Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Beginning

So, what does someone do after being laid off from work after years of faithful service?? Well, once the shock wears off and the joy of having some time to do 'whatever you want'...you start a blog. This is all new to me from this side of the computer, but I have enjoyed my daughter's blog (and some of her friends) for a while now so what the heck. I'm as adventurous as the next gal.
I've really enjoyed my time off, although I found home to be quite different from when I left it over 10 years ago. I started working after being a stay home mom for years. It was a fluke to take on this job, but it worked out beautifully in the long run, and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity. When I first started working, I had four children still at home ranging from ages 17-9. Upon being laid-off, I soon learned that those 10 years took a toll, and I no longer have all the many duties I had before starting that job. Plus, I hired out the housekeeping duties long ago (and don't really want to change that!!), so it was a challenge to stay busy.
Initially, I walked around in a daze, but soon I started doing some simple work on the computer for my son (we've been building a website so I helped complete that...and now have helped to get our second one finished). I appreciated the busy work, but felt I needed to do something more. We (my sweet husband and I) started looking into opening a business of our own. He has wanted to do this for years, but I came on board when I realized that I'd never be safe from losing my job again if I worked for anyone else. So, we've been contemplating and working toward opening a business. It's all going well, so hopefully things will progress and we'll be business owners soon. In the meantime, I've been doing a lot of reading, cross-stitching, and basking in the beautiful sunlight with these gorgeous early summer days. It's a life I've grown accustomed to all too well. I have gone on one job interview - a job that seemed to be written expressly for me. My thoughts are if it pans out, I'll decide from there and possibly work AND open a business. But, I feel fortunate to have the choice in the matter. So many people have no choices, and many are desperate. So sad.
I am totally looking forward to the next few weeks. I'm going to visit my daughter soon as she is giving birth to my second grandson. I absolutely adore my first grandson, Porter. He is so much fun to be around and my only regret is that we don't live closer. But, I have been able to spend 15 days with them after losing my job, and will be with them another 15-16 days when she delivers. I don't think I could have been able to take that much time off had I been working, so obviously, this lay-off has been a blessing in my life. I am totally looking forward to what my future holds. I am so blessed in so many ways, and for that I am truly grateful.