The last few days have been super awesome!

LeAnne
Yesterday I met my very best friend LeAnne down town for dinner and just to catch up. LeAnne was my maid of honor in my wedding over two years ago. Both LeAnne and I have been so busy that we haven’t had the opportunity to catch up and see each other since the wedding. It’s sort of funny that we haven’t actually seen each other for two years. I guess for some people that’s a big deal but for us when we call or see each other it’s like the time just flies by and it’s like we were just at WSU going to graduate school. Last night we had a blast and ate at Fernando’s, had some drinks and talked about all sorts of things. it’s so awesome when we get together. We always have so many things to talk about and share. It’s sort of funny how alike we are an how different we are. What was cool last night too was that LeAnne did a reading which, I’d never had done before. I really liked it because it really reaffirmed the things I’ve been thinking and doing lately. I appreciate LeAnne so much. I probably don’t tell her enough. After the reading LeAnne did some reflexology too and my feet and back started to really feel good. I’m going to have to really plan a trip soon to Bellingham and have her do the whole reflexology steps.

Yoga
I’ve been thinking about going to yoga classes at the gym but haven’t done it until today. I did it because I’ve been thinking about it and also because of things LeAnne and I talked about last night. It’s funny. I thought yoga would be easy, I mean it’s all about just stretching right? Wrong! Our teacher this morning was great. She knew I hadn’t been there before so she did a good job of explaining which I totally appreciated. I had always thought yoga would be fun and really easy. Well after an hour today I still think it’s good but it’s not easy. I realized just how old and stiff I am. I think yoga is a good thing for me because it makes me slow down and really get in-tune with myself. It makes me be reflective and I really think it gives me the opportunity to really take care of myself. I think too often I’m so busy trying to get things done, whether for work or home or someone else that I don’t take the time for myself. I’m hoping I’ll get in the habit of going three mornings a week, at least until I get a job and have to work, then I might have to just go twice a week in the evening. Who knows.

Jobs
So I’ve been applying for job for only about the last week and a half and wow, I can’t believe how many phone interviews I’ve had and now I’m on to in person interviews too. It’s very reaffirming to know I have skills or as my mom told me, “that’s great that Intel gave you the skills so you can find a better job, isn’t that nice of them.” Well, it is nice of them. I’m excited that places like Nike, Yahoo, Google and more are calling me and wanting interviews. How cool would it be to have several options to choose from.

I’m also finally going to get my business license and do web sites and things. I’m finally doing it because I’ve got a couple irons in the fire and could do some of that work and want to be legal. I don’t really intend to make it full time but it will be a nice little bit of money and the opportunity to be creative. The winery that Eric works at wants me to update their site in a few months and then Josh called and emailed me and the paper he works at wants their site redone and better response time. SO I’ll have some pretty cool projects to work on in my spare time. I’m pretty excited about it.

Outlook on Life
People keep wondering and some are worrying about me. I think it’s because different people handle being laid off differently and those that are friends and family aren’t sure how or what to say. Well let me tell you. Being laid off was a little upsetting, like the first 24 hours, but after about a day I felt so much better about it. I feel really, really good about it all. I do believe that everything happens for a reason and that there are better things out there for me yet to come. I almost feel like a little bit of an awakening occurring. What do I mean by that? Well, I’m feeling more healthy and have a lot more energy. I feel a lot more in touch with myself. I’m getting fun projects done that I’ve been wanting to do and don’t have the pressure that I HAVE to do them. I feel a huge weight has been lifted and it feels really nice. I suppose I should be a little “freaked out” and worried but for some reason I’m not. SO for those of you worried or wondering, know I’m doing great, feeling great and looking forward to a new adventure.

I realized that it’s been a few days since I’ve blogged and figured I needed to. So the BIG NEWS… I find out on Monday if I still have a job or if I get laid off. I’m sort of trying not to think about it but then every day gets a little slower and it’s all I can think about. Work is getting harder and harder to do and I’m less and less motivated right now. I feel like once I get the green light on Monday (I hope I do) then I can forget all this garbage and get to work. If I get the red light and am “shown the door” then Eric and I have some decisions to make. OK, like I haven’t said it enough but I hate this.

In other news, I’ve been taking my allergy meds and trying to keep things cleaner around the house and more specifically in our room. It’s going OK, I think, but the Zyrtec makes me tired and every day about 2-3 pm I hit a wall and just want a couple hours sleep. It’s getting to the point that it’s annoying and so I think it’s another trip to the allergist for new drugs or, what I’m guessing is the beginning of allergy shots. Yeah! (insert sarcasm) I hate shots.. I mean I REALLY REALLY hate shots.

Eric is doing well. he got a promotion at work and a raise so that’s pretty cool. I’m really proud of him. He works for some great people. He hyper extended his knee last week playing basketball and he’s been icing it and trying to get it OK but yesterday it got swollen again so he’s going to try and get into the Dr. I’m hoping it’s just a sprain or something and he just needs to rest it or something. He loves basketball too much to have to give it up.

Things are looking up! I’ve been down in the dumps lately due to a lot of things but I think I’ve turned the corner, so to speak.

First, I’ve elected to stay at the company I work for. There are many reasons to consider leaving but truth be told you never know if the grass is really greener on the other side. I’m inclined to stay here and work through this downsizing. I have invested many years in this company and don’t think I should give up so soon. I would hate to “cut my nose to spite my face”. I’m just going to work like crazy and get the work done, meet my commits and do the best job I can.

Second, I’m tapping into my creativity again. I’ve sort of be on again, off again with scrapbooking, Right now I’m sort of off again but I’ve found something equally creative and rewarding….. sewing. I’m just about done with my good friends wedding dress. Just a little hand stitching and it’s done, pictures to come soon. I’ve been making a few simple quilts for people at work that are going to have babies soon. I finished one last week and handed it off to the recipient. It was nice when they said thanks and that I’d inspired them to make their daughters room bunnies (note the fabric I used was bunnies). I’m working on another one, this one for my boss. I’m making another quilt that got 12 of the cars from the movie CARS. I think it’s going to look pretty cool. It will be the first time I do appliqué but I’m pretty sure it’s going to look fantastic. I can’t wait to give it to Ethan for his birthday/Christmas gift.

Third, I’m trying to read more. I love reading and just don’t take enough time for it. I’m making myself take the time to read. Right now I’m making my way through “The Tipping Point”. I haven’t read much of it yet but I really like it. I love reading these sorts of books. I find them very insightful and inspiring. I wish I could remember them really well after I’ve read them. I’m thinking that I need to include in my blogs my thoughts and comments about books I read; not for anyone else but for me to review later.

Fourth, I’m going to bake more. I love baking and cooking pastries, desserts and things, I just don’t do it enough. I’m going to do more but make things a little different. Like I love chocolate chip cookies, I want to make them the healthiest, but still wonderful as possible then I won’t feel so guilty when I have one.

Fifth, I’m going to get myself to the gym 5 days a week and get this weight off. If I just take the time to make me a priority I can do it. So we’ll see how that goes. I feel great after working out but it’s the getting there that I can make a million reasons not to go. I just need to. I would feel so great if I could loose about 20-30lbs before the end of the year.

So for those of you that may have been a little worried, don’t. I’m doing well, refreshed and working my way to feeling great!

It’s been a while since I’ve last posted and to be honest it’s because I feel torn in many directions right now and some days I’m not sure what end is up. I’ve put my name in the hat for several jobs around Portland. I’m feeling pretty good about the opportunities and new horizons that might open up for me. It’s very empowering to know that the skills I have are sought by other companies and I have some choices. I like all the companies I’ve applied for recently. They’ve all got different opportunities and they’re looking for different things. I do hope one of them works out because I’m ready to go. I’m ready to work for a company that values it’s employees, where relationships matter, where getting the work done, and done well matters. I just want to hear. One of the jobs I’ve interviewed for, another one I got an email and they wanted to see my samples. I was able to direct them to my portfolio but I haven’t heard from them yet, but they just asked yesterday. SO we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

On another note, our garden is going gang buster, we’ve got tomatoes to pick every day. Eric’s got a TON of eggplant and the little seedlings I planed are coming up so we should have some new lettuce and carrots and I don’t know what else. I got all signed up for the scrapbooking convention in November, I can’t wait for that. It will be fun to go with Julie again this year. I love going, it’s like our annual ritual. I’ve also been getting a lot of pages scrapbooked and have realized that much of last years pictures, I didn’t journal the even then so now I’m coming up with something now, which just isn’t as good so I need to get better and journaling for that stuff. Eric is working like crazy this weekend at the winery so I get to do whatever over the weekend. I think I’m going to build a few more eLearning courses so I have them in my “bag of tricks”.

One of the things I get to do for work is to test the beta version of Office 2007. Super cool, or so I thought. To install the 2007 you have to uninstall 2003. Wednesday I uninstalled 2003 from my computer (about 40 minutes of time) and then went to get the 2007 version. Of course when I got to the link within the Intel intranet it wouldn’t load it for me because “I wasn’t part of the community”. SO what could I do. Of course our TAC couldn’t help so I reloaded the Office 2003 so I could do my work. So then I tried again on Thursday, same thing. That’s when I emailed the head of the project and said I’ve uninstalled/reinstalled twice and I’m not going to do it for a third time. Finally another day goes by and she’s fixed it. I spent all of my work day yesterdays loading 2007 on my computer. ARGH!!! Did I really want to beta test? Why do I tell you about this? well because I basically couldn’t use my computer for the day I wok up this morning and felt the pressure of having a million things to do for work and mad that I needed to do it over the weekend. I know, I know you’re thinking, “just don’t do it” but like we all know sometimes that’s not an option. I needed to have some things done for other peole and wasn’t able to and they needed it before Monday morning so Is pent part of the morning today copying and pasting, shooting emails and all sorts of things.

When I was all done I took Baylee to the dog park for a few hours and she loved it. I need to take her there more. On the way home we stopped and she got some ice cream because she had such a great day! I’ve spent a lot of my afternoon trying to get caught up on my scrapbooking. I’m not quite a year behind so that good but I’m wondering if I’m loosing my mojo with scrapbooking. I love scrapbooking but the creative juices just aren’t flowing like they usually do, not sure what’s going on there. SO instead for trying to force myself to get more pages done, I think I’m going to take the dog for a walk, read a little and just chill… man, chilling is really hard for me. We’ll see how the rest of the evening goes.