OtterGirl537

and their bicycles. An amazing variety. Lovely pic. 2 months ago

For waking to a conversation with G, one of my favorite ways to wake up.

For a unexpected long call with Cy this evening, helping to take the edge off of all of my nervousness.

For officially having the keys to my apartment.

For lovely sunshine all day long. 2 months ago

It’s awesome you get to be part of the Brooks Racing Team. Best of luck. 2 months ago

For finally getting G and Ct’s gifts in the mail today. Especially important to get Ct’s gift in the mail so she’ll have it for her birthday.

For getting the Audi washed. Been meaning to for about 10 weeks and finally drove past a place today so pulled in and now she’s looking good.

For getting to the Coffee Social this morning. KF invited me at the Soup Social on Monday and I’m glad I went. I got an offer to take over a hypnotist’s business (probably not my thing), an offer to start an Edward Jones franchise and an offer to share my résumé. These networking things really are helpful.

For getting the suggestion that I may want a job as an analyst. Never thought of it before but LinkedIn has a couple of really interesting jobs that I think I could do.

For a great back and forth with T who is always so supportive.

For being able to help AK with the female Dachshund who is having back issues. Yesterday, I let AK know the little one was having problems and today, I was able to pick up the drugs and make sure she got them on time.

For an over all great day. 2 months ago

For a really good phone interview which resulted in a volunteer staffing position.

For the encasing warmth of a hot shower.

For the positive thoughts of friends.

For more daylight to remind me of the coming of spring and warner weather. 2 months ago

For finding good things to help with the PHR certfication studying like Funnelbrain.com with which to make flash cards and a study group on Linked In to help me study.

For reworking my résumé using the CareerHMO method. I got it reviewed and my mentor had no suggestions.

For making it to the networking event tongiht. Met a couple of really cool people and one of them asked for my résumé!

For feeling really positive after being down for a bit. Maybe Spring is in the air :) 2 months ago

For a productive day of studying both the CareerHMO stuff and the PHR Certification guide. My brain started to feel overloaded yet I met my goals.

For getting in my first work out in since early February.

For cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Yum. 2 months ago

1. What did I learn/remember last week? It’s important to go out and interact with people. It’s the best way to expand one’s world.

2. What was my greatest accomplishment over the past week? Getting out of the house and actually networking twice! I got close to actually having a job from it in just 2 days. It was amazing.

3. Which moment from last week was the most memorable and why? Talking with G. There are other things that should be memorable but I love just having Skype up and it ringing and being him.

4.What’s the #1 thing I need to accomplish this week? Take care of all the little things I need to do to prior to getting the apartment keys on Friday. Talk to the power company, pick an ISP, figure out what else needs turned on or transferred.

5. What can I do right now to make the week less stressful? Make a list of all things that I need to do and places I need to go so I don’t forget anything.

6. What have I struggled with in the past that might also affect the upcoming week? Time slipping. I get distracted so easily and I lose 5 or 10 minutes and then I’m behind. It bit me in the ass on Friday and I was late and slightly unprepared.

7. What was last week’s biggest time sink? Mine Sweep is still there. I can’t delete it so I’m working on rotating through my other things to keep from needing it.

8. Am I carrying any excess baggage into the week that can be dropped? I’m worried about things between me and G. He’s either going to want to be with me or he’s not and freaking about it is only going to push him away. I need to breath and trust.

9. What have I been avoiding that needs to get done? I’ve been happily active this week and I just need to keep at it.

10. What opportunities are still on the table? There are two career fairs this week. I also need to ask some of my Linked In connections to write up recommendations for me as I just found out you need them to get better visibility on the site.

11. Is there anyone I’ve been meaning to talk to? I did good this week and talked to most of my friends.

12. Is there anyone that deserves a big ‘thank you’? AK, every week for my room and board

13.How can I help someone else this coming week? Not sure if there are opportunities here

14. What are my top 3 goals for the next 3 months?
#1 – Find a job in DC which pays at least $85K and has good benefits
#2 – Find a doctor to help me figure out the ADHD
#3 – Take care of all the things I need to so I can move into my new home

15. Have any of my recent actions moved me closer to my goals?
#1 – I submitted 8 more job applications and signed up for CareerHMO, a job search coach. I also got signed up for a mentoring program and handed out my résumé twice as a networking opportunity.
#2 – Nope… sigh again.
#3 – I got my delivery requests processed, found out how to get the electricity in my name and started figuring out ISPs. Signed the lease.

16. What’s the next step for each goal?
#1 – Attend the two job fairs this week and work on refining the résumé.
#2 – Actually call one of the listed providers and see about an appointment and cost.
#3 – Transfer utilities, get new driver’s license, register the car, set up internet, buy basic necessities like cleaners and pantry items.

17. What am I looking forward to during the upcoming week? Actually getting into my apartment, even if it’s just to move the snowboard gear from AK’s to there.

18. What are my fears? Same as last week: That I’m never going to get called for a job. That I’ll run out of money. That’ll miss out on doing cool stuff because I’m pinching pennies.

19. What am I most grateful for? That Spring is coming and life will be blooming.

20. What can I do to make life more beautiful today? Smile, reach out to friends, enjoy the sunshine. 2 months ago

For getting a lot of things sorted out today.

For submitting 3 more job applications which were all a little outside the HR world but well within my abilities. I thought it was nice to try something new. 2 months ago

Although I did get all 1,400 calories last week courtesy of the snowboarding, I’m still off on this. I’m going to start a day early this week and include Sunday. I’m also going to refocus the Insanity program as well and finish it out.

TC #1 – 541 Cals/50 minutes
TC #2 – Tuesday morning/50 minutes
TC #3 – Friday morning/45 minutes
TC #4 – Saturday morning/45 minutes

Run #1 – Monday morning/30 minutes
Run #2 – Wednesday morning/30 minutes
Run #3 – Thursay morning/30 minutes

Total – 541 Cal2 months ago

I’m happy with this so far. The tooth care habit has been awesome and although I’ve not mastered the bed time routine, I’m much happier with it than I have been in the past.

For March, I’ve decided to focus on mediation as it will help with my stress due to the unemployment situation and I think will be the easiest to introduce this month with all the move related stuff going on. I’ll only work on it for 3 weeks since I want to cross into a new month.

Week #1 – Mediate for 5 minutes daily
Week #2 – Mediate for at least 5 minutes daily first thing in the morning
Week #3 – Mediate for 15 minutes daily first thing in the morning 2 months ago

I didn’t think of business cards as part of the job search for the unemployed. There’s no company information or job title so it seemed irrelevant. However, there have been several instances in the networking process where even though the other person knew I was unemployed, he or she still asked for a card. I have also been handed a simple introductory card by a professional women who doesn’t work. They seem to be essential. Now that I have a permanent address, I’ve gone ahead and ordered some business cards from FedEx online. They have a ton of templates which can also be customized. I ordered a simple white card with a dark red line under my name. I should have them by Friday. 2 months ago

In starting my new life, I have fears: I’m afraid I won’t find a job a want; I’m afraid that I will go broke while looking; I’m afraid that I’ll be rejected forever; I’m afraid I won’t get the résumé right and won’t ever convey my awesome capabilities.

To help combat these fears, I’ve developed a mantra: I’m amazing when I put my mind to it. I’ll write it down where I can see it every morning when I wake and just before sleep. I’ll say it every time one of my fears rears it head and starts to drag me down. I’m amazing when I put my mind to it.2 months ago

My life has changed so much now. The last listed focused almost primarily on what needed done in the immediate future, how to transition out of one life and into another. Now, I have several time lines on which to work. I’ve decided rather than rank the new list, I’ll outline by time lines. All of them are interdependent and I’ll have to work on each of them daily to meet the time lines so I feel they fit as the 5 most important things in my life.

In the next 3 months: Get a job

In the next year: Diagnose, treat and learn to manage my ADHD

In the next year: Build a healthy, holistic life full of creativity and laughter

In the next 1-3 years: start to build my family by finding a partner and having my first child

In the next 5 years: Find my tribe by exploring employment and volunteer activities so that I can have a successful and enjoyable personal life 2 months ago

This is week 1 and the assessment at the front of the study guide says I’m good at risk management and business management & strategy but not so good at employee and labor relations or compensation. Now on to studying, two hours a day for the next 11 weeks. 2 months ago

For waking up before 7 this morning. I’m getting better with this every day.

For getting the chance to be on the cutting edge of a résumé building engine. It was exciting to see and then to get a network opportunity out of it as well.

For lots of time with G both this morning and this evening. Smiling.

For lots of sunshine. Have I mentioned how much I love sunshine?

For caprese pasta for dinner. 2 months ago

for the support. I was beginning to think my lack of social skills had blinded me to something. What you said is basically how I feel about it all.

It’s weird because both of them were saying what they said to be supportive, wanting the best for me, and that’s not how it felt at all. 2 months ago

Karma and the golden rule are good ways to put it. These were just crazy conversations and coming at the same time made me feel a little weirded out.

Thank you for the words of support. 2 months ago

I had two separate conversations over the last 24 hours which upset me. The first one was with AP when we’re talking about my desire for children and how much I like G. She suggested that I allow myself to get pregnant by him, thereby ensure I have a child and keep him in my life. I felt somewhat appalled by this as it seems dishonest and underhanded although she seemed to think this would be acceptable.

The second was with AK about the job which I chose not to pursue due to lack of long term prospects. She gave me the impression that I should have pursued it even as a temp job for a few months. I’m also uncomfortable with this thought. I’d either go into without complete disclosure (i.e. I’ll be leaving as soon as some thing better comes along) or I’d give them complete disclosure and not get hired.

Now I’m sitting around before bed wondering about this philosophy, to just do what works best for oneself without consideration for others. Is there some give and take in this, a little more for oneself on this side and a little more for the others on that side? Or am I just being an idiot, missing out on life’s best opportunities because I consider people other than myself in my decision making? 2 months ago

For getting a relaxing morning of hanging out with AP and getting to see NP too. We got caught up and then I got to give her some useful resources for her doctoral dissertation.

For getting an invitation to participate in a personal branding résumé engine on Friday. I’ll get a new résumé out of it too :)

For a lovely conversation with the coordinator of an event with which I’m volunteering. She was following on a form I’d filled out but had issues, very helpful.

For lots of sunshine warming the car on my drive home.

For taking the time to calculate my salary range and figure out with what amount I can and can’t live.

For 5 more submitted applications to jobs I think I might like at companies I would enjoy working for.

For a new The Big Bang Theory, discussing the importance of how to get more women interested in science juxtaposed against societal norms with which women struggle. Way funnier than that sounds! 2 months ago

I talked to a company yesterday about a job I could have done quite well. The problem was that they could only offer in the range of $40,000 to $50,000 for this job. That’s definitely lower than I’d planned or wanted. However, my current income is $0.00 and even lower than I want is more than I’m currently earning. In the end, I said no because there’s no growth opportunity there and I would end up treating it as a temp job if I did take it.

Because of that conversation though, I sat down and worked out my preferred salary range and my low end salary requirement (seemed silly to calculate the upper end…) I could get by on $50,000 a year, but it means doing without a lot. 2 months ago

For an incredibly productive day getting prepared for the move, networking and focusing on the future.

For a lovely long chat with G.

For seeing AP, reminiscing about Korea, catching up on personal life and gossiping :) 2 months ago

For making it to the Rotary meeting tonight. I might have found a good job in a great location where I already have a connection.

For catching up with my new friends at Rotary and getting out of the house.

For having a productive day of getting nothing done. 2 months ago

The list is now outdated but I need to take some time to decide what my top 5 really are this year. I want to focus on building a family, find the right person to do that with. I also want to be able to communicate with others better; I feel like I’m not where I need to be there. I need to solve this ADHD thing as I think it impinges on the other goals. I think I’ll take this week to think it over and get a new list up. 2 months ago

That I’m a snowboarder and I’m really good at it. To be able to flow across the snow is a huge sense of freedom and it brings me out into the open. This is who I am. 2 months ago

1. What did I learn/remember last week? It’s okay to ask others for help. It’s a sign of strength, not weakness.

2. What was my greatest accomplishment over the past week? Making it to my snowboarding day. I managed to get up on time (before 6 AM) and drive all the way to Pennsylvania and I met the Ski Patrol I’m thinking of transferring to.

3. Which moment from last week was the most memorable and why? The snowboard instructor I was hanging out with told me I have great form and don’t snowboard like a girl. I felt validated and that even after not being on the mountain all winter that I hadn’t lost my edge.

4.What’s the #1 thing I need to accomplish this week?
Get refocused on starting my new life. Build some sort of schedule so I get stuff done. I seem to be forgetting important things until the end of the day.

5. What can I do right now to make the week less stressful?
Write down all of the things that need doing and when they need done by.

6. What have I struggled with in the past that might also affect the upcoming week? Same as last week… sigh. Not being able to get out of bed in the mornings. Not ignoring the computer games.

7. What was last week’s biggest time sink? Mine Sweep is still there. I need to just deleted the damn game and be done with it.

8. Am I carrying any excess baggage into the week that can be dropped? Still frustrated with my situation. I’ve made progress and put out feelers on things but I’m still waiting and that drives me crazy.

9. What have I been avoiding that needs to get done? Checking out the temp agency. Visiting the local job assistance place.

10. What opportunities are still on the table? All of them. I’ll just keep applying until someone talks to me. I need to figure out how to network out here too and I’m very challenged by that.

11. Is there anyone I’ve been meaning to talk to? SJ, Cy, the old boss, Mom

12. Is there anyone that deserves a big ‘thank you’? AK, every week for my room and board

13.How can I help someone else this coming week? Not sure…

14. What are my top 3 goals for the next 3 months?
1 – Find a job in DC which pays at least $85K and has good benefits
2 – Find a doctor to help me figure out the ADHD
3 – Take care of all the things I need to so I can move into my new home

15. Have any of my recent actions moved me closer to my goals?
1 – I submitted 7 applications and sent in 3 requests to volunteer agencies.
2 – Nope… sigh.
3 – I contacted the storage companies that have my stuff and found out what I need to do to have it delivered.

16. What’s the next step for each goal?
1 – Check for upcoming job fairs, go to a temp agency
2 – Actually call one of the listed providers and see about an appointment
3 – Submit the request for delivery, sign the lease, make the payments/deposits, schedule the deliveries with the concierge, transfer utilities, get new driver’s license, register the car, set up internet

17. What am I looking forward to during the upcoming week? Seeing AP on Wednesday.

18. What are my fears? That I’m never going to get called for a job. That I’ll run out of money. That’ll miss out on doing cool stuff because I’m pinching pennies.

19. What am I most grateful for? For a day on the mountain remembering who I really am.

20. What can I do to make life more beautiful today? Smile, reach out to friends, enjoy the sunshine. 2 months ago

For talking with G today. I asked him a hard question yesterday and for a while I thought he was going to be mad at me. In the end, he had a good answer and helped me learn more about him and myself.

For Ct being supportive of me by sending an e-mail she received by mistake, telling her she hadn’t been hired for a job she never applied to.

For a nice hot bath to loosen up all the muscles I used snowboarding yesterday.

For a nice Skype conversation with Mk. I smiled and laughed which felt good. 2 months ago

For getting up and making it to the ski patrol on time.

For a day on the mountain and a surprisingly good mountain.

For a nice complement from a snowboard instructor about my form and abilities. 2 months ago

Thanks! 2 months ago