LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

True to form, I finish NaNoWriMo and completely neglect the blog. So to keep up the creativity, I’ll be doing the Reverb10 until I lose interest. And I’ll back-post the first few.

Let Go: What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?

I let go of the naive hope that I will end up retiring from my current job. I think unless we spin off our Horseless Carriage lab from the Buggy Whip factory it’s attached to, I’ll be unemployed within a year. And unfortunately, the buggy whip sales still pay ther Horseless Carriage employees’ salaries.

Next is to let go of the “What do I do next?” fear and just FIND a niche for myself.

Whoa! I time traveled a bit, it seems, to catch up on the Reverb 10 project. Happy birthday, John! Hope you enjoy your spaghetti, 4 cheese ravioli, peppercorn steak and roasted chicken at dinner tonight!

One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? (Author: Gwen Bell)

Disappointment.

>> And I know it sounds maudlin, but really, 2010 was disapppointing for many reasons, such as:
>> Despite a forest’s worth of resumes and cover letters sent out, WM has yet to find a full time job. He’s subbing, which sucks.
>> I thought the paper was doing better, but was disappointed to find that not only were we not doing better, but there was another round of furloughs.
>> The unresolved thyroid crap. I’ve taken myself off of the medicine entirely and feel fine. No more sleepy, no more freezing, etc. But I’m disappointed that I felt like crap for the entire spring and summer. I’m going to make an endocrinologist appointment in January.

>> I was disppointed by some people this year, too. Just, stuff.

(WHOOOSH!)

Whoa! It’s 2011! Neat! This is a cute hairstyle!

2011 was triumphant! How could it not be?

>> WM has a great classroom of kids this year.
>> My job is troublesome still, but I’m supplementing my income with a fledgling jewelry business.
>> We’re paying off all of our debts and are finding extra money everywhere!
>> Did I mention that we could also afford a vacation again. What a blast!
>> And I finally did that thing that I was afraid to do. You know that thing? From earlier in the year? Done. And it was great.

Too bad the world’s ending in 2012.

Yesterday marked my 11 year anniversary at the Courier-Post, a job that I only intended to stay in for 2 or so years to get some Internet experience before I made my riches elsewhere.

Oh, how silly I was.

In commemoration, here are 11 things I enjoy about my job:

1. The knowledge that we put out a brand new product every single day. It’s really cool!
2. The Courier-Post is truly a part of SJ. It’s over 130 years old!
3. Every morning, the office smells like fresh coffee and newspapers. So it smells like Sunday morning every day of the week!
4. They pay me weekly. Not many places do that anymore.
5. I’ve played a large part in building courierpostonline.com from a flat page with 7 stories on it each day into a growing and vibrant website that’s updated all day long.
6. Unfiltered internet access. ‘Nuff said.
7. Ninety-five percent of the people here are smart and funny and hardworking and a pleasure to deal with every day.
8. It’s across the street from a great pizza place.
9. Uh…Mountain Dew in the vending machine? When it works?
10. Numerous layoffs result in fantastic parking spots for those who are left?
11. ???

Okay… looks like I should have planned this out a bit better. Anyway, I bought some flowers for my desk and I have my fingers crossed that I’ll be getting my first raise in 3 years.

It’s a living.

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No Play-Doh today. NaNoWriMo is taking up all my creative juices.