Day Sixteen

So, less than four hours of sleep makes for a long day.

I got up early, as usual, to check on Maddie.  She was doing fine, and kept sleeping.  I then went to Menard's and got some buckets and a tarp to put rocks in.  I then went to Ridgedale to go to the Apple Store, but it was an hour before the mall opened.  I went home and did some more research, and still only found cases slightly different than mine, but not mine exactly.  I finally broke down and arranged an appointment for the Apple Store.

When I got to the Apple Store and finally met with the Genius I was assigned to, I explained to him my problem.  He was baffled. He had never heard of anything like that before.  He said really the only option was a restore.  Drat.  I let him do that.  He said it would take 5-10 minutes.  Fifteen minutes later, he came back that it wouldn't even boot up after restore. Um.  Not good.  He talked about options, but I pointed out I was unemployed.  You can apparently get a free iPhone 4 (which is my version) with a new contract, but I'd rather not do that.  In an ideal world in another year I'll upgrade phones again.  We'll see how life decides to treat me, though.

I came home, and while my iPhone synched up with my last backup (not quite two months ago...so I lost all pictures and data between now and then), I went out and mowed my lawn--both my front and back lawn!  I also worked briefly on the contract project, because my contact said she was having a problem with it.  Sigh.

After that, I went to Dawn and Nick's, and got a bunch of rocks from their garden.  I barely made a dent in it, but that was really all my car could handle.  I kinda wanna rent/borrow a truck to do this work, but I don't know anyone who's free during the day that owns a truck I could borrow.  Stupid Big Brother moving to IA. :P

I went over to visit the dog again, came home and ate supper, and played around with a few settings I'm having issues with, and then went to visit the dog again.  The road construction on that street is really interesting stuff, but I'll be kinda glad to not have to deal with it anymore!

Day Fifteen

Well, it was an interesting day, which the saga continuing to Thursday...

My day started early heading to Daniel and Amanda's to check on the dog.  When I came home, I intended to stay awake, but instead too a nap.  Ooops.  Not long after I woke up, I finally decided to pick up the page protectors that the kitties were so interested in that had fallen on the floor.  At first, I thought Oliver peed there, but I didn't actually smell it.  Eventually I figured out that it was not Oliver, but the liquid was coming from the fridge itself. Upon opening the fridge, I realized that I hadn't put the thawing chicken in a bowl or on a plate...and it was leaking all over the fridge.  I then started to put together the recipe for the chicken in the crock pot.  It wouldn't be done until later at night, but I knew I could deal.  (It smelled good all day!) 

I went out for a bike ride.  I saw a mother who was riding next to her young child on a bike, and she was pulling two toddlers in the trailer behind the bike. Impressive.  Just as impressive was the father with the two kids (on bikes with training wheels).  He was riding his bike, despite a broken arm. But my favorite part was a mother duck walking with her three little ducklings, all chattering away.  She was in a fenced in area of the bike path, so she was just walking along the edge.  It was cute.

I got back in time to head to visit the dog again, and let her out.  On my way home, I stopped at Target for some baskets to put in my fridge.  I bought some onesies to make Dawn&Nick and Hank&Rebecca some cute onesies. I need to get those done!  Wet cat food was on sale, so I stocked up a little bit. It wasn't a huge deal, so not a huge stock-up, but enough to get me through away, as well as some cat treats.  Since Boof insists on treats when I have cereal in the morning, I need more cat treats in summer (in winter I have oatmeal, so it's less of a temptation).

I got home with enough time to make sure I was appropriately dressed for church, and went there. 

When I got home, I cleaned out my fridge, which was less fun than it sounds.  (Drat.  I just remembered I still haven't washed the drawers out!)  I haven't really cleaned out the fridge for a while, so there was a a lot of stuff that just needed to go, so it was a good thing.

The unfortunate drama was that my phone refused to restart after updating some apps--not updating the phone but some apps!  It was doing some weird stuff that I couldn't find on the internet.  I was sure it would need to be restored, but I didn't want to do that, because it had been a while since I updated apps again!  GRR!  After trying countless things, I finally gave up and went to bed WAY too late. 

Day Fourteen

Tuesday, I went to an all-day training at the Workforce Center for Strengths Based skills.  It was much better than I expected, but I think the best part was that the entire class 11 were women who were laid off from Supervalu--all different levels!  I got to meet people I didn't know very well, and those I didn't even know worked there at all.  It was fun and interesting to learn different things about myself, because there were skills I wasn't even aware I had.  If I play my cards right, I can get these skills into my resume, and it will help me find a job I love.  After I got home and ate supper, I bummed around for a bit, before taking a walk during the Twins game.  I had to shorten my walk so I could get home before dark so I could go check on Maddie before dark.

Now that I'm caught up, I hope I can keep caught up!

Day Thirteen

I had to get up early to check on Maddie (this will be a theme!).  I came home to take a nap (again, a theme!).  When I woke up, I worked on my resume briefly, and then worked on my contract work for a few hours until supper time.  After supper, I went for a bike ride that that had a brief stop at Bobbi's, because she made mud bars that were positively yummy.  (She's a good baker!)  The bike ride was probably an hour and a half in total, because of the stop, but nice.  I went around Cedar Lake the opposite way than normal, and it was just fine that way.  I might like it better, in fact, because I'm going slightly downhill on the North Cedar Lake trail, and that's my nemesis, so it was slightly easier than normal.  I know it means I'm going uphill another part of the trail, but it's around the lake, and I don't notice it as much.  I like biking around the lake!  In the evening, I checked on Maddie again.

Days Eleven and Twelve

Saturday was a very busy day.  I got up to a lazy morning.  I went to a greenhouse to pick up a plant for my parents' 40th anniversary (which was Sunday).  I am so saddened by the fact that I am unemployed and couldn't make it more special for them--paying for a nice dinner, having a party, etc.  So I did what I could.  I bought them a red and white variegated petunia, because it's as close as I could find to ruby (the 40th anniversary) that could take full sun.  Dad's colorblind, so any reddish plant I got him would look bright red, anyway!  I wanted a hanging basket because I noticed when I was there last week that they didn't have any hanging baskets on the hooks in front of their house!

While I was driving out to my parents to drop off the plant, I got a call from Amanda.  I had promised to dog-sit, so she asked if I could come over and meet the dog.  So, I arranged to go there after going to my parents.  I stayed at my parents' long enough for my dad to get home from work (he works nights).

I got to Amanda's, and her husband and girls were gone fishing (I assume so she could have peace and quiet to pack.  The youngest was supposed to be napping, but we heard him singing in his bedroom).  I had never met Maddie before, but she was fine.  She's a 13-year-old dog who's deaf with a heart murmur.  She is a whippet, which is about as low-maintenance of a dog as you can get without getting a cat!

Then I went to the gathering at Bobbi's.  Karen and I were there and we watched the Twins game.  Phil showed up briefly, and Darcy showed up later in the evening.  We had a good time playing with her kitten, with a few hisses from her oldest cat, Jesse, and a few brief appearances from her shy cat, Jimmy.

Sunday I don't recall too much.  I know I got up early to check on Maddie, then went to church. OH!  The power was out for two hours on Sunday, so I napped through it.  I couldn't eat until it came back on, so I just slept.  Then I went to check on Maddie, went to church in the evening, and then went to check on Maddie again.

Day Ten

Well, last Friday was a bit weak on the work effort. 

I was invited to lunch with my aunt and two older ladies from church.  It was a lovely lunch, because they are all such lovely ladies.  It's sad, because there's another lady at church who is now in a nursing home.  She seems to be having memory issues, and doesn't really have any family to care for her.  (She is divorced, but is apparently estranged from all of her children. None of us knows why, and frankly, it's none of our business.  Someone with greater knowledge of the situation has made reference to that she's not completely innocent of the events.  But it's still sad.)

Alas, when I came home, I had a headache, and ended up sleeping away a lot of the afternoon.

Day Nine

I'm starting to get annoyed with myself for not doing what I should be doing.  At least I'm doing a little bit.

I did go for a 12+ mile bike ride today.  I caught up on one of my video podcasts (Suze Orman Show).  So, it's not like I did *nothing*, it's just that I didn't do what I was supposed to do.  And then Bobbi invited me over for supper (I had been dying for pizza and brownies all day and she was going to order pizza and brownies!) and to watch the Twins game.  Plus I got to spend time with a little kitten!

So, yeah.  And tomorrow I was invited out to lunch with some older ladies from church.  I think I'll go.  I'll have to remember to call Gwen in the morning and tell her I'm coming.

Day Eight

Okay, today I accomplished nothing.  Or as close to nothing as I could get without accomplishing nothing... 

I did get out of bed earlier than normal, because I had to be out to my parents' place by 11.  We went to lunch with my sister and my mom's friend Heide (who is the mother of one of my high school friends).  It was a new cafe that opened.  Service was a little slow.  My mom's sandwich was great.  I had tuna, and it was meh.  The warmed the sandwich after they put lettuce on, so that was a downfall.  Warm lettuce just isn't good.

I hung out at my parents' for a little while after lunch, then drove over to my brother's.  I babysat my three nephews while my brother and sister-in-law went somewhere.  The oldest is definitely maturing (and getting ADD medication probably helped).  He spent a lot of time working on art projects, which was fun.  The younger one mopped the floor with the Swiffer (the older one demanded his turn, too!).  The youngest has started crawling, which means there has to be a lot more careful watching of him.  They don't have a gate on the stairs (they did, but apparently the oldest one was swinging on it and broke it off), so it does require close attention!  He's pretty good-natured, although he stubbornly insisted that he wanted to play with the real Legos, and not the Duplos.  While Jaydon played with Legos, I had a challenge keeping Michael out of them. 

I ate supper with the family.  Not long after supper, the power went out, which made things interesting.  I think it was the first power outage the boys really experienced, because they were annoyed when their movie went off!

I then headed to Bobbi's to take care of her cats.  Two of her cats are on a raw-food diet.  The other is not because raw food makes him sick.  He would like to be on a raw food diet, so there's a bit of watching.  That wasn't the problem.  The problem was the youngest--a mere kitten--gobbled down her food, and then wanted to eat the middle cat's food.  They get the same amount, so it's not like she didn't get enough--or I would hope not!!

I had to hurry to church.  I was going to be later than I wanted, but not too late, when there was a stoplight out on a busy road.  It took a long time for cars to get through, because stoplights that are out essentially turn into four-way stops, but when there are multiple lanes, it's sometimes hard to keep track of whose turn it is.  I made it just before it started, but just.  I wasn't the last one in, either.   

And that was pretty much my day.  Not really enough time to do anything...but a busy day nonetheless.

Day 7

Well, on the plus side I had a few more accomplishments today.  I think the biggest one is that I managed to get a bike ride in despite the fact that it was supposed to rain all day (it didn't).  I only went a little less than 10 miles, though, which was enough after yesterday.  Tomorrow I'll have to try to get some walking in, because it would be good exercise for me, but we'll see how that goes.

I managed to work 3.25 hours on my contract programming project.  As per the norm, I managed to fix one problem and break something else.  I'd keep working on it, but I really need to get to bed tonight, so I'm stopping.  Plus, that's longer than I have scheduled for each day anyway.

I did get my compost taken out, as well as the full soil bags out to the garage.  The empty bags (as well as the empty cat food bags) went out to the garbage can.  It wasn't nearly as much as I wanted to get accomplished today, but at least it was something.

I did a little bit of reading in Jon Acuff's book "Quitter."  I don't think that's necessarily the book for me in my situation--since the focus is getting you started on your dream job so you can quit your drudgery job, but since I don't have a drudgery job, perhaps I can just move on to my dream job.  We shall see. 

I also worked briefly on my skills-based resume, but it's a bit more of a challenge.  I'm so bad about identifying my skills.  I don't want my resume to be a list of things I hate doing.  I want it to guide me to doing things I love, so it needs to focus on my skills that bring me to the things I love, and convey that to employers so I can move on to my dream job.  I need to figure out what my dream job is!

Day Six

Today was a wasted day.  After all my time spent on making a schedule last Friday, I just couldn't follow it.  I don't know why.  I slept in until about noon.  I allowed myself this only because I was so tired all weekend. 

I DID go for a 12+ mile bike ride, which was fun.  It was a different area than I normally go, so that made it somewhat more interesting.  I ended up down by Supervalu warehouse (where Rachel works) and Cargill offices (where Markie P. works), so I waved at them as I went by.  I got to cross the Minnehaha Creek twice, and I enjoyed that.  Someday, I'd like to canoe down that creek. With someone who knows it, though, because I fully intend on being out of the water by the Minnehaha falls!

I listened to another Nerdist Podcast--I'm woefully behind on those!  I also unstacked and re-stacked my dishwasher and ran it again.  Tomorrow I intend to wash dishes, which includes taking the compost out!  I also need to wash towels.  I digress.

I also moved around potting soil.  I had three almost empty small bags that had zip closures on them, and then a 2/3 empty large bag with no closer.  I moved all the soil into two of the zip closure bags.  It sounds like a small thing, and it was, but it needed to be done!

I also went and got more dry cat food, because the cats were almost out.  I mixed the two kinds (one was name-brand for Mature cats--it occurs to me in a couple of years, I will only need mature cat food, because Radke will hit the 7 years old mark... :sniff:--and the other was the store brand hairball/weight loss cat food).  I really liked the new name brand stuff, but it's expensive.  I only bought it because I had a $5 off coupon, and with the in-store discount, it came closer to the price of the generic stuff.  Still more expensive, but definitely a better quality.  I really want to get a job where I can make more money so I can feed the babies grain-free cat food.  It's probably better for them.  But for now, I'll do what I can and just keep them fed.  With a little wet cat food to supplement their dry food.

Which means tomorrow I have to get more serious about following my schedule.  I need to work on that job search stuff!!

Days Four and Five

I initially wasn't sure if I should count weekends in my countdown, but the difference between a weekend and a weekday is a bit vague these days.  Sooo.

Saturday:
I woke up, got dressed, biked to the Twins game.  There was rain during the game, and while normally our seats are protected from the rain, the wind was blowing such that we were getting wet.  However, there was no point leaving and going home because we were at least slightly protected from the rain at the stadium, and by biking, we wouldn't have any.  Fortunately, we stayed, and got to watch a dramatic finish to the game!  Unfortunately, I had to quit keeping score because it was raining.

In the evening we went to Darcy and Phil's to celebrate Phil's birthday.  It was low-key, as it was only Bobbi, Mike, Darcy, Phil, and I.  And Bobbi and I were tired all day.  But nonetheless it was fun and a good time. 

Sunday I went out to lunch with Mom and Dad after church, and then hung out there all afternoon.  I dozed, pretty much.  It was a lazy day in general.  I pretty much accomplished nothing all day.

Day Three

I forgot to post last night.  I slept very poorly Thursday night, so I tried to take a few naps Friday, but it just wasn't happening.  I was tired, but was tired enough to fall asleep.  Annoying.  Anyway...

I finished reading Jonathan Acuff's Start book.  I did really enjoy it.  I like his writing style, and some of the stuff is the stuff I needed to hear. 

I worked for an hour and a half on my contract work for my first employer (they called me about a year and a half after I was laid off and asked if I'd help with some projects.  Apparently my former boss had been doing contract work for them, but I think she had a new job and didn't want to try to do both. I had just been hired on at most recent job, but I wasn't about to turn down extra money). 

I also made a game plan for next week.  A schedule, you could say.  There are certain tasks that I need to spend more time on, and by putting it on the calendar, it will help me actually do it.

I also took a long walk--almost 4 miles.  My normal walking path goes by a pond.  There is a path around the pond, but I have never had time/energy enough to go around it.  It's an awesome path, so hopefully that mile extra can be incorporated into the walk.  I really enjoyed the fact that I saw Indian (or mid-east/Southern Asia) men playing volleyball.  A bunch of kids were just finishing up lacrosse practice, and a smaller, less maintained ball field had some kids playing baseball (with the help of fathers), and there were some people playing frisbee.  And lots of people (and dogs) out for a walk.  It was a gorgeous night, and we weren't going to miss it.  I just love seeing people enjoying the great outdoors.  I've never been one for playing sports, but I enjoy watching them!

Day Two

I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I wanted to today.  On the other hand, I did deposit my check from my previous employer that paid out my vacation time.  Had I known it was coming this soon, I would've waited to send in my paycheck.  Such is life, I guess.

I took a nearly nine mile bike ride (8.99, if I recall).  It should've/could've been a lot shorter, but I decided to go straight where I usually turn.  Tomorrow I plan on taking a walk, but I'm not quite sure where.  I might walk around the neighborhood sidewalks in my usual walking path--although walk AROUND the pond this time!--but I'm also thinking it could be fun to walk to the bike/walking paths and walk around the lake.  The walking path goes closer to the lake than the walking path, so it would be slightly different for part of the walk.  Maybe I'll wait until next week and I'll bike to the lake, lock up my bike, and walk around the lake.  Hmm.  There's possibility to that.  I'm walking tomorrow to give my biking muscles a rest, since I know I'll be biking 10 miles on Saturday.

Bobbi called and asked if I wanted to go to CostCo.  When I was clothes shopping (for my interview) with Karen, we went to CostCo, and I noticed they sold coconut oil.  I've heard of it being used in a lot of natural products, so I wanted to try it.  Plus, with my sensitive skin, I'm hoping I can use it straight-out as a lotion. The jar is HUGE, so I put a small amount in a clean food container, and we'll see.  So far, it seems to work, but my skin feels greasier than normal.  Then again, my skin is normally so dry, this might just be normal.  I'll try it for a while and find out.  Rumor has it that it's naturally anti-bacterial, so we'll see if that changes anything.

This evening I went to the Twins game with Rachel.  I had a good time with her.  I miss hanging out with her at the office.  I feel very lucky to have such good friends.

Tomorrow I need to do more.  A lot more.  I NEED to get my skills-based resume done.  It just feels so overwhelming right now.  I need to vacuum my living room rug so I can fold clothes.  I may have overbooked my day tomorrow.  Then again, the folding clothes can be done during the Twins game tomorrow evening, so I can effectively use that time.  Oh, I also should get a birthday card for Phil.  And a small present if I can think of something to get him...

Day One

Well, today was my first official day of unemployment.  Even though I turned my laptop, etc., in last Thursday, it's still a weird feeling for me.  When I worked from home, as the days waned and I had less to do, I would do things like wash dishes.  But even as I washed dishes, I was well aware of my laptop sitting there, logged onto work.  So I'd check in for e-mails.  I'd make sure I didn't get a telephone call.  I was always aware of the work world.  Now...I can wash dishes and immediately go sort laundry--without stopping in to check a laptop.  Which brings us to today.

Today I got a later than anticipated start.  My Windows computer needed to be restarted because it was freezing up and locking.  I have to remember that my Windows laptop requires more work than my Apple laptop.  My Apple laptop rarely needs restarting; apparently this one needs more frequent restarting.  After taking care of that, eating breakfast, and things of that nature, I recalled it was supposed to rain and storm this afternoon, so I quickly got on my bike and went for a 10-mile ride.  I'm not going to deny that 10 miles is far, but on a bike, 10 miles isn't nearly as far as 3 miles on foot--which sounds like it doesn't make any sense, but there you have it. 

I got home, and the sky was looking a little dark, so I quickly re-mowed my front lawn.  It didn't look well from the mowing that I did late last week.  I now know that in the springtime, using the bagger on the mower just doesn't work.  It causes the lawn to be shaggy because the juicier grass doesn't fly into the back properly, so it's clogging up the bottom of the mower, and the lawn looks shaggy.  I had only done a few rows before taking the bag off and putting the spout on.  Therefore, I also had to rake before I could call it done.  I probably should've done my back yard, but no one sees my back yard and I wasn't sure if my battery would last long enough to do all of it.  When it stops raining again, I'll have to take care of that.

This afternoon I read further into Start, by Jonathan Acuff.  It's a good book, and I'm enjoying it.  (But, honestly, I would recommend the book even to non-readers, just for the awesome texture of the book jacket.  Yes, I am that weird to fall in love with a book jacket cover texture.  No apologies.)

Tomorrow I hope to take another long bike ride, and clean my living room.  This will also involve folding clothes, which has needed to be done for a week now.  Oops. 

I really need to get to work on writing a skills-based resume.  I'm feeling at a loss at the moment, so I need to just sit down and work on it. The first draft won't be perfect.  It might not be any good.  But it will be a launching pad.  And I need launching right now.

Here we got again...

So, I finally was employed again, but 20.5 months later, I'll be facing unemployment again.  I'm sad I didn't keep up my blog during my last period of unemployment, and I plan to do better this time.  I feel like I wasted a lot of time.

My goal is to do a "Thing-a-Day."  It's not completing a project, but making positive progress towards some goal--either job related, hobby related, or learning something new.

My unemployment doesn't officially start until May 28, but now that my work has wound to an end of sorts, I can start working on things now.