365 days and counting...

So…today (6/30) was officially a year since my last day at my job. My workplace...

• A place that I essentially spent all my growing up “adult” years, from 23 to 45.
• A place where I met my ‘grown-up’ best friend.
• A place that was the central location of my socialization. Work was pretty much all-consuming, I had blood family and work family/friends.
• A place that I needed to be able to afford my home - which then allowed me to house my parents, various other family members and even friends at times.
• A place where I moved up the ranks through hard work and performance.
• A place that literally tested my sanity a few times and caused a boatload of tears.
• A place that rewarded my hard work enough that I had the opportunity to travel (which I usually did once a year).
• A place that I thought I would spend my whole adult life and eventually retire from.
• A place – it turns out - that didn’t actually need me. ?

So, how have I spent that year…it definitely wasn't the way I planned.

Last Day (6/30/2023): Worked until about 12:30pm, including one last group session with my team mates to cover some last touches and say goodbye. Headed out to turn in my work computer, phone, etc. Cried in the parking lot for a few minutes, then headed back home. Twenty-two years of my life disappeared in about 15-20 minutes.

After that, there were things to do. With a few family members, I moved furniture around in my living room to make room for a couch that was being given to us. Then we headed off to Buffalo Wild Wings (cauliflower wings for this girl) and then a Costco run.

Day 1 / 1st official day of unemployment: Shredding paper and notes that had been generating for YEARS. Details of projects, to-do lists, contacts, random work-related thoughts, etc. Again, years and years of my life gone in just a matter of hours.

Day 2: Woke up in AGONY on my left-side, especially my arm. My 2nd day with no work provided health insurance & terrified I was having a heart attack. I had things to do. It was 4th of July week. I had family to pick-up and take care of and I could barely move without tremendous pain.

Long story short, it wasn’t a heart attack – urgent care said my EKG was beautiful (whew!) - but a good EKG doesn't take care of the pain. Turns out after weeks/months of agony, X-rays, steroids (pills and shots), MRI and an EMG – it was a pinched nerve. So off to PT I went...eventually.

Day 13: My dog has double TPLO surgery. For those of us non-vets, it’s like a double ACL tear that has to be repaired. 12 weeks of recovery.

Day 25: Cancer diagnosis for my dad. Thankfully, it’s VERY slow moving in his case and even today, we’re in a wait and watch the numbers situation.

Day 39: A 400-year-old tree crashes down on my parents’ mobile home in Florida. Off goes half my household to deal with that.

Any summer plans I had, are OVER. I’m now the only driver in my home at this point, balancing taking care of the house, my dad, providing childcare for my nephew, PT a number of times a week & any other random things that come up.

Day 82: Our 15-year-old cat has a seizure in the middle of the night.

Mid-October: Household members return.

Halloween!

Sometime in November/early December – start taking career classes. Thank you to LHH and CS Insider for the opportunity to have some socialization with other professionals in a similar employment situation as me.

HOLIDAYS!

Day 147: Thanksgiving! At my house, hosting about 30 people. Turns out that one of my cousins is in the same unemployment boat as me and I get the chance to tell him about LHH and my experiences so far.

Day 174: Apply for my 1st new job since 2001. Five applications submitted to various places.

Day 177: Christmas Eve (At my house, hosting about 20 people)

Day 178: Christmas (blissfully quiet most of the day). Nephew in the evening (1st Christmas!)

Day 179: The day after Christmas. Have to make the devastating decision to say goodbye to one of our beloved pets. Not really how we wanted the Christmas season to go. ?She's our 3rd one lost since 2020, we need some JOY in the house.

Day 185/Day 186: New Years Eve / New Years Day. Still reeling. Just quiet time for now.

Day 188: First external interview in 23 years! 3 people to interview with. This is new!

Day 211: Nephew’s 1st birthday. Hosting at my house – again about 30 people.

Day 212: All my housemates (mom, dad and cousin) head to Florida for the Winter.

Day 215: Civil Service Exam...next step in the hiring process for the city. I'm the last one in the room (took my time and double-checked the work). I scored 97% (highest of the group)!

At this point, we're deep into Winter here in Michigan. Being home alone, watching my nephew and taking the dog for walks as often as the weather allows is a big part of the time spent, but LHH classes continue!

Besides the benefit of re-learning how to interview and build resumes, the ability to engage with other professionals was joyful. This was an unexpected benefit of the program. I'm not a particularly social person, definitely a social Introvert and usually a quiet person overall, unless I'm really passionate about something. But the experience with the instructors and the participants at LHH was amazing.

Day 235: Another interview with the city, even the same department and some of the same people from the 1st interview. Hopes are high!

As we're deep into Winter now and playing the waiting game to hear back from a number of employers, what's a girl to do with some time on her hands...?

Continue to apply for jobs - absolutely yes, but not aggressively.

Nearly all the people she knows are WORKING or in the same job search boat...so, (when she doesn't have a baby to take care of) it's time to...

REORGANIZE most of the house…starting with the closet under the stairs (yes, I have one of those, but it was full of my comic books and there were no wands to be found). Next, it's time to move into the basement closet, the basement storage room & the basement laundry room. It's time to put together shelves, re-arrange storage bins and paint when and where needed. Time to hang shelves and fill up as many picture frames as possible. Time to put actual holes in my walls after 10 years in my house.

Day 270: Dad returns (temporarily from Florida). I get to show-off all the work I've been doing. I was keeping it a surprise.

Day 273: Dad and I take nephew/grandson for his 1st Easter Bunny pics. FYI - Some babies are NOT fans of people dressed up in bunny costumes, no matter how friendly the giant bunny is.

Day 280: Interview with the city - this time THE LIBRARY!

Day 291: Dad heads back to Florida to finish out his snow-birding activities and help take care of a family member.

Day 292: Loads of dirt and mulch arrive for gardening activities!

Over the next few weeks, that dirt and mulch turn into 9 new and/or improved garden beds. Time to experiment with seeds, growing potatoes, new types of tomatoes and setting up pollinator spaces in all the beds.

Day 298: I get a call - out of the blue - from my cousin who wants to start a business and wants me to run it. OK - let's do it! What's next?! Some hurry-up and wait while buildings are scouted, and plans are planned. In the meantime, creative juices start flowing and lists get made.

Day 301: Got to meet up with two girlfriends for dinner. We hung out for a few hours and caught up.

Day 302: Interview with a local school district. No warning of this part, but there are 4 people doing the interview and an additional (GIANT) surprise -- one of my high school teachers is one of the interviewers! I hadn't seen this person for 27 years; she saw me first and said, "I knew it was going to be you!"

My mom was a teacher for about 50 years. I spent most of my childhood in her classroom or wandering around in the school chatting with other teachers, custodians, office personnel, etc. before and after school. It should have been the perfect job - but - rejected again.

Day 303: Interview with Lowes. Not the dream job, but an opportunity to engage with the public, socialize with co-workers and potentially get a store discount (I'm a frequent visitor of our local Lowes) - but alas - this was not my destiny either.

Day 306: Our now 16-year-old cat, has her second seizure. It's been 8 months since the 1st one.

Day 310: Head out of the city and go to St. Clair, MI. There's a gardening store there that I've been wanting to visit. I unexpectedly spend time in a mushroom growing seminar (not a fan of mushrooms, but it was interesting) and expectedly come home with bunches of new seeds for my new and improved garden spaces. Trying to grow some baby pumpkins this year. We'll see how that goes.

Day 314: Another potential interview with the city - the library again! But they don't need me to come in, since they interviewed me before and will recheck and follow-up if they need anything. Guess how that goes.

Day 314 (cont.): Kitty has now had a 3rd seizure. First, we had a time period of 8 months, now it's only been 8 days. Vet visit and anti-seizure meds are up next.

Day 317: Met up with girlfriends again, but this time for a memorial service. Hoping to get together with them again this summer for a happier reason.

Day 325: Cousin puts offer on building for the new business! More creative juices and to-do lists. Fingers-crossed that we can open by small business Saturday in November. But that'll be the REST of the story...

Day 337: Dad is back again from Florida. This time - assuming no more disasters - he'll be back for good (until snow-birding time arrives next year)

Day 345: My house is full again! All the peeps are back from Florida, and I had a surprise for everyone! KITTENS! Two little girls that were rescued (separately) and fostered by wonderful people at Last Day Dog Rescue. These babies are full of energy and fun. Our older kitties are being the best big brother and big sister. The 50-pound dog is nervous about them, but she's loosening up a bit, giving gentle sniffs and playing if she's excited about something.

Day 358: I fulfilled my first "field trip bucket list" item and visited the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA). This bucket list was supposed to be last summer's activities, but last summer was a total bust. I didn't grow up in the Detroit area and never went to any of the places that kids go to on field trips and I've been working since I was 16, I never had the chance or the time to go and explore, so now I'm working on trying to visit all these places.

Day 365: I fulfilled my second "field trip bucket list" item and visited Cranbrook Institute of Science. I spent about 5-7 hours there, but I need to go back to see more. If you haven't been to a planetarium for a while - find a local one and go. There were too many clouds the day I went but try to check out a local Observatory if you can.

Day 355 - 365: Getting used to all my peeps being back. I've had things the way I wanted them for nearly 6 months, now all these people are here messing up my kitchen, filling up my refrigerator with stuff I don't use (I'm a vegetarian and no one else is, so it's fun times) and all the other trials and tribulations that come with having a full house of different personalities. (BTW - My parents are divorced and live in my house - just tossing that tidbit in for some added drama and fun)

I'm sure I've missed some other ups and downs from this year - but these were some of the ones that I either had documented or actually remembered. Clearly, it's a bit of a therapy session for me.

So, to summarize:

• My workplace didn't NEED me, but I was NEEDED elsewhere.
• Even with all the crappy things that have happened in the last year, I've been VERY LUCKY.
• Job application rejections suck and being ghosted is so disheartening. Until now, I've never NOT gotten a job that I applied for, so being rejected in one form or another for each of these jobs kills my confidence a little at a time.
• All the ups and downs that I and/or my family experienced would likely have happened whether I had a job or not, but because I didn't have a job at the time, I was able to focus my energy and attention where it was needed.
• I was home and able to take care of our cat when she had her seizures.
• I was available when my nephew needed a caretaker.
• I was able to be with my dad for his cancer doctor visits.
• I was able to take care of my dog after her surgery.
• I haven't been sitting in my basement at my computer for 16+ hours a day working - so I've had less leg and back pain. Although the pinched nerve kind of took over the pain spot for a while.
• I was able to take time to mourn when our pet passed away.
• Thank goodness for tax refunds and the extra time it gave me.
• I’ve met and spoken to more of my neighbors in the last year than I have in the last 10 years combined. (Check out the buy nothing groups - on Facebook - in your area if you can. It's a great way to engage with your neighbors.)
• I was able to identify my need to be almost constantly busy when left in an empty house and recognize my ability to relax (or even be a little lazy) when there are other people around to share the burden.
• I was available to say yes to supporting someone with an idea for a business and will hopefully be able to use my ideas and skillset to help start and grow this business.

Ideally, the REST of the story will begin in August and then again in November - I hope to have a better story for the next 365 days.

For those still searching for their next or even their dream job - good luck and I hope you find it soon.

For those still in their job - please don't take it for granted - but also make sure that you take the time to recognize what's going on in the world around you and take time for yourself when you can.