Just sit

On Monday, my neck started to feel twingey, and I couldn’t turn my head very far. I didn’t go to the gym, but other than that, I didn’t do anything to help my neck.

By yesterday, it was worse. Bad enough that I asked T to drive me to work, because I couldn’t turn my head enough to feel safe driving. I felt completely exhausted, but still insisted I could go to work, even though T tried to convince me otherwise.

The drive to work made everything so much worse, I had to go in and tell my boss I had to go home, I could barely move my head and neck.

I came home and slept, all day. From 9-2 and then again from 5-7:30. And I feel so much better because of it.

And the thing is…I had been wanting and needing a day off from work. Work hasn’t been stressful, but I just really wanted a day to sleep and do nothing. My body listened and insisted on it. If I had tried to work, I am quite convinced I would be feeling worse today.

Do you listen to your body? Do you listen when your body tells you to slow down, or do you try and  ignore it, and push through anyway? There is great healing in just sitting, in doing nothing.  I’m glad I listened.

Read Full Post »

Last day of vacation…

Last official day of vacation…or unemployment, however you want to look at it. And I think I will soon be a bike commuter! We are very near a bike trail that goes up to downtown Durham, and it’s easy to get to my Duke office building from there. Tim would have to drive me maybe a mile or two to the trail head, since there is no shoulder on the road or bike lane, but then it would be an easy 10 mile ride or so.

I’m thinking of getting something like this — a nice commuter bike that will be comfy and fun to ride on. Nothing like Bianca, the wonderful Bianchi road bike I used to have when I was with Mark, but I’m not intending to put those kind of miles on a bike again. When I had Bianca, Mark and I would often go out for rides of 30-70 miles. I actually biked a century (100 miles in one go) on her. Now, I want a bike I can take on bike trails and bike paths, nice, easy rides.

And today, we are getting new phones (no, not the fun, snazzy iphone, just a new verizon phone). It’s weird to be getting new regular cell phones on a day when even the mayor of Philadelphia is caught camping for the most anticipated phone. Maybe someday, when the prices drop to a reasonable level! lol. We are actually going to wander by an apple store tonight, to see how crazy people are getting over the iphone. Can you imagine people getting this excited for a new microsoft product, like a Zune phone? I don’t think so…

Read Full Post »

one week till…

I’m employed again.

I’ve been freelancing since November. I haven’t had any work at all since April, and that was only six hours for the month. I haven’t had to get up or be on a schedule for months and months.

And you know what? I am so ready to not be on vacation mode anymore, ready to actually get up every morning and go to work. I’ve been really, really bored. And now I know exactly how little you can do, and I’m ready for a change. And it will be really, really fantastic to have money return to normal and actually start building our savings again.

Plus, as much as I’ve loved being home with the boy and Myrawonderpup, I think it will be really good for me and Tim to not be together literally 24/7. I will really miss having the pup with me all day though.

On to new adventures!

Read Full Post »

Where in the world is Kelly Sandiego (a la Carmen Sandiego)

So, it’s been more than a month since I posted last. Last time I checked I hadn’t fallen off the face of the earth, but it’s been a whirlwind here.

Since I last posted, I went to visit North Carolina and liked it. The area felt like home, more so than Portland ever has. While I was there, I had an interview with Duke for a writer position. Came home and had a week of phone interviews and editing tests with another company. My best friend from college came out for almost a week. I’ve had more follow up with Duke and the other company. We found an absolutely adorable house to rent that is in the perfect location and seems very cozy.

And then packing started…because we are moving, next week actually. Yes, it came up that fast. It was primarily a financial decision, since I’m not working much, we were having to dip into our savings for some expenses, and we figured it made sense to move sooner rather than later.

As much as I can’t believe we are moving AGAIN (This will be our fourth move in two years, and our second cross country move in two years), I’m looking forward to starting a new adventure in Durham.

And my job situation has improved in leaps and bounds. I was officially offered the Duke job, and I have a six-hour interview with the other place the day after we get into town. And yesterday I was contacted by another company I had applied to, they wanted to talk to me for two different positions. After feeling invisible and un-marketable in the job market out here, it is so nice to have attention and strong interest from different places in Durham. It just makes me feel like this is where we are supposed to be right now and as a result, we have positive things coming back into our life. It felt like we were fighting and fighting to make things work here in Portland, and it was energy spent in a not-positive way. This feels right now.

Read Full Post »

jjj..ob interview!

At a little-known place called Duke University.

They called today, I’m going to meet with them next week when I am in NC, about a position as a staff writer at the Clinical Research Institute (part of their medical center).

Very excited. Even if nothing happens, it’s ok. We’re moving forward again, not staying stuck in one place. And it just feels like further confirmation that NC could be a good thing for us. Portland was good for us when we came here, and working at my last job, despite the challenges, was a really good thing, because it was great experience with a well-known academic medical center. But now Portland isn’t where we need to be right now. And I feel like we are headed in a good direction again.

Read Full Post »

so….I might be going back to my old job…

I filled in for the director of communications last week while she was out of town. The week went really well, no emergencies (fortunately) and just had a chance to work on some projects.

It felt really different from the last time I was there as an employee. It even felt different from one of the last times I went up as a freelancer for meetings. Most of the negative people are gone, in fact only one negative person is left up there. There is a new team up there, and they seem like they work well together.

Now, I know what you are thinking….I left because how bad things were, how it was affecting me, my health, blah blah. Well, yes, that is all true. But there’s also the hard-to-find-a-job factor. (But I promise I wouldn’t even consider it if it felt the same up there).

So, I just happened to mention it to one of the marketing folks, and she jumped all over it. To the point where she actually called HR and found out they can essentially re-offer me the job, without me needing to apply or anything, I would need to go through required training again.

I called the director of communications to explain what happened, and she said she wanted to talk to me about some new opportunities anyway.

So, we’ll see what happens, but it looks like I might be back there soon, which would be good for several reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that EVERY SINGLE MONTH I have to fight to get paid. My invoices won’t get processed, or they don’t go through, or some nonsense. Case in point, I submitted my january invoice on Feb. 2. I got my check today — because they forgot to process it, and I had to call, and have the admin call and track it down. Then there’s the fact that my freelancing work hasn’t been steady, in fact February, I had hardly any billable hours. Not easy to pay bills on that. I would really like having a steady paycheck.

Read Full Post »

random shyte

I just made my first appt. with a naturopath physician, I want to find out why I’m having skin and digestive problems and try to get it to stop happening. I’ve been to the derm. doctors twice now when my skin got really out of control with eczema/dermatitis and they just gave me a prescription cream and said to keep my skin moisturized. Since my skin keeps breaking out, there has to be a cause, and that is what I want to treat. I also want to see if my digestion problems are related. I see her next Thursday. Yay!

**************
I am so tired of freelancing, and really really wanting a regular job again (one in particular!)

I never hear from the people I’m working for, that they got my stuff, that it was fine. Half the time, I don’t hear back from one of the women when I have questions. I find out by way of gossip that they aren’t happy with my rate, the one woman in particular who doesn’t answer questions, but she never told me directly or negotiated a rate with me, despite her sending me a snippy email saying she always negotiates rates with freelancers. The snippy email was in response to a very nice email I sent saying I wasn’t trying to be expensive and I would be happy to go to a lower rate that they are comfortable with.

And after she sent me the snippy email, I wrote back again really nicely, asking her what she thought about cutting $25 per hour off my rate, because I would rather keep working with her, and then she never wrote back.

And then there’s the fact I have to fight to get paid. I only get paid once a month, and I received one check for january but not the other check I was expecting. I just called accounts payable, they don’t have it in their system, so I had to write to the new admin girl to see if my invoice i submitted in January was ever processed. If it wasn’t processed….gaaaaa.

Blah humbug.

Positive visualization: I get a phone call, with a job offer, in the salary range I told them. I accept the job offer. I am jumping up and down with excitement. I go to work on my first day, very excited.

I’m going to keep thinking about that.

Read Full Post »

the power of manifesting and visualizing

This is a letter I wrote to the universe months ago, describing the type of work and work environment I wanted.
I want a job:

— that is fun to go to
— where the other employees are happy and like their jobs
— that encourages creativity
— some place bright and open with lots of light
— where my talents are recognized
— where I am a valued member of the team
— that is close to a good coffee shop
— that excites me
— that gives me interesting creative challenges
— where the employees work closely as a solid, strong team
— where I can grow creatively
–with a boss who knows how to be a good boss
— with a boss who supports me in my work and my growth
— for a company that is respected for the work it does
— for a company that has good relationships with its clients
— for a company that respects that I have a life outside of work
— with coworkers who look forward to coming to work
— with coworkers who are professional and play nicely together
— for a company where I can occasionally wear jeans to work
— for a company that is growing and moving forward
— for a company that cares about the community and the environment
— in a location that is close to good veggie food
— for a company that offers generous vacation time
— for a company that has a good retirement package
— for a company that really values its employees

From everything I’ve heard and seen and how they are handling the interview process, this list is pretty much right on with the company I’ve been interviewing with.

I believe in the power of manifestation, and I believe in putting your wishes out into the universe and allowing it to come into your life when you are ready. Writing down what you want has power, visualizing what you want has power.

To quote from the Daily Message from the Universe: Thoughts become things. Choose the good ones.

Exactly.

Read Full Post »

Interview morning

Woke up feeling refreshed (rather rare for me) and happy and excited and in a good frame of mind.

I’m listening to Rose Cousins, read my morning bloggies, checked in at the Din, and had my coffee (now with Silk french vanilla creamer — actually tastes like vanilla and not like chemicals, which is how International Delight tastes to me now).

I went through most of my wardrobe last night trying to find something to wear, we settled on a long black skirt with roses, a black sweater, bitch boots and my hair up in a clip. I still need to buy a bunch of new clothes, a lot of my stuff is either outdated or looking kind of well worn (not in a good way) or is just not a good look for me. Example, most of my shirts are short, coming only to my waist, which makes me look really short and thick-trunked. But the outfit we picked out works, and I won’t be worried about my clothes during the interview, which is the important thing.

I have a good feeling about today.

Read Full Post »

I’ve put in my best effort

So, I did the editing test to the best of my ability. After I sent it, I noticed I missed at least one thing, but overall, I think it shows I know how to edit, how to copy edit and how to write headlines and teasers.

And now I just have to wait to see if they want to hire me. I still feel pretty good about my chances.

Read Full Post »