Day 7: Tuesday

Today was a learning experience. I started out by mowing the lawn. I have a cordless electric mower, which I charged once last summer--when I first got it (a house-warming present from my parents). Needless to say, I got backyard mowed and most of the front yard before the battery died. (I'll have to finish in the morning; the battery should be charged.) I'm guessing that my battery will only need to be charged a few times each summer, but I need to learn to pay attention to how low the battery is getting, so I don't end up with a 3/4 mowed front yard!

But the real learning was trying to clean out the back garden. There are some tress growing against the house, and they needed to go. Trees have roots as big--or bigger--than their tops. The problem is that I want to save the irises in that garden--as far as I can tell. I may have killed one, but I can see that I have to thin them out anyway. I'm hoping I can "just" move them to fill out the garden. But it's a lot of work to get rid of these trees with their deep roots. I've cut some of the roots, but it's a lot of work. I probably only have half of that little garden cleaned after three hours of work, at least.

I went to Home Depot, but the raised garden I wanted, they were sold out of. I'm debating looking at another Home Depot tomorrow or just having a ground-level garden. I did buy fencing and posts, because either way, I will need to keep rabbits out of my garden. I also bought a couple of green pepper plants and a cherry tomato plant. I really did resist the urge of buying strawberry plants. I think I'll see how the garden goes this year and consider options for next year. I do need to get some raspberry bushes from Darcy--she has a bunch in her backyard, and said I could have a few (she's not interested in gardening). (At Home Depot, I also saw a clothesline for sale. I may have to go get it. There is something awesome about line-dried clothes, and their fresh smell!

During the Twins game this evening, I ironed all of my fabric that I washed this weekend, which is quite the accomplishment, as far as I'm concerned.

Tomorrow I really need to finish mowing the lawn, perhaps spend a little time in the back garden, maybe consider checking out another Home Depot or Lowes for the raised garden kit I want and definitely get my house cleaned. I'm having company for lunch on Thursday, and I want it cleaned for that. I still haven't decided how I'll handle a meal--we may go out to eat. I really need a kitchen.

Right now, I should be heading to bed, but I have a cat sleeping on my feet, so I'll read for a bit.

Day 6: Monday

Today, I volunteered for a few hours at an elementary in my hometown (sorta; it's not the elementary school I attended). My mom's friend is a Master Gardener, and every year she plants seeds and plants with the kindergarten classes; these plants are given as Mother's Day gifts to the mothers of the children. It was so much fun helping these children. Heide tells a cute story about how seeds grow. The children were pretty excited, and sometimes had difficulty following directions but were mostly well-behaved. Some were very excited about plants--one little boy informed me that he and his mom were planting their garden at home, so he already knew about planting. Some of the little ones were quite certain they could do it themselves, while some sought more re-assurance. In all, they were adorable.

My evening was spent catching up on some online reading--and fighting with my computer. Both my laptop and desktop are old, and therefore prone to slow-downs. I figured out what sort of RAM my desktop needs, and I may perhaps buy some more as a short-term solution (I've extended the life of my laptop with a new hard drive and maxed out on the memory). I also begin reading Freakanomics while watching Mythbusters (am I a nerd?).

At Mom and Dad's, I read the advertisements from yesterday's newspaper, and I think I'm going to buy a raised garden bed tomorrow, in a start to planting my vegetable garden. I will definitely need to get a fence, too, because of the great number of rabbits in the neighborhood. I need cages for my tomatoes, too, and while I'm there, I'll probably get some green pepper plants (yum!) and perhaps some cherry tomatoes. I'm very much looking forward to growing a garden, so I really hope that I can manage to keep these alive and enjoy the fruits of my labor. I'll see how much yard work I can get done tomorrow--including mowing the lawn!

Days 4 & 5: Saturday and Sunday

Saturday, as predicted, was filled with sporting events. Bobbi and I rode our bikes to the Twins game and back (free parking! Woo). The Twins won, and the lunch of a corn dog and a red velvet cupcake (seriously, a red velvet cupcake at a ballpark? Is that nuts or what?) were awesome. We rode our bikes home, ran a few errands (picking up Rach on the way), and went to the Swarm game. The Swarm lost--in overtime again--so that wasn't the greatest, but we had a good time anyway.

Sunday there was church (both in the morning and afternoon), but between I managed to get some fabric serged and washed. I will need to get it all ironed. There was a lot of fabric. I have a couple of projects in there, with lots of fabric. Now I'm ready to get started on those, which is a very good thing. In all, it wasn't that unproductive weekend, but there wasn't that much wasted time, either.

Day 3: Friday

I made myself sleep in this morning--I've had trouble getting to sleep lately (something I've never really dealt with before; I've usually been able to fall asleep when my head hits the pillow). Not long after I woke up, my mom called. She invited me out to lunch. It's become a bit of a thing for her that when a family member loses a job, there's a "celebration of a job well done!" It's a bit odd, I suppose, but I think it's a positive spin on a bad situation. Anyway, I drove out there and had lunch with Mom, Dad, and Big Brother (who was laid off the beginning of March, but recently was re-employed--he'll start probably a few days after my last official day).

So, needless to say, I didn't accomplish much on my list of things to do today. I did finish Dan Miller's 48 Days to the Work You Love. I think I need to re-read it. I started it before I was laid off, so I don't think I got as much out it as I need to now. (When I started it, I just wanted infomration. Now I want an action plan.) I also serged the edges of a bunch of fabric. Before fabric can be sewn, it needs to be pre-washed. Before it can be pre-washed, the edges should be serged (or something) to keep the fabric from unraveling in the wash. I also unstacked and re-stacked the dishwasher, which doesn't seem like much. However, it's a task I avoid doing because I also think how long it's going to take (even though it only takes a few brief minutes!).

Interestingly, I'm on a list of 365 things to do in Minnesota. Today's item was "Volunteer", and included a link to a source of volunteer opportunities. This makes me happy. I really think it would be great to volunteer--not just now, but to build a relationship with a volunteer organization that I can continue working with. I like to feel like I know what's going on, so right now while I have a little time (hopefully not long!), I can build a relationship where I feel comfortable jumping in in the middle.

Tomorrow will be a long day. I feel a little guilty, because it's all having fun. I'll get up early, bike to Bobbi's, and then we'll bike together to Target Field for the Twins baseball game. We'll bike home, drive to St. Paul for the Swarm lacrosse game. (The Swarm, apparently, just clinched a playoff berth. Who knew? I thought they were all but mathematically eliminated when they lost last week. I suppose it's possible the stars aligned, or I could've simply been wrong about how well their season was going.)

In financial news, today was payday, so I logged into my bank account. I was immediately weirded out by the five-digit balance. Apparently my tax refund was added to my account this week--it was particularly high because of the first-time homebuyers tax credit. This was really nice to apply to my credit card balance... (I ran into some difficulties with some personal issues in the last two years, so I had a high balance. I should be in much better shape. I actually would be fine, but I want to set aside a good ammount to potentially pay for a new roof in the next couple of years. Or, have a little extra in case of emergency.)

Day 2: Thursday

Not a lot has been accomplished today. It started with not being able to sleep last night (surprise? Not really. Life is stressful right now). I did manage to finish reading The Last Song last night. I'm still a bit undecided about it. I didn't hate it as much as a few other books I've read lately, but there were some parts where I think the author was toying with our emotions for his own amusement. Not cool, in my opinion, when it was completely unnecessary. (Beth's hint for those wanting to right: If your book needs to have "I'm going to try to fool the reader!" bits of text, it's probably poorly written. It's okay to try to fool the reader, but you need to have a good reason.)

When I got up this morning, I pretty much needed to get dressed and pick up Darcy and head to Target Field for the Twins/Red Sox game. It might seem like an unnecessary expense, but I bought the tickets in October. I may as well use them. Although I'm happy to find out that my tickets DO sell for Thursday afternoon games. I put them for sale online for next Thursday's game, hoping against hope that they'd sell...and they did. For face value, even! That's just relieving to me because I don't want tickets to go to waste; especially right now.

I vaguely considered going into work to pick up my personal stuff, but I'm not ready to face co-workers quite yet. Hopefully next week some time. I want to get it out soon, so people can get whatever information they need. (I'm not sure they'll be able to use anything, since I'm the only one who did my job, and they said straight out they're not doing that anymore. But just in case someday they decide to hire someone again, the information will be there.)

Darcy and I stopped for ice cream on the way home, which was nice. Then we were going to go look at paper, but the store had closed already, so instead we went and got Darcy's cell phone replaced. When I finally got home, I read a bit in my career advice book. There are a couple of things running through my head. Firstly, I'm considering seeing if I can get a volunteer job. Really, I'd looove the chance to work with children--or rather, play games with children. Set me at a table with a four-year-old and a game of Candyland, and I'm good. I think I'll start researching that tomorrow.

I know I should start looking for jobs, but I really feel paralyzed by this. I would like to find a job where I'd feel like I was doing something I wanted to do. I want a job where there's a chance for advancement. But, frankly, I'm just not sure what that is, yet.

Tomorrow, I have nothing scheduled, so I have written out my plan of attack to start working on things I want to get done.

Day 1: Wednesday

I'll be honest. It still doesn't feel real. It's like a Saturday or something.

I got out of bed earlier than I wanted to, but I couldn't sleep anymore. I eventually made myself go to the library to get books on writing resumes and cover letters. Of course, I had to get a new library card (note to self: update driver's license address), so I had to return home for proof of address. I did find a couple of books on careers, resumes, and cover letters. I also checked out Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, because I've always wanted to read it. If I have time off, I may as well get some books checked off of my list.

Just as I got to the library, Dad called. He was sleeping last night when I called Mom with the news (Dad works nights), so this was his first chance to talk to me. I love my mom and appreciate her concern and care on the phone last night, but my conversation with Dad was more what I needed. I don't like to focus on the emotions. Dad calmed me just by working through the details of severance and unemployment and vacation pay to figure out exactly how the near future is going to work. I need to think these things through.

I stopped at Target on my way home. I'm hoping to bike to as many Twins games as possible, and as such, I need a bike lock. I also got some food I need, but it's weird having to consider all the little things.

I got home in time to watch the Twins game (I really need to decide about cable. I mean, on one hand, I should save money; on the other hand, I have time to watch baseball games).

I started to read some of the books--or at least looked through them. I'm starting with one of the career books. It's important to consider what direction I want to go in before writing my resume, or searching for a job. I also read some of The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks, which was one of my Target impulse books from the days of yore. I also read my Bible.

This evening there was church, and upon my return, I continued my stenciling in my bedroom (I started it probably a month ago, and got back to it again last night). I now have two walls done, which is exciting. I'm not sure it's quite the effect I'm looking for, but I'm waiting until I'm done to make my final judgment. There were some funny and interesting moments. For one, I was stencilnig above my bed. To do high on the walls, I was precariously perched on the edge of my waterbed, holding a container of paint in one hand. Nothing spilled! Later, both of my cats came by. Boof actually walked right up to the head of the bed where I was stenciling, and laid down by me. As I moved closer to start painting, he moved, fortunately! I don't think paint would be an ideal situation. I really wished I had my camera there for that moment, though!

Tomorrow will bring me to a Twins game (having season tickets already paid for means I can go without guilt. Even better, some of my tickets for next week sold, so I'll have money in my season ticket account for next year!).

Next week, I need to focus on cleaning, because I'll be having ministers for lunch on Thursday. Normally, I'd take them out to eat--my house doesn't have a dining room, so I don't have a dining room table (sadly, that purchase is being delayed). I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do, but at least the place should be cleaned!

This is where it starts...

Getting laid off is a weird experience. I've never been laid off before. For the last nearly 12 years, I had worked at the same company--sorta. It became a joke among my friends of "what's your company's name today?" I had the same boss for all the years. She started a couple of months before me. Yesterday, both of us were laid off.

In my need to immediately get information--I'm the type that needs to get information--one piece of information I saw was to keep busy. I realized that I often wished I had more time to do things. Job searches don't take 40 hours a week--time I would've spent at work. I need to do some things to fill that time. Rather than wasting away this gift of time, I want to get things done. I'm going to use this blog keep an update of what I do each day.

Hopefully in a couple of months, I shall be employed again, and have a lot of little things done around the house, and learned some new skills an improved my other talents.

Here's to successful unemployment leading to more successful employment!