Day 1

Boxes packed, the car loaded, goodbyes said.  Driving home from the office for the first time in the post-employee era, on a chilly February afternoon.  A small severance in my pocket, a rainy day fund in the bank, several people who rely on me for support, and a fledgling consulting business that dearly needs some of my attention.  A slightly bruised ego at being laid off, yet after all I've been through in the past several months, I am looking forward to some time to think, to plan, and to organize.

There is no time to think about what to do first, because there is a 3 hour GCP class to teach and then a quick pack for a long-planned but almost forgotten long weekend getaway to New York City with Rob.

Flash forward one week.  Home from New York, I am establishing a new routine that for only the second time in my life does not revolve around traveling to an office to log time.  Coffee and breakfast, read what passes for a newspaper in this town, walk the dog, then settle down to work email, make contacts for Anhvita, look for consulting work.  Take lunch to Rob at the store, do the banking, pick up groceries, do some more writing and  emailing, start dinner.  My to do list is as long as my arm:  taxes, email contacts from recent conferences,  update curriculum for my spring classes, make business development contacts, work on pieces for my writing group.  Somehow I need to absorb all the boxes I brought home from my recent job back into my home office.  I want to re-do the office and reduce the clutter.

I found an excellent blog about being out of work by Max Gladwell, here.  He talks about how the professional blog - not this one which is intended to be personal - can become Resume 2.0, that by blogging regularly about one's industry, you can actually set yourself apart in a way that the traditional resume will never do.  I am inspired to invigorate my Two Decades and Counting blog.  On the list for tomorrow.

I leave you with a photo from the trip to New York, a view of Central Park from the Mandarin Hotel on Columbus Circle.