The Pink Slip

Did I mention I got laid off last week?

So far the best thing about being laid off is not having to leave the house and make the commute to work.

Oh wait. I never did that anyways!

I am really okay with being laid off. Dare I say enjoying it? But of course, the financial aspect has yet to set in. When it does, I may be in tears on the street corner with a cup begging for spare change.

Don't get me wrong, I want to work. But when you get a pink slip, you have to try to make the best of it. So I am doing that. It also helped my mental state that as soon as I sent the "change of e-mail address" e-mail to family and friends, kind words came flooding my way. Not to mention we had visitors all weekend so I didn't have to succumb to depression the first few days. I have wonderful friends all around.

The strangest thing for me is that I've worked since I was 16. Like straight through. I mean, I had vacations, but never any break from job to job. Hallmark from 1994 through 2000 (full time during the summers of my college years). I also worked at the library and newspaper at my college. During my one year of volunteer service in Phoenix following college graduation, I worked a full-time 40-week job at a nonprofit, but never got paid (hence it being volunteer). My volunteer placement hired me immediately following that commitment, then I worked at a technical school as a graduate placement advisor, then back to the nonprofit (because I COULD NOT STAND MY JOB AT THE SCHOOL ... yes, I was screaming there. That was the worst job ever. Imagine Office Space. Only worse). Anyways, on September 17, 2002, I began working as a medical/business writer. And for nearly eight years, I held that job.

Me covering my first conference

I knew my company was doing poorly. It's been that way for 2 years. So whenever someone asked how my job was, my response was, "eh, it's still there. I'm sure the company will close at some point." I was secretly hoping that "point" would be right before we left for the AT ... Nevertheless, every time we had a company meeting, I would inevitably take a deep breath and wonder if this was it. So when BossLady e-mailed me on Thursday at 3ish and asked if she could call me at 4, my heart sunk a little. I knew I was doomed when I picked up the phone and it was BossLady, along with the owner of the company. Two out of the six writers & editors on our team were laid off and one was moved to part time.

During my first week of unemployment, I found myself busier than ever. Of course I'm trying to do every bit of freelance work I can (especially since freelance work sometimes takes several months to payout). But I'm also getting through my lifelong to do list. We all have one. We just never get to it. While my energy is high and I feel motivated, I'm pumping out the progress.

And we shall see what my future brings. I filed for unemployment. I am following several leads for both FT and freelance work. I feel good. For now.

Besides being unemployed and because God really likes to see how much stress one person can handle, both my Nana and my father are in the hospital. My dad is actually going for surgery Monday as he will be getting some sort of pacemaker (that's not really the device, but it's easier than explaining) put in. So send good thoughts if you can! Thanks Internet!