- I was super unhappy in a toxic environment and needed to get out.
- Because I didn’t have a job, I was able to travel to help my parents when they asked.
- When it turned out my dad’s cancer was back, I was able to spend as much time as needed with them.
- If I had still been in my job, I would have filed for FMLA, meaning they couldn’t have terminated me. I’d be stuck on payroll but with unpaid time off. Two months of non-paid leave vs. 9 months of unemployment, some of it with a pandemic-bonus.
- Because so little was hiring, I was able to take time to really explore where I wanted to go and decide what was really important.
- Bonus time off gave me time to get household projects done, start exercising, take professional development classes, travel to my nephew’s graduation, and so much more.
- It also allowed me to go on a week long mission trip to Haiti, physically being part of an organization I’ve supported for years. (Love For L’Allemand)
- In the end I landed the perfect job that fits every one of the things on my list!
Category Archives: COVID-19
How Job Hunting is Like Dating
- In the beginning you’re choosy, but eventually you hand out resumes the same way men use Tinder: Swipe right on everything.
- Your friends tell you their success stories so you start to believe you just might find the perfect match.
- It’s all about the networking. But that’s exhausting.
- Most of what you find isn’t even slightly attractive.
- What looks good also looks out of your league.
- Everything that seems interesting ignores you.
- When anyone gives you the slightest bit of attention you get giddy, even when you can clearly see they are not right for you.
- Meeting in person for the first time is nerve-wracking.
- You buy new clothes for that first meeting, even though this is the first time you met so how would they know if the clothes are new or not but you do it anyway.
- After your meet up all of your friends want the deets but really all you can say is “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see.”
- After a couple weeks of radio silence you realize you’ve been ghosted.
- Half the time you get 15 minutes into that first meeting and you think “Eh, is this really the best option I’ve got?”
- In general, the process stinks.
Surprising Things I’ve Accomplished This Year (specifically given that it’s been a corona-year)
- Checked two new states (North Carolina, Mississippi) off my list
- Missions trip to Haiti
- Three “airports” in one day
- Landing & taking off on a dirt runway
- Attending/walking in a Haitian funeral processional
- Ate goat for the first time
- Iguanas in the wild (in Miami… they chased me away from my lunch)
- Finished unpacking all boxes from moving end of 2019
- Started packing up to move again
- Attended nephew’s high school graduation
- Vacation to San Diego
- Lodging at the fabulous beachfront Tower23
- Riding bicycles to Mission Beach
- Completed “Visual Communications” course through Sophia Learning
- Put more than 10,000 miles on my car
- Ran three trivia nights before the world shut down
- Read 29 books
- Successfully began intermittent fasting (lost 8 pounds and dropped my A1C from 6.1 to 5.4!)
- Watched multiple full series on Hulu and Amazon Prime
- Achieved level 40 and then level 41 on Pokemon Go
- Applied for 66 jobs
- Got hired for exciting new position with city of Clinton, Iowa!
Books I’ve Read Since COVID Started (in the order I read them)
- Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators | Ronan Farrow
- Pineapple Grenade | Tim Dorsey
- My Husband’s Wife | Jane Corry
- The Riptide Ultra-Glide | Tim Dorsey
- Tiger Shrimp Tango | Tim Dorsey
- Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys | Eric Garcia
- It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) | Nora McInerny
- Red, White & Royal Blue | Casey McQuiston
- Shark Skin Suite | Tim Dorsey
- Untamed | Glennon Doyle
- Fast, Feast, Repeat: The Comprehensive Guide to Delay, Don’t Deny(R) Intermittent Fasting | Gin Stephens
- Coconut Cowboy | Tim Dorsey
- She Went All the Way | Meg Cabot
- Maestra | L.S. Hinton
- What to Say Next | Julie Buxbaum
- No Happy Endings | Nora McInerny Purmort
- Clownfish Blues | Tim Dorsey
- A Map of Days | Ransom Riggs
- The Conference of the Birds | Ransom Riggs
- The First Time She Drowned | Kerry Kletter
- One to Watch | Kate Stayman-London
- The Pope of Palm Beach | Tim Dorsey
Things You Do NOT Need to Feel Guilty About Right Now
- Feeling depressed or anxious
- Being tired
- Missing the people you used to hang out with
- Seeing the people you used to hang out with
- Clinging to your family
- Not being able to spend time with your family
- Sending your kids to school
- Not sending your kids to school
- Having a cheap face mask
- Having the most expensive face mask that exists
- Not having a job
- Wishing you didn’t have a job
- Loving your job
- Hating work-from-home
- Loving remote work
- Fearing the uncertainty of the future
- Being sad about the world around us
- Being angry about the world around us
- Being closed off from the world around us
- Eating at home
- Eating out
- Picking up food to eat somewhere else
- Going for walks/runs/jogs
- Cocooning at home
- Not being able to concentrate on reading
- Reading more books than ever because you have nothing else to do
- Being unproductive
- Being so productive people around you complain
- Sleeping late
- Not sleeping well
- Doing whatever it is that you need to do to survive or even thrive
TV Shows I Have Binged During Corona-Lockdown
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Schitt’s Creek (again)
- Super Store
- The Bachelor / Greatest Seasons Ever
- Survivor (Of course!)
- Holiday Baking Championship
- Wheel of Fortune
Things I’ve Done So Far During Quarantine
- Dishes — a lot of dishes
- Put away all the laundry that was sitting in piles of “This is clean; I’ll put it away someday.”
- Cleaned out two boxes of stuff from my job
- Practiced piano
- Started a 1000 piece puzzle
- Caught up on current season of Schitt’s Creek (so sad it’s over!)
- Caught up on current season of Spring Baking Championship
- Caught up on current season of Sister Wives
- Watched last season of Flip or Flop
- Watched season three of Lie to Me
- Cleaned all main floor floors
- Cleaned kitchen more times than I should have to
- Actually cooked real food
- Walked outside daily
- Signed up for GeekNerdDating.com
- Forgot to cancel before my trial period was up
- Interviewed for a job
- Updated my resume
- Read
- Stacked up a bunch more books to read
- Debated rearranging all furniture in living and dining rooms but decided that was a terrible idea with nobody to help me
- Video chatted with Grandbaby/Son/Daughterinlaw
- Video chatted with my Tribe
- Talked to parents daily
- Spent too much on Amazon
- Cleaned off all my ceiling fans with the new extendable pole duster I got on Amazon
- Had groceries delivered twice
- Had pizza delivered once and then was reminded that pizza messes with my stomach something fierce
- Listened to birds singing
- Took lots of nature pictures
- Set up a private Facebook group for the condo association where I live
- Wrote social media posts for pages I admin (some scheduled out through August)
- Organized my Sharpies
- Set up a main floor work space
- Tried to wear something every day that makes me happy
Games I’ll Play Solitaire During Quarantine
- Bingo Blitz (Facebook)
- Nonograms
- Word Twist
- Jigsaw Puzzles
- Bubble Town (MSN Games)
- Solitaire
- Pokemon Go (barely)
- Drinking Games (if this goes on long enough!)
Snacks I Got for Quaratine
- Chips & salsa
- Smarties
- 2 different flavors of “brownie in a mug” mixes
- Welch’s Fruit Snacks
- Peach snack packs
- Potato chips
- French onion dip
- Chicken wings
- PB&J
- Gobstoppers
- No-bake cheesecake mix
- Blueberry muffin mix
- Eggs so I can make peanut butter cookies
- Ice cream
- Caramel topping
Things For Kids To Do While You Are In Quarantine (and they won’t even realize they are all educational!)
- Invent a new board game
- Use chalk art to turn your entire driveway (or front porch, or back deck, or garage floor) into a mural
- Write letters to people you know
- Make hand made cards to mail to strangers in nursing homes
- Bake cookies
- Plan a menu based on ingredients at home
- Learn to cook
- Watch animal videos (Cincinnati Zoo, Shedd Aquarium)
- Make up fun songs
- Read Shel Silverstein online and then write silly poems like he does
- Create a dance routine to a favorite KidzBop song
- Write a rap about the period table of elements, (or the Greek alphabet, or mutiplication tables)
- Film your rap on TikTok or SnapChat or Facebook live
- Plant a container garden
- Do a multi-week experiment about what kind of music helps your container garden grow faster, (find a “scientific method” chart online to help with recording their hypothesis and testing it)
- Detail the inside of the car
- Video chat grandma
- Teach grandma how to use her video chat first
- Read big books together (Harry Potter, Narnia, Animal Farm, Moby Dick, Alice in Wonderland)
- Do YouTube videos for family meditation
- Do online exercise videos from LesMills or your local YMCA
- Measure all the things
- Design charts to show the measurements
- Create a stop-action film with Legos or play dough or stuffed animals (or, if you really enjoy Bob’s Burgers, with a pound of raw hamburger)
- Write a movie script, design sets with items on hand, film it, post it online
- Let them find Pinterest activities they can do with common household items
- Build the Best. Fort. Ever.
- Draw their own comic books
- Make salt dough and play with it
- Memorize something (Scripture verses, your favorite monologue from a movie, the preamble to the Constitution, all 50 states in alphabetical order)
- Hide Easter eggs around the house
- Do old fashioned calisthenics
- Organize toys (NOT YOU… let them do it and then be okay with how they do it)
- Create a time capsule to open in 10 years
- Bury it in the back yard
- Hide a “treasure” and then make a treasure map for others to find it
- Use paper plates or construction paper to make giant Scrabble letters and play word games
- Help change the oil in the car
- Learn how to change a flat tire
- Do easy science projects like eggs in various liquids, or testing air pollution, or the effect of germs on bread (all on Pinterest plus a million more)