As a child, one of my favorite pasttimes while vacationing at the cabin in Idaho was to play the Game of Life up in the loft with my cousins.
There was something so fun about imagining all of the possibilities - getting a degree (or not), choosing a career, spinning for a spouse, hoping your little plastic car was filled with blue and pink pegs by the time you retired to Lazy Acres. So much of your success (or failure) was at the fate of the spinner and the luck of the draw. "Come on, big 10!" "I hope I get the mansion instead of the trailer this time."
Well, thankfully, we have a little more control over the path we take in Real Life and the events that unfold therein - but, mind you, only a little more. The older I get, the more and more I'm realizing that while our agency and actions largely influence the outcomes we reap, sometimes there are situations and circumstances, chemistries and complications that are just beyond our power to control.
Yesterday my life took a twist akin to a bad move on the Life board: I joined the ranks of the unemployed.
If you want to hear the specifics as to what happened, I'll gladly fill you in - via email, Facebook or the phone. This is really not the forum to get into it. As much of an open book as I am, I do have a filter. ;)
Meanwhile, I have learned that no matter what happens to us, we have all the power in the world over how we proceed in dealing with what comes our way. So I'm choosing to not think of it as unemployment so much as funemployment. I mean, let's face it. I've been incredibly and constantly busy for the majority of the last decade. And while I know that that's just real life, and much of my overscheduling is my own fault, still - I'm going to savor this breather. I'd already applied for several jobs. I was on my way out - The Man just beat me to the punch by a matter of weeks. I found some additional great leads just yesterday. My bills are paid through this month at least. The wheels were already in motion for me to move back in with the parentals for a month or two while I figure out what comes next, so I'm not on the hook for rent - a gal in the ward is taking over my lease as of Oct. 1.
That gives me a few weeks to really organize all the stuff I've accumulated during the last 3 1/2 years in my room (which, believe you me, is a huge project!) and to finish some other projects that need doing. I'm a capable, qualified, talented professional. It will all work out, I have no doubt about it. God has never failed me yet, and I just pray that He'll mercifully overlook my shortcomings and bless me in spite of my failings, as unworthy as I feel of His help sometimes.
Anyways, without further adieu, here's how I plan to spend my funemployment:
- Disneyland, of course! My season pass is good through November, and I fully plan to put it to work.
- Spend some time attending the temple, since I've got the availability. If anyone wants to come with, I'd love the company!
- Finishing my friendship quilt that we started as a Relief Society a couple of summers ago.
- Creating a brilliant marketing plan for OCMCO's upcoming CD, That Easter Morn. I had been wondering how I could carve out the time to get that done before we have a copy of the CD done in November. Now I know! :) It'll be a great resume-building, skill-learning project, to boot.
- Speaking of OCMCO, now I can treat my PR volunteerism with them like a part-time job. The directors just started a sister choir in Arizona, the East Valley Mormon Choral Organization, so now I can really get the ball rolling with getting the word out about their awesomeness.
- Get a jump on PR for The Sound of Music, too. I'm in our stake production that'll be happening in mid-October, and there's a lot of publicity we need to do for it.
- Organizing, organizing, organizing. Although you would never know it by looking, I'm actually an organizational nut. I LOVE when everything has a place and when I know right where stuff is. I'm just usually too busy to dig deeply into it, so a lot of things are just stuffed in boxes. Same with my photo files on the computer. Now I can put everything together methodically, labeled and everything. Plus my roommate in the next bedroom over just moved out, and her replacement won't move in until mid-October. All the more space for me to spread into to organize...
- Getting artsy! I have a TON of scrapbooking papers that I never put to use for lack of time, and now I have no excuse. I really want to get some stuff out of boxes and onto paper - beginning with my AMAZING New York trip, of course! (Details to come - I need to grab my photo uploader from the parentals' home.) I also have a corkboard that's been begging for some fabric and ribbons...
- Reading through the massive stack of books I've been wanting to get to. Which may or may not include some Sweet Valley High books now, after last night's rousing rounds of playing the board game with a couple of friends. It was pretty hilarious how the books' plotlines flooded back to me while we reentered the world of Jessica and Elizabeth.
- Cataloguing and eating through everything in my cupboards. My food-hoarding tendencies will finally pay off. I really don't need to grocery shop extensively when I've got enough food to get me through the end of the month at least.
- Rip through my Netflix queue and finish watching the last three seasons of Alias, of course. And if anyone has Season 5 of The Office, I'd loooooove to borrow it - I totally missed the whole season, so now I can catch up! (Or I guess I could Hulu it - yay for my lovely iMac!)
- Drum up some freelance work, either for The O.C. Register or for some other opportunity.
- Help friends with communications for their businesses, like writing the history for a friend's family's company Web site - yes, Heidi, I mean you! ;)
- Send letters and postcards and cards and stuff to people across the country. I mean, I have lots of stamps and lots of cute cards. Now I have the time to be thoughtful, too.
- Blogging, blogging, blogging. I recently started a politics blog, and now I can spend lots of time spreading the word and studying out issues. Plus I'll keep this one updated (and do some back-blogging) - so I hope you don't mind me popping up in your RSS reader. :)
- Oh, yeah. And find a new job. Of course. Obviously.
Amazing, isn't it? I woke up this morning thinking of everything I want to do and was a little overwhelmed. It's going to be a BUSY few weeks of nothingness, lol. Being a housewife is a lot of work, and I don't even have a hubby or kids! I don't know how working mothers do it. Anyways, I'm ridiculously excited for the opportunities ahead!
