Where have I been for the last couple of weeks? I've been unemployed!
My position was terminated a couple weeks ago. I haven't really wanted to talk about it. You know: at 34yo, you don't exactly call everyone you know and start going on about how that shit-ass company just canned your ass.
I didn't tell my baby sister for a week. Calling her one afternoon she exclaimed, "what are you doing? Why are you calling me from home? Why aren't you at work?" After telling her that my job had been terminated, I got the standard response, the one that was the reason I didn't really want to tell people about the job loss:
"WHAT?! Are you joking?! Oh my gawd! What the hell! I can't believe it!" And then my least favorite response: "What are you going to do?!"
What am I going to do?
What AM I going to do?
Here's what I want to do: whatever the terms of my severence, it looks like I'll get most of the summer off. So, I'm thinking I'll take advantage of that. I am further entitled to about 50 weeks of employment insurance, so I could use some or all of that if I want to. It'll be like being on maternity leave again (Canadian mat leave, simply, is a year at 55% of your gross salary).
This is a particularly cool time to be at home with Kieran (currently aged 25.5 months old). He is really getting a funny personality. We make goofy faces at each other by squishing our cheeks together or hooking our fingers in our mouths or noses - you get the picture? We can do this for a half hour or more, just collapsing in a pile of giggling limbs.
I'm not very good at getting down on the ground and playing with Kieran's trucks and cars and stuff. I usually hang out with him and let him play around me, participating as he requests. Except with pulling faces and tickling and jumping on the bed.
So, I'm thinking it's a good time to be unemployed!
As my mother said, when I told her about the termination, "when one door closes, another door opens." I'm usually not one for cliches and epithets, but this one seemed to really fit well.
I've been dreaming about working from home doing crafty stuff and I am already doing a little bit of freelance writing for my local weekly.
See the post immediately preceding this one regarding my restaurant reviews. In the worst case of dumb luck ever, the week before my job was terminated, the local daily (it's got a crazy huge circulation, a big city paper) had a position open for a food writer. Now, I don't have a background in nutrition or cooking, but I am a great study. I was well qualified for the job but I figured that my then-current job was pretty secure, so I didn't bother to apply.
Dumb ass!
So, I'm waiting to see what the final severence settlement is going to be. In the meantime, I am enjoying hanging with my goofy son. Stay tuned to see if I hit you up to buy knitted gear soon!
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