Adventures in Unemployment

I wish I was as invested in my own stuff as much as I am invested in other people’s stuff. You’re looking for a job? Cool, here are the 83 links I found useful during my most recent job search, and 12 connections that might be able to help. You’re thinking about buying a house? Great news, I know about these two banks that each have 9 different programs and grants to help you buy the house you want. Plus, I set up a search for houses in your area. Want to take a trip? Here are your options by train, plane, and car. I also found the best restaurants for when you get there, and this would be the hotel I’d stay in. Note - this is barely an exaggeration. But my dishes didn’t get done today? There is laundry in the dryer? I skipped the gym? Again? Oh well. It’s like I need the external pressure, to know someone is relying on it. Ok, that’s not even quite right. The people in the examples above didn’t even ask for help, I just jumped in, uninvited. Maybe my brain wants the dopamine from some...

It is possible this question won’t resonate with anyone, but does anyone else struggle when you get thrown off course? Maybe it’s just me, but if I get thrown off course, it takes a while to make it back. I have no sense of routine on the weekends right now. I couldn’t tell you how I’ve been spending my evenings. I haven’t cooked or made a dinner in… weeks? I’m supposed to be telling you about my running, but at least than one is easy: there has been no progress. I actually don’t remember the last time I ate a fruit or vegetable, and I do think my body is rebelling over it. I don’t really know what caused this. I know I had that pulled muscle in my neck a few weeks ago, and it’s possible that did it. My husband and I had tried to pick up Weight Watchers (again) to try and keep ourselves moving in a direction of incorporating new foods, but we managed to do it for 2 weeks until I didn’t plan a week for us after I took that wine weekend away about a month ago. The heat is back, and I kee...

This is supposed to be about my journey to train for the 5k > 8k > half marathon, right? The thing that I'm finding, though, is that on the days when I go for a run, I have nothing to talk about. I mean, do you want to hear about how I can't breathe halfway through and sweat starts running down my back and I can't wear my sunglasses because the sweat on my face gets on the sunglasses and they get too greasy to see through? I didn't think so. What I can talk about today is how life with dogs is never boring. Last night, I met a new friend because of them. She has seen them as I walk by, and last night she was in her garden when we were going past her house. She saw me and goes CAN I PET THEM??? Girl, who am I to deny something that is so exciting? So the girls got pets, and I heard about her cat and saw her backyard garden. Like I said, new friend. But tonight, things couldn't possibly be as sweet and innocent. Instead, it took us 15 minutes to go half a mile b...

I am not made for the summer. I mean, sure, I love a day in the sun, drink in my hand and toes in the water, like anyone else, but long term? I’m sweating just thinking about it. You probably knew this, though, by the everything about me. The translucent skin, extensive hoodie collection, and living in some of the snowiest cities in the country should have tipped you off, but it doesn’t end there. I don’t do summer foods. I want a casserole and soup and cheeses and starches, like my Irish ancestors intended. Instead, the summer presents me with sub trays filled with raw onions and wet tomatoes to put on sandwiches with deli meat I don’t want and condiments I won’t eat. I won’t touch mayonnaise, but oh, you suddenly think it’s appetizing in a potato salad? And don’t come at me with your suggestions of a nice light salad. You just heard my opinions on the onions and tomatoes, and I have only come to appreciate certain salad dressings in the past few years. The best part of a salad is the...

Over the weekend, I pulled a muscle. You might be asking, "How did that happen, Stephanie? Training too hard?" How I wish I could sound that cool. Instead, I was at my sewing class and needed to pee post-lunch. You can already tell this won't make me sound cool. At all. It's like breaking my wrist all over again. Anyway, I had worn one of those athletic dresses that have been really popular in the past couple of years with a t-shirt over it. I was trying to look fashionable, and I'm not sure I accomplished it, but anyway. That's what I was wearing. This is important because as I was taking my t-shirt off so I could take my dress off (since these dresses have those little shorts pieces), my neck tweaked. I am only 38. I am doing my best to be healthy. I was out being social AND enjoying a hobby. And my neck just... I don't know, decided it didn't care to participate in the day any longer? I bravely toughed out the rest of my absolute beginner sewing cla...

I just got back from my walk with the dogs, our second of the day, and I have no desire to do yoga today. Some of the hippiest of yogis would say “that is the time you need yoga the most,” and if someone said that to me, the only thing being exercised that day is my patience. I’ll probably force myself into a short routine before bed, but I kind of just want to… exist horizontally on the couch right now. I am being more active, though. I had reached my weekly cardio goal (according to Fitbit) by Wednesday, and my average daily step count is 1700 steps over last week. I’m not saying this to make excuses, but instead to remind myself that training for the 5k —> 8k —> half marathon is already having one of its intended effects: more movement. And if that movement doesn’t include yoga tonight? Oh well. I also have a pretty busy weekend, at least for me. I’ve got an appointment early tomorrow morning, taking a 6 hour sewing class tomorrow afternoon, and then going to Shea’s on Sunday ...

Here is the deal: I have started and restarted today’s post about 4 times now, and everything I have to say sounds really dumb. Now, that has certainly never stopped me before, considering there are 120 posts before this one to prove it, but I have nothing to say. This is hyperbolic, of course. I literally always have something to say, and that is not hyperbole. But I have nothing of substance right now. My opinion on The Pioneer Woman versus Barefoot Contessa? That I’m already behind in my running? That cinnamon swirl french toast with full fat vanilla greek yogurt is delicious? As you can see, nothing of consequence. So maybe I’ll hop off here and do a deep dive into my newly borrowed Ina Garten cookbooks, and wonder if I need to invite the librarians who helped me get them all.

I know, it seems too early for a rest day, but my body did not seem to be open to negotiations. I went from truly no exercise (or very little) to 1-2 dogs walks/day, and then a swim —> run (ish) —> strength day, and the struggle to get up today was real. The snooze button got a workout this morning instead of me. Plus, my stomach has felt weird all day. I assume it is something I ate, but ya know what? I don’t need to test it with a run tonight. But I am feeling a little guilty about hanging out on the couch with the dogs. Don’t get me wrong, they seem fine about it. I have one next to my head, and one between my feet, so they have settled in and are relaxing now that they have protected the house from my boss and some of my husband’s friends. What I’m saying, though, is that the weather is gorgeous, so I should be outside, right? In places where we start bargaining with the winter to give us just a single day without snow in January, it feels like a crime to spend a sunny day in...

Friends, our favorite season has returned. The old ladies are back. If you’re one of the 3 avid readers of this blog, you know that they never truly go away. In fact, when I got my job, my bestie Pat called me to congratulate me and cry because she was so worried about me being out of a job, so they’re sort of omnipresent. But the summer is their season. I got back from the gym tonight (yes, I made it) and after 3 seconds on the couch, I decided to take the dogs for a walk in this gorgeous weather before I got too comfortable. And 6 houses down, I saw my favorite sight: a group of chairs on Pat’s patio. I cut through Kathy’s and Mary’s yards, which is a perk of living in a neighborhood that I never got to experience as a kid, and made a beeline for the group. They start waving to me before I can even hear them, and when I get in earshot, I am not expecting what they say to me. “We just finished a bubblegum blowing contest!” I want to be just like them when I grow up.