Not slowing down

Just as I thought, my schedule hasn't slowed at all since I was laid off. In fact, I think I'm busier now than before. My days are filled with an array of activities. What activities could those be, you ask? Allow me to bore you. :)

Absolutely every day begins with a 5am to 5:30am wake-up call from my 2-year old who points as the TV and says "shows?". Actually, it's less of a question and more of a demand. Within about 5 minutes comes the inevitable poke, poke, poke and the nose-to-nose interaction--or even a lift of an eyelid--and a demand for "mook" and "bar" (translation: milk and cereal bar). Sigh--downstairs I go to get the little munchkin "first breakfast" and then back to la-la land I go at least for a few minutes before the full-body beat down begins. What is this, you ask? It involves James turning the bed into a trampoline or me (Jim, too) into a kickboxing bag. Yeah, not so much fun when I'm trying to grab the last few zzzzzs.

Anyway, around 6:30 is when I rustle myself up to get into gym clothes, get James dressed, and get Jess up at 7am to get dressed and downstairs for breakfast (second breakfast for James--yes, he's like a Hobbit, always time for a meal when it's not the most convenient) and a show. We hit the road about 7:50-8am and get to school by 8:30. Then I'm off to the gym until a little after 10am.

After the gym, I've had a variety of things to do including errands, meetings with people including my mentee--the marketing manager at the kids's school and helping them with their marketing plans--colleagues from companies/agencies who might be able to help with my search, hanging out with Jim at the Clyde Hill Tully's to have coffee and work (love free wi-fi, when not at home), and meeting friends for coffee and/or lunch. Did I mention cleaning the house and laundry? Yeah, that, too.

Tired, yet? While I'm doing all the things I want and need to be doing, ultimately, I'd be a bit more comfortable with a regular paycheck and help my family. But, this is what it is, and I'm taking this time for what it is...an escape, a much-needed rest (rest? pshaw, right), a forcing function to find the next dream job, the opportunity to polish my story and know and understand what my next move is, do some reading and research, spend some time at the gym and get healthier, and more.

I've discovered that I'm getting more creative with my time. As I would expect of myself, I made a list of things I wanted to do this week. The list for THIS week is nearly complete. I'll do the same thing this weekend and create my list for next week and I bet next week, and the week after that, and the week after that, will be equally as busy.

Places to go, people to see, things to read, and more. While at times, things seemed bleak, I am indeed seeing a door crack open and light is peeking through. I wonder...who (or what) is on the other side and when do I get to pass through?