The Aerie

Happy 47th Birthday to Me

Wow, what a day.

I turned 47 today, and lost my job. I came back from two weeks of vacation ready to hit the ground running, refreshed and renewed, and halfway through the day I was told that I'd been removed from my primary project, and placed on half-time on my secondary project. And that the secondary project would only carry me for three weeks.

Really, what it comes down to is that the project management group that hired me never did figure out what the hell they were doing with me. I TOLD them when I started that I wasn't a project manager, they said they didn't want me to be a project manager, and then they proceeded to expect me to be a project manager. And when I didn't and couldn't behave as a project manager, they got frustrated with me, and so now I'm out. Sigh. And the twins start college in three weeks.

So my birthday has been a mixed bag. We had a nice gift exchange. Since the twins' birthday was a week ago while we were on vacation, so we had gifts to give them back at home. Leo got a TI-83 calculator, Gennie got a nice big digital drawing tablet. The most expensive item of the the two cost $25. I've been trying to save money this summer.

A lot has changed this summer. On our vacation we held a little ceremony to mark my birthmother's passing, and that was hard and sad and wonderful. My friend Rachel is moving to New York, meaning I lose my exercise buddy - yeah, now my exercise is all my own personal responsiblity. Great. I guess I'll be about a zillion pounds by next summer. And my twins are going off to college in three weeks. And I guess I'm changing jobs, or, embracing unemployment.

A lot of stuff is changing.

I guess it's a little ironic that I lost my job on mybirthday, and on the first day back from a two week vacation. But on the other hand I guess it's just as well, because the vacation was priceless and if I'd known I was losing myu job I wouldn't have been able to take the vacation. So better to learn after the vacation than before.

And while I'm good at finding work, the current job environment certainly makes it a challenge. I'm tempted to not even BOTHER looking, there are no jobs in August usually, and THIS August it's completely ridiculous. But I have three weeks at half pay and I've got to take advantage of them - if I could start a job September 1st then my financial world may not collapse and my kids might even be able to go to college.

So I think you're seeing the result here - I'm supposed to be having a nice birthday, but instead I'm fretting over unemployment in one of the worst economic periods in a century.

Anyway, this being my birthday,one of my resolutions is to return to writing, and certainly now I'll have the time. My other resolution is exercise. We'll see how that goes...

Ah well, time for bed. A great time to lie awake and stare at the ceiling, fretting.

Posted by Albatross at August 10, 2009 11:41 PM | TrackBack