Adventures in Unemployment

I'm truly not trying to complain here, but I'm at a loss. I wrote a few weeks back about how I'm not good at cooking. I'm good at following a recipe, but not going at things on my own. And I need to get back into some kind of work/food prep/cooking/gym routine, especially to vary my diet so I don't get sick again (which feels more and more tenuous by the day). But before you say "just throw something in the crockpot!" Or since it's cold, "it is a good night for soup!" You should know... My husband does not like soup. Or stew. Or anything with gravy. Or most vegetables, but absolutely not cooked. He doesn't understand casseroles, and any liquid or sauce that comes in them is questionable. He doesn't like ranch (or blue cheese, but neither do I), so any kind of chicken-bacon-ranch situation is out. He doesn't like Asian foods. You read that correctly. The whole continent. He loves potatoes, but don't give him sweet potatoes. He ...

I lived in South Carolina from July 2016 to December 2016. There are a whole host of reasons I didn't stay longer than that, but one thing I will never forget is how freaking how I was all the time. All the time. The whole time. It didn't help that my car air conditioning broke while I was down there (and the car was too old and we were too broke for me to fix it). It didn't help that it was one of the hottest summers on record (at the time), and that in November there were wildfires to our north in Tennessee. I was working at Clemson University while I was there, and the students I worked with were cute. They heard I was from Buffalo, so they all pulled out pictures on their phones of the snow from last winter. It was maybe an inch of the wettest snow (what I affectionately call "snowing slush" around here) that I have ever seen, but there they were, making muddy snow angels and snow-people the height of my dachshund-chihuahua mix. Then I showed them the picture ...

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My husband told me today that people have been asking him if I like the new job, and yes. I do. I like the fact that they trust me to already do work for them. I edited a video and sent out their newsletter. I created a vacation tracker, and have already started to sketch out what onboarding might look like for future hires or agents. It's great! I also figured out where I exist within The Resistance today. I'm part of a liberal group on a particular social media page, and I used a bunch of old posts to put together a list of Blue businesses in my area. I talk a big game about being an activist, but I mostly just contact my representatives and share stats. I try to make sure other people (women especially) feel comfortable talking about their views. But today? Well, now the group has a list of businesses that match their values. Vote with your money, ya know? Anyway, that's it. I'm a little boring today. Ok, that's not true. I'm not boring. I'm just busy upd...

I have forgotten how to get ready for a job. I haven't worked in, what, 155 days? Almost half a year. Plus surgery and recovery before that. So it's been a minute since I've needed to think about what a workday actually looks like. Assuming the weather holds out (although, I'm not expecting miracles given our forecast for the next 48 hours), I'm going into the office tomorrow for some training and onboarding. Most of my week will look like that, but I'm worried that tomorrow will be the most challenging for me. It's going to be hard to get into a rhythm, remember to wake up early enough to shower, eat breakfast and not just grab a granola bar at the kiosk in the office. You know, be an employee. This afternoon, I'm going to make some breakfasts for me - likely overnight oats or chia seed puddings - and see what I can put together for lunch. I was hoping to bring a salad with me, but it might just be a PB&J and some snacks since I don't have any d...

At 4:30 this morning, I could no longer take my husband's snoring. I have to give him a pass on this one. Only this one. He has a cold, and considering I've been sick 3 times in a month, I'm not picking on him for this. But when he snores when he's healthy? Anyway, his snoring made it into the dream I was having, and when I woke up and still heard it, I was properly done. I put on a sweater and shorts, found my glasses and phone, and brought the dogs downstairs with me to the couch. Since I'm their person, if I had left them upstairs in the bedroom, they would have been antsy and my husband would have never gotten back to sleep. I don't know which god I pissed off, but karma decided that at 4:30am, I needed to be fully awake. I bring the dogs downstairs, let them out to pee (I figured I had to pee when I got up, maybe they did, too), and then I had to fight my oldest dog to come back in the house. Her 3% husky was standing in the backyard, staring at me and eati...

Friends, I have some exciting news. I got a job and it starts on Tuesday! It took 149 days from layoff to signed contract for the new job. The longest amount of time I've been out of work since I started working. 0/10 do not recommend. I applied to 82 jobs - I was ghosted by 42, rejected by 35, interviewed for 5 positions, and was finally hired at 1! I will be working as an executive assistant for a small real estate team. I will share some more details as I become more familiar with my position, but they are really nice guys who seem genuine and work hard. I am so excited to see what I can bring to this team, and can't wait to grow into the position. The fact that they were already talking about growth was honestly a huge plus! I already removed Indeed from my phone, and an app from one of the recruiting companies I was in contact with. It's probably the best thing I've done for my mental health in the past 150 days, and I can't wait until I feel ready to remove Li...

Dear diary, Why does my immune system hate me? It literally plagues me. I woke up for the third time in the past month with body aches, chills, and nausea. The provider at urgent care said I have a fever, and that I have whatever virus is this week's "flavor of the week." I hate it. I want a new flavor. What were the fall flavors? I wasn't sick in the fall. Let me have your apple pie and pumpkin spice. Anyway, I asked my doctor for recommendations on how to boost my immune system and stop being sick. It's hard to do this through fruits, veggies, and other "whole foods" when your body has had an upset stomach more often than not lately. Not a lot of nutrients in saltines. I know this was a quick entry, but I'm going to take some pain meds and try to take a nap or something. I'll put Seth Meyers on in the background - his slightly unhinged panic about the times we're living in is oddly comforting. It reminds me that I'm not the only one fee...

I am not a good cook. You know what I am, though? A good recipe follower. This is why I'm a good baker. This is why my HelloFresh meals always taste fine. It's because someone wrote down what to do step-by-step, and my brain went "I can do that." So we did it. For one of the jobs I recently interviewed for, I had to take a personality test. During the interview, with the results in front of them, they said "The results said you're rigid." And yeah, doesn't everyone else feel better when they have a routine? Or when they come into work in the morning and they have a sense of what their day might look like? I told them what I actually like is structure. I like having a starting point. I like knowing the expectations of me. I want to know if this agenda makes sense, and what tasks you expect me to complete. I want to know if I'm making chocolate cookies or brownies. Once I know that, I can play within it. So, back to the matter at hand - dinner. I...

I walked into my hometown, childhood church today, and my god, is it ugly. Despite the fact that I drive the hour to my hometown about once a month, I haven't been in that church for several years. Honestly, it's entirely possible I haven't been in there since my mom passed about 12 years ago now. And whew, have they made some choices. The time around a death is always so dichotomous. It is in no uncertain terms mournful, somber, and emotional. And yet, there is always at least a little bit of relishing in the family and friends gathered around you. It is equal parts laughing at the nicknames each party had (like Munchkin and Aunt Ancy), while tearing up because no one has called you that in two and a half decades. It's admiring the pictures of them, and giggle-snorting at a picture that involves your uncle wearing the shortest soccer shorts that have ever existed. It's being an Uber driver for your aunt that's in from out of town while still not having enough t...

Friends, I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, so knock on all of the wood within arm's reach, because I think we might be close to the end of this unemployment journey. I had two interviews this week, and both went well. I am the top candidate for one of them (as told to me by the recruiter I'm working with), and the other moved up their follow-up by two days next week. It feels good. And it leaves me with a very important question - how will I number my blog from now on?! I joke, as it is my standard coping mechanism, but it has taken a lot to get to this point, and it has taken a lot to figure out which job I might take. I'm hoping that by the middle of next week, I can make an announcement, and change my numbering structure. I think I'm still going to pursue some side "hustles," if you will. I am still probably going to register for my event planning business, study for the notary public exam (their legal document is so boring), and cont...

For no particular reason tonight, I just want to say that prospective employers that I interviewed with this week told me that they were full "Bernie Bros" and that they try to find like-minded customers. In this office, they are progressive. That seems like it is just as important as any other factor when considering employment options right now.

When I was in college, my dad was doing the electrical work at the Byrne Dairy in Brockport, NY. This was not weird. First and foremost, he's an electrician. If he had been a plumber, this would be weird, but he's not. He also worked on plenty of businesses around the area, and I'm fairly certain knew the electrical wiring in the houses of every close family member. What I'm saying is that it was normal for my dad to work on something and for me to experience it later. Ok, I'm going to explain this poorly, but try to follow me. What ended up being weird about this one is that rather than the lights being installed in a normal line on the ceiling, this Byrne Dairy wanted them installed at an angle. Like, picture the first light on the ceiling making a right triangle with the corner, and then all the rest of the lights parallel from that one. Actually, that's a pretty good description because that's exactly what needed to happen. The only problem was that my d...

As I sit on the couch with my saltines, thinking about going into the basement for some ginger ale, it's hard to think about 2026 being "my year." I have a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head right now. I want to take a rapid test to see if I'm positive for the flu (again). Even if I'm not, this sickness has been no joke. I had the audacity to try soup last night, and my stomach was not a fan. I hope I'm not positive so I can keep the job interview I have for tomorrow. I hope I'm feeling better by tomorrow. I want to clean up my intentions and resolutions, to make them prettier and easier to read. But I also want to clean them up so they make more sense, or so that they're easier to know if I've "accomplished" them. Just saying "try new recipes" doesn't really give me an aim. Is that 1? Or is that 365? I withdrew myself from the SEAP I was in for starting my own business. I think I'm still going to start my own bu...

Like, a week and a half before Christmas, I woke up on a Sunday feeling crummy. I think I wrote about it. Well, I had a 3-in-1 test kit for COVID and the flus, and they all came back negative. 4 days later, someone I knew thought they'd come down with COVID, plus a whole bunch of children around me were coming down with Flu A. I took the test. And there it was. Flu... B? Ok, weird, but at least I knew what it was. I got the ok from my doctor to see people that weekend and was on tamiflu, so except some extra naps, I was cruising. The only bummer was needing to reschedule a screening interview. One New Years Eve day (which was onlu 4 days ago?), I had to stop at Wegmans. Not only did I need stuff for dinner that night, I wanted snacks to ring in the new year, and I had to pick up a prescription. While in line at the pharmacy, which was roughly 92 people deep, I made a game time decision to get the flu shot. I had been listening to NPR while driving around and apparently the flu that...

I'm having a hard time picking this blog back up post-holidays. I suspct that's because I also took a break from "work" over the past two weeks. I haven't submitted an application in a while, haven't studied for the notary exam, haven't looked at my own business paperwork, haven't haven't haven't. What I have done recently is clean my house top to bottom a handful of times. I walked the dogs today. I made it to the gym today, I think for the first time since November. I read yesterday and today. I didn't do laundry yesterday, but I did it today. I ate 12 grapes at midnight on New Years. I made chicken parm for New Years, made myself baked brie for dinner last night, and went out tonight for burgers and milkshakes. That's it for now. I don't have much to say, but just trying to get back into some kind of routine Enjoy your weekend!