In Case You Haven't Heard

In case you haven't heard the big news, I am now jobless. It happened Tuesday morning, a few hours into my work day. Honestly, there was nothing that gave me a clue to what was coming my way. Even when my boss asked to meet with me in the HR Director's office, I was telling myself not to overreact.

After working at Heritage for ten years, the decision to lay me off was the result of problems with the economy and funding from California (where most of our students are from) that led the governing board to aggressively pursue hiring a development director. They expect to hire a director with a lot of fundraising experience and the ability to quickly bring in some money. Unfortunately, there isn't enough money in the budget to hire that person and keep me on.

Because I took a long vacation after Christmas and Emerson bought me an amazing book that helped me adjust my attitude to be more positive at work, I actually handled this news fairly well.  In fact, as they were telling me some of the specifics with me losing my job, I kept trying to figure out how to make it easier on them. Every unfinished job haunted me and I wanted to be sure that things still got done. They could have kept me on a little longer to help with the transition, but they felt that would be unfair to me since it would distract me from finding another job.

One of the amazing things I learned during this process was that being positive is the best "revenge." No matter what you do, the job is gone. Being miserable, hysterical, etc. just makes it look like they were right to let you go. Taking it well and being positive and hopeful shows what a dignified person you are and that makes their decision harder for them to bear. I've already seen that being hopeful instead of mopey makes people want to help you more.

It's important to note that I didn't do anything wrong. The job loss didn't come as a result of any failure on my part.  This was a layoff or reduction in force due to changes the company decided to make. Sure, they could have tried to squish me into another job at Heritage and push somebody else out, but that wouldn't be fair to anyone. The clean break makes it easier to focus on getting a job that matches my skills and abilities.

I chose to take this bad news well and I'm determined to stay hopeful. Any company would be lucky to have me with all my talents and impressive work ethic. That doesn't mean that I don't have my down moments, because I definitely have those. It's easy to blame myself and feel bad for the impact on my family even though there is no blame to be had. Thankfully, I have friends and family who are giving me tremendous encouragement and support.

It's all kind of scary and I feel like I need one of those really fancy makeovers where they fix your teeth and laser your eyes and make you look amazing. I miss having my office since it was one bit of space that was all mine. I'm pretty sure I set a new record with 20 boxes, 3-4 bags, and 5 plants to move out of that office.  My stuff has all been stashed away at home, but I'm still trying to find a space to call my own.  I'm meeting with an outplacement counselor and have plenty of things to work on as homework. This counselor is my best bet for getting a job that matches my skills and my salary.

Please keep us in your prayers. We sure need all the help we can get right now.  I've decided not to panic for at least a month. I'll let you know how that works out.

Another Blog

I had more thoughts in my head than I could contain, so I started another blog. Since I try to stay focused on Etsy and business topics on the Surviving the Etsy Madness blog, I needed a more random blog where I could share other thoughts. The Spirit Bead Journals gives me that opportunity and I can still keep this blog personal and private.

Each of my blogs allows you to subscribe by RSS feed or by email, so I hope you are able to keep up.  Even if I don't get a chance to talk to you very often, the blogs will give you an idea of what's going on in my life.

Kathy's package arrived pre-opened

Thank you to everyone who sent us Christmas gifts. I still have a few gifts to send out and I hope to get them in the mail before the next holiday. Dwayne is trying for a job at Black Sheep Cafe, a new restaurant and gallery owned by our friend Winston Mason's family. Dexter is working on filling out his mission papers.