FunEmployment

You may remember that back in November, I quit my job.  Aaaand by quit my job, I mean I gave notice. Ahem, five weeks’ notice.

run away, run away!

You guys!  If you are going to leave your job, I highly recommend giving way, way less than five weeks’ notice.  Here’s what happened over my last five weeks: I got less invested and they did not hire a replacement.  Both things that were not good.  Also, I made some money.  That‘s a good reason to give five weeks’ notice.

What am I getting to here?  After leaving my job, and doing lots of petsitting, yesterday marked my first day of full-on unemployment.  I know a lot of other people are also dealing with (f)unemployment, and after watching my wife survive six months of it, I have some thoughts on how to maintain my sanity and enjoy – yes, I hope to enjoy! – this temporary period of having absolutely no job at all:

First, know that it is temporary. Maybe say this to yourself every single day.  So often these days, Turtle says, “Wow, I wish I’d done this when I was unemployed!”  Because it seems so endless, it’s hard to be motivated; but it will end, so take advantage of your, ahem, unpaid vacation time.

you know, live for the moment, dance like no one is watching, all that jazz.

Second, get up at a reasonable hour. I say reasonable hour because it’s pretty subjective.  For me, a reasonable hour is sometime between 6:30 and 7am.  It gives me time to sleep in a bit, but still have my entire day.

Third, start your day with something productive. I drop Turtle off at the bus stop and then take Daphne for a good off-leash romp somewhere.  I signed up to volunteer at a local wildlife center, so every Monday morning I have somewhere to be.  It’s nice to start the week feeling like I’ve accomplished something, even if it was just show up and look at pretty raptors (you guys!  Yesterday a Broad Winged Hawk was NOT happy with me. It was awesome.).

Tuesday morning hike with the beast.

Finally, set some goals. Mine are probably very different from what yours would be, but they include working with Daph on 3 new tricks a week, taking her out for at least 30-45 minutes every day, and writing every single weekday.  They’re not big goals, but they are productive and measurable and manageable.

Yesterday I did my volunteering and then deep cleaned the kitchen and reorganized a few parts of the house that we haven’t really touched since moving here back in May.  I was nervous that I got too much accomplished yesterday and wouldn’t have anything to do for the rest of the week – but then I set up some interviews to volunteer at a few other places, and I’m excited to see what comes of those.

If you are or have been unemployed, how are you maintaining your sanity?  What advice do you have?

Fingers crossed, here we go

So on Friday I quit my job.

I sort of laugh every time I tell someone.  Seriously, in this economy, I am voluntarily leaving a position that pays me money?  Ha, when I think of it that way, my stomach twists in a nice little knot.

There are lots of reasons that I’m leaving, but because I still work there for 6 more weeks, I should share the public one: I’m trying something different.

click for source

In the last year, as I’ve read about other people’s wedding planning journeys, I’ve actually been quite moved by a lot of them.  Many people thought they were doing one thing and then changed their plans because of their families – and then changed again to do something that felt more authentic.  People are saying “Screw tradition” left and right and still getting married in ways that feel true to them, and nearly always report that people complimented them on it.  You don’t need tradition to have an amazing wedding; you don’t need to buck tradition to have an amazing wedding.  You just need to do what’s right for you.

And hearing that mantra over and over – Do what’s right for you – and also reading about how well it turns out for people both made me feel a little stronger.  Yes, strangely enough, weddings and wedding planning are making me rethink the way I’m living my life. Weird.

I’ve been feeling for a couple of weeks like I’m on the edge of something big, like I’m in a place in my life where I can make a big change, take a risk, and maybe it’ll work out.  Maybe it’ll work out really well.  So fingers crossed!  Here goes nothing.

So, what am I going to be doing?  Well, all the things I ever wondered about! I am applying for volunteer positions with all the local wildlife organizations; hopefully I will hear soon about whether I’ll be working with squirrels, sea turtles, or wolves. Seriously.

And you know what else is awesome?  How supportive my wife is about all this.  She’s kind of the best.

Now we return to your regularly scheduled programming.  More wedding coming tomorrow? We shall see.

Has anyone else made a drastic leap of faith(/insanity) like this?  Please tell me it turned out well.