Although I don’t have a fancy theme song like Melanie Griffith — no worries, kids, I’m working on that — I am now an official working girl. This weekend is my first real Saturday that I’ve had since I was laid off. I mean I did contract work and always gave myself a schedule but it was never the same when Saturday rolled around and the like-a-kid-on-weekend-morning you just want to stay in bed and watch cartoons all day. When I was unemployed it felt like I had to use my time wisely. I had to ensure that every moment I had was used to build my professional self and this was also true on the weekends. That’s when I felt I had to push myself harder to stay on top.
Since I joined the working ranks the committee for the prevention of unemployment people has taken away my fashion tote bag and they paid to remove my “unemployment forever” tattoo. Shoot. It all happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to say good-bye to my significant other — unemployment. He was there with me the last three months and while he was horrible at taking me to dinner or even being on schedule — hello EDD?– he did help me learn about myself like I still like eating peanut butter out of the jar. Gold star for him.
Unemployment was a big part of my life in 2009, mostly for the fact that it happened in January and now it’s April. Check back with me in a few years and I might have a better idea of how beneficial those three months were. So this weekend I’m cheersing to unemployment and the person I’m becoming. I still have a half box of Franken Berry cereal to enjoy and plenty of dried beans. All I’m missing is the peanut butter.
