Well, it’s snowing down here, or rather it was snowing earlier down here. A lot of the schools are closed but they waited until forever before they closed, some until 8:30am. We’ve gotten about 3-4 inches since it started at 4 am this morning. The crazy thing is that they’re requiring chains on Sylvan hill. I have never hear of such a thing. So today it’s just a little slow around here. Eric boss even called and told him to just stay home because they didn’t anticipate anyone coming.

Looking for a job continues. I’ve had some interviews lately and they’ve been gong pretty well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping something pans out soon since I’m really ready to get back in “the swing of things”

I found this today. Ecto It’s a blogging tool. I really like that you can put in iPhoto, iTunes and Amazon into it but I don’t see a place where you can allocate a posting just to your LJ friends which is a problem so you can’t post to private, I guess. I think I’ll mess with it a little more and see if I can find anything on it. I like to format though, just seems easier.

Oh here’s the books I’m reading right now. (this is a feature from Ecto) Pretty cool!!!

“The Pact: A Love Story” (Jodi Picoult)

Well, It’s official, no dice for the job I had applied to at Yahoo. What a bummer, I was really looking forward to it.

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I got laid off from Intel. OK well not officially a month as I just signed the papers on the 26th of October but it’s been a while. I’ve been looking for jobs and interviewing a lot. It’s nice to know that I’ve got the skills to get a good job. I really think it’s going to come down to timing. I have a few things in the hopper and hopefully one of them will come through. Having this time off has been nice but I’m starting to get restless. I mean I do have projects around the house to do from home improvement things to quilting, sewing or scrapbooking stuff but I’m loosing interest in getting them all done. I’m starting to get cagey.

I realize that I love working. I love being busy and feeling the sense of getting things done for people. I’m sort of missing the job satisfaction right now and the thought of being unemployed until possible the end of the year drives me nuts. I can’t even imagine. I mean I’ve been running errands and been out of the house but being in a state of suspended animation is hard to deal with.

The good thing is that this weekend we’re heading north to Ellensburg. Julie and I are going to the scrapbook convention this year. I love going there every year, we’ve been doing it for several years. It’s nice to have our special event every year. After that, it’s back to applying for jobs, interviews and getting Christmas gifts done. Maybe I’ll come back with a renewed sense and just “knock things out”.

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.

Well, it’s been ten days since I got the notice that I’m getting laid off. It’s been an interesting ten days some good, a few bad but over all good. In the last ten days I’ve gotten a lot of projects done at home which feel really really great! I finally got the garage done mostly the way I wanted so it’s all clean and neat and I can really use it to quilt and do other projects. I’ve been cleaning the house a bit too, keeping the laundry done and I think the most fun, making dinners for Eric. It’s been really nice to take this time, take a break from everything and get some distance on the environment at work.

You know I’ve been thinking a lot about my work in the last 6 years and being shown the door, so to speak for a company that I’ve given a lot to. On some level I am upset, I mean who wants to loose their job because of “efficiency efforts”. Honestly though, I’m fine with it. I really feel like I got the better end of the deal. I have a great opportunity to expand my opportunities and work for another company and do the things I like and learn new things too. I’m not too worried about finding a job at the moment because I’ve been getting calls every day from companies wanting to interview and talk to me. A few are contracted jobs but most are permanent jobs. It’s actually exciting to look at the different options out there. I’ll keep you updated on things when I know more but right now it’s the phone interview stage and a few face-to-face interviews.

The support, kindness and offers for help have been AMAZING! I think it’s times like this that you really know who your friends are and who your support system is. I so appreciate the phone calls, emails and IM’s to see how we’re doing. Honestly, I really think we should be fine. I’ve got opportunities here in Portland and Eric’s working for a great company so things couldn’t be better. OK a full time job for me would be good but I’m sure that will come with time.