It’s been a month since I lost my job, so I thought I’d check in and let you know what’s going on. Since I didn’t have any pretty “unemployment pictures,” I interspersed photos from the week, just to keep things light and optimistic.
We’ve had quite a week of weather in the desert. This was in the morning after a thunderstorm on Wednesday.
Unemployed.
In a nutshell, I’m doing just fine so far. I don’t have a job yet (more on that below), and frankly, I’ve been enjoying the time off. The last few years months of my former job had been extremely stressful. When you’re in a position of trying to please a multitude of “bosses,” who, without merit, have a significant amount of influence over every move or decision that you make, it’s easy to get to the breaking point. Fortunately, I was fired before I got there.
The team had a tempo workout on Friday, so I did too. I really think my Asics Electro33s make me faster. Well, I feel faster anyway.
I finally started receiving my unemployment checks (well, one so far), so while we have to tighten our belts a little, between that and what Alan makes there is money coming in. I earn a little revenue from writing sponsored content, social media sharing, and advertising, so that’s a bit of a buffer too.
Unemployed. After one month, learning to deal with job searches, unemployment, new career choices.
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What about a job?
Well, it’s complicated. Most employers aren’t hiring during the summertime in the desert where I live. A significant amount of the population leaves once the weather gets hot. Many people are laid off for the summer because there just isn’t any business. So I didn’t even have any expectations for finding work in personal training or fitness management until it get’s a little closer to fall.
Our neighbor has two exchange students living with her for the school year. They are both runners. This is Janine, from Germany, who ran with us on Thursday and Sunday.
That being said, I have applied for a few positions, and talked to a few people about work. I sent out a couple resumes last week for fitness director positions, so hopefully I’ll be hearing something soon.
Social Media Management? Real Estate?
Fitness is not my only option as far as employment goes. In fact, I’m not even sure if that’s where my future lies. I have a few irons in the fire, some of which I’m pretty excited about.
I am taking some of my experience with social media and attempting to turn it into, if not a full fledged career, at least a source of revenue. I’ve been doing research on social media management, and feel that not only is it an up and coming career option, but that I have the knowledge and experience to be successful at it. After my Blogfest experience, I feel inspired to specialize and work with personal trainers, small gyms, massage therapists, and other business related to the fitness industry. I have an appointment with my first potential client (aside from my husband’s race production company (follow him here please!)) on Wednesday!
My most recent post on Media Fitness Coach (click the image to read).
To that end, I started a new blog, along with new Twitter and Facebook pages. The goal is to establish myself as an expert, and build a following in the social media field. A lot of you have followed along with me and this and I really appreciate your support. It’s a little scary stepping into a completely different field at my age. And if you have any suggestions, either about the blog, the career (or to offer me a job), I appreciate any insight or ideas you may have.
As for the real estate, well let’s just say the books are there, waiting for me to study. I’m kind of embarrassed that, even with the extra time that I’ve had while I’ve not been been working, I have yet to crack a book, take a test, or move any farther forward. But, I still want to do this, I just need to settle myself down and do some studying. However it turns out, having a real estate license is a useful thing to have.
So What Are You Doing?
This was from Saturday’s long run with the cross country team. We’ve had some amazingly cool weather this week, only 72 degrees on this morning. The raven in the picture was actually following me as I ran up the hill. He’d fly past me, land on the fence until I went by, then do it again. Plus, there was quite a planet display in the morning (though it was too dark for a good picture). Jupiter, Venus, and the moon made a very cool triangle.
Almost every day has been amazingly full. I start most mornings with cross country practice, so my day still starts really early. It also means that I’ve been running a lot more that before, sometimes up to five days a week, which is a lot for me. So far that feels good. With school starting this week, our practice schedule will change a little, plus our competitions will start, so I’ll be on the road in a yellow school bus on most Saturdays for the next two months.
From my Sunday run. My legs were pretty tired after running five days this week (a lot for me), so I fell back while Alan and Janine ran ahead a little. All the better for photo opportunities, right? Plus, I was loving how my Coeursports Chevron tank top matched exactly with my Banded2gether headband. Stylin’!
Managing two blogs takes a lot of my time! I’m posting once a week on the Media Fitness Coach, and two or three times a week here, so creating original content keeps me writing, researching, and editing a lot of the time. Plus I’m studying and reading as much information as I can about social media marketing, working on creating a new resume, brochure, and portfolio, and actively looking for jobs.
It’s not all about work though. Alan and I have been enjoying the extra time together. And my weekends have been especially full, between Big Bear, Huntington Beach, and Blogfest/IDEA World Fitness Convention.
Speaking of crazy weather, have you ever heard of a haboob? Neither had I until I experienced it, then it was all over the news. This was Thursday, and the wind and sand were enough to force me to cancel cross country practice.
I wouldn’t say that I have spent more time cooking than usual, but I have whipped up some yummy meals in the last week. I think it’s more a matter of inspiration than time. This week I made pizza, curry stuffed avocado, spaghetti (special request from Alan), and seasoned crusted tofu. Apparently I have burned through my cooking inspiration because tonight we’re having leftovers.
You’re seeing the “before” picture of the pizza because when I slid it from the board to the stone it stuck a little and it did not look as pretty after it was cooked. Still tasted good though.
This crusted tofu differed slightly from the recipe that I linked to because I used crushed multigrain and flaxseed crackers for the crust.
Even this weekend, though we stayed home, has been busy. I ran with the team on Saturday, and with Alan and our neighbor foreign exchange student on Sunday. We took the dogs in to Petco for their rabies vaccine. Which led to a flurry of doggy pictures of course.
We took Penny and Goldie for their rabies vaccine on Saturday. They were so good, and totally enjoyed the experience of cruising through Petco. They weren’t quite so cooperative when I wanted to take a picture though.
Black and while, Olivia and Coco.
You got to love a puppy. They go go go, and then collapse, re-energize, and go all over again. Johnny tends to fall asleep in the oddest positions.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that, while I’ve been enjoying the unplanned time off, I’ll be happy to get back to work, whether it is working as a personal trainer, fitness director, or social media manager (or some blend of all three).
You never know what you’ll see at Starbucks. Though we do see a lot of very young (15) girls dressed to the nines to celebrate their Quinceañera.
Have you ever been (involuntarily) unemployed? Any tips?