Still Employed

Jerry called me this morning at 10:30 with some great news! He's still employed. They are doing mandatory layoffs today, but he's safe and still has a job! This is such a relief, now we don't have to be so careful with our money. We have been trying to save every penny that we have, but now, it will be okay to buy some things that we have been putting off. Maybe now we can start the remodelling of the master bedroom and we can get regain the space that we currently aren't using because we didn't want to spend the money needed for sheetrock and carpet.

This morning I spent a few hours redoing my resume and posting it on Monster.com. I haven't changed the format of it in 8 years, so I felt like I would try and freshen it up to see if it would help me get more people to look at it. In an hour or so, I will be heading off to the post office for my daily visit. Then I'm going over to the grocery store to get a few essentials. I'm thinking about making stuffed pork chops for dinner. I have to his www.myrecipe.com to find a good recipe first.

Layoffs?

Today was an aweful day. First, I wake up at 1:51am with a terrible headache. Then, I feel crappy enough that I stay home from work. I am dozing on the couch when the Director of my department at work calls with an HR lady to tell me that I have been laid-off. Great, there was no warning at all that they would be doing layoffs. I only get 2 weeks of severance and all the vacation I haven't yet taken. It's a bunch of crap. It's all because of the economy, they said. I am going to wallow for a day, then it's on to working on finding a new gig.

The good and the bad from yesterday

Yesterday was not a very good day for Jerry. It turns out that Best Buy is doing voluntary layoffs, as they need to reduce headcount at the corporate office to make their numbers. If they don’t get enough volunteers, then they will be doing mandatory layoffs in February. He loves his job and is very good at it, so he doesn’t plan to leave voluntarily, but now he’s quite worried about the whole matter. I am worried as well, but there’s not much I can do about it. I know that we will be fine if he was to lose his job, but I don’t want him to have to go through that.
He also decided to take my Christmas present back, because he spent a lot more then he normally spends. He wanted to surprise me with my 1000.00 massage chair because my back and shoulders have been bothering me so much lately with my arthritis. What a thoughtful thing to do. I have the best husband. Now, he will just have to get something for me that is not so extravagant. I am sure that I will love whatever he chooses and I gave him plenty of ideas on my Christmas list.

What’s the most expensive thing your husband/boyfriend has ever given you for Christmas that you didn’t expect?

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of my employment at my current job. Yep, to me it’s a job. It’s not a career because it’s not a field really. I am a support analyst. I guess you could say being an analyst is a career, but for me it’s work.
My tendencies have always been artistic. But, for the cash I have denied a HUGE part of myself in search of the almighty dollar. I want a comfortable life, a good home, and to be able to travel, and to give my future children things I didn’t have when I was growing up.
Everything I had ever learned about artists is that they are always poor, and must be supported by a benefactor, better known as a husband if said artist is a woman. My role model, my grandmother and a wonderful artist was. Of course, that’s because she was married in the forties and women just didn’t work. She was fiercely independent though, and had my grandfathers family not been very traditional in that regard I believe she would have.
I too am very independent, and since I was brought up in modern times, I have been allowed to make my own way. It’s really expected these days that a woman have her own career. It’s really begun to sink in that I have sacrificed a great deal fitting into that mold.
When I am not at work I spend most of my time drawing, taking photos, and gardening. I read books that transport me to new worlds. I create necklaces and purses, and I knit booties and sweaters. The list goes on and on. I wish that I could spend my days making ugly things beautiful, or turning a blank canvas into a work of art.
In a lot of ways my grandmother was blessed that she was able to spend so much time on her art, and that my grandfather nurtured her calling. I do wonder though, how much of a burden it was to not have the independence she longed for.
Last month I enrolled in a graphic design program; It happens to be what I was going to do right out of high school. Thinking back, I should have followed my original plan. Maybe I would love my career these days instead of toiling away at a job counting the days until I can do what I should have done.
I suppose most people have the same feeling about what they do, or could have done. I am not naive enough to think I am alone.
Here’s to hoping that next year, I will not be reciting the same rant.