How I got here

So, a few months ago I decided it was time to move on from my job. After nearly five years I needed something different. I gave two months notice – what I thought would be plenty of time to find a new job.

My husband knew how much I needed to get away from my work environment and told me we’d be OK for “awhile” if I didn’t find a new job right away. Since he’s more financially savvy than me, I’ve let him take care of our finances for the last few years. So in truth I was ignorant to how long “awhile” might be (and maybe I just didn’t want to know).

As time wore on during the last weeks at my job, cover letter writing and searching Craigslist and Monster for that perfect new position seemed less and less important. I knew if I found something they’d probably want me to start right away and I was looking forward to leaving business casual and deadlines behind, even if only for a few weeks. I imagined sleeping in, lunching with friends and being one of those people I saw shopping unhurriedly while I ran my errands in lightspeed on my half-hour lunch breaks.

At a party a few weeks ago I told a friend my plans to take some time away from working and she said, “Well that’s good, so long as you can enjoy it and not get stressed out.” Not enjoy it - was she crazy? And how could I be stressed when I was ditching my biggest source of stress and angst? How could I be tense when I would be beholden to no one – imagine a weekday at home where I didn’t have to call in sick or take a vacation day? It was almost unfathomable.

And so here I am in my first week of unemployment. It’s 11:45 a.m. on a Thursday and my cat is sitting on my lap as I type this in my “home office” (my kitchen table + laptop + cell phone). In my first week “off” I’ve been hiking and to the beach on a Monday afternoon and thrift shopping on a Wednesday. Being at these places at these times is almost like traveling to a foreign country - things are generally the same, but somehow everything seems just a little bit different on weekday time. And now I’m off to be one of those leisurely shoppers I used to envy. I’m going to compare prices, read labels and take my time...