to see how little "good" jobs there are out there. I probably need someone to look at my resume and fix it. I'm not currently getting any interviews, so that can't be a good sign.

On a good note, I scored two free items from target today. I've been browsing financial/money saving blogs recently and found a couple of free coupons. I love getting free stuff! 

I wish I had something more interesting to say. I've been really reclusive lately, rarely leaving the house to do anything. I finally made myself  e-mail some friends for a dinner gathering this weekend. 




Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The first part: I've recently been laid off from a non-profit job. 

The second part: I volunteered to be laid off. 

The third part: I'm really scared I won't find another job. 

I knew I wanted to leave my job eventually, and it seemed wrong to stay when I knew some of my co-workers were committed to staying with the agency long-term. It was the right thing to do, but now I am scared about what I will do next. It seemed to make sense at the time and now I am wondering if I will indeed find another job. 

The good news is I have unemployment. The bad is that it's not all that much. Social work does not pay all that well, but it's even worse when you collect unemployment. Fortunately for me, my fiance has a stable job, so we should be okay for a while. We managed to save a decent emergency fund, however, I would rather us not go through the whole fund. After all, we still have a wedding to pay for. 

I don't know what the point of starting a blog is. I guess I just want to be able to reflect back on this someday and remember. I've never been laid off before. It's a pretty scary time in in our country right now, if not globally. I know quite a few people are worried about money and if they will still have a job in the future. I hope we can all brave this out, whatever may come.