Long time no blog

Somehow nearly two years have passed since I last blogged. I guess life gets busy. 

The past two years have brought some big changes in my life. In March 2011, our dear dog Gemma died.  She was 13 and had an inoperable tumor.  It was tough to say goodbye. 

In September 2011 my company was acquired by a private equity firm and they made lots of changes. One of them was to have a layoff of 90+ folks (including me) right before Thanksgiving.

Being laid off ended up being one of the best things to happen to me. It forced me to explore new opportunities, career paths, and more. In the end I got a great job with a fabulous company, a wonderful boss and fantastic team! That said, the five months I spent searching for a job was probably the most stressful period of my entire life.  I learned a lot during this period - about myself and about my support network of friends and family. While I don't recommend unemployment as a general rule, if you find yourself unemployed, think of it as a character-building experience.  I might blog about some of my lessons learned in a future post.

Just days before getting my layoff notice, we found out that a litter of Airedale terrier puppies had been born to Gemma's breeder.  It was great to have a new puppy to look forward to. And, as it turned out, our puppy Echo turned out to be a welcome companion as I spent hours at home researching jobs, networking online, and doing phone interviews.  Her boundless energy meant that we generally took 3 walks a day and averaged about 7 miles of hikes around Capitol Hill.  Echo is now 14 months old and still full of boundless energy!

In May 2012 I started a new job.  The Education company I work for has offices all over the world but I am lucky in that I work from home.  Most of my colleagues work out of their own home offices all around the country. While I miss the office banter and face to face fun that the office environment brings, there are many advantages to working from home. For example, the commute I have to my attic home office can't be beat!

This Spring I'm looking forward to learning how to sew clothes, expand my nascent quilting hobby, getting my garden started, and diving into my new beekeeping hobby.  Looking forward to the adventures that 2013 brings!

 

 

 

Comments

[Mary de B]

You suddenly appeared on my Friends' Blogs page on Ravelry! Well done on the new job -- a friend of mine is now at the beginning of that process and it's all daunting.

[Jan Poston Day]

Mary - it is great to hear from you. The job hunt is daunting. For me it was an incredible learning experience - learning about what things really mattered to me, deepening the relationship I had with friends and family in ways I didn't expect, and being much more attuned to others in the same boat.