What a Week! Thank Goodness I'm on "VK"!

It was an incredibly busy week, considering all the time I had on my hands, but I got a lot done, and accomplished most of my goals.

I had several rehearsals for choir and singing, and performed on Friday night at the Aurora Seniors' Centre with my choir buddy, Bill.  It was a great night, everyone was very friendly and seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.  I certainly did!  I also rehearsed with Heather for our duet for the Winter Concert - that one is going to turn out really well, based on our early efforts!  We had a really nice evening too, lots of talking and sharing.

Progress is being made on the choir's singalong booklets, I'm hoping to have that done very soon.  I also started working on the choir's scarves, had to run some tests to see what the best settings would be on my machine to  hem them, they're going to look great.  They have to be done before Nov 12, which is our next performance, so I've got to get smokin' on them!

A friend saw my blog last week and offered to give me a bit of help with the website and logo - her initial efforts were impressive, it's amazing what a fresh eye can do to improve something you're too close too! I was really touched by her offer to help, as well.

The draft proofing on the house is mostly done, and the garage is all cleaned out and fits my car!  RT thought it would be a good idea - it never occurred to me (duh!) And both cars have been cleaned out, and the windows cleaned, etc.  I've got to get my snow tires put on this week, and get an oil change, too!

I've started a new needle-painting project - quite an ambitious one, if I do say so - I'll post pics once it's complete.

My office space has been reorganized, cleaned and re imagined.  All the files have been organized, purged and the old contents shredded and recycled.

I've set up accounts on Workopolis and Monster, and queries on some local job searches, and sent out a few resumes to specific positions.  I have an agreement with LWM for an initial analysis of their customer base, I'll send out the contract and confid agreements to them this week. I had coffee with another colleague and got some great advice and encouragement from her.

RT is finished afternoons for a couple of weeks, that's a relief, but we still managed to find time to spend together, and relax. He's been a wonderful support during this transition and he's so much fun.

Free! Free I tell you!

Well, I'm done.  I'm at home, officially "on vacation", but really effectively unemployed for the moment.  I don't imagine it will last very long, but I will take a couple of days to stitch my ego firmly back into place,  and make my plans for the future.

The first of which is to finish my website for Peregrine Visions Consulting and get my business cards done.  I want to wait for N to do a logo for me, but I haven't heard from her in a while, which usually means she's very busy with college and stuff, so I don't hold out much hope.

The second is to organize my finances, figure out EXACTLY how much money I need to bring in to keep the wolves from the door.

But for today, just today, I'm going to laze around the house with my kittens, snack and craft. And breathe...  in AND out.

Career Developments - on Steroids!

Lots of excitement and change in the works right now.

My current position has not really worked out, I've known that for a while, and had planned to migrate to contract with them in January, so that I could branch out and explore new opportunities.

That decision has come to fruition, just a couple of months ahead of schedule. I'm going to be moving to full-time contracting as of Nov 1, and I'm both excited and terrified of the opportunities this will present to me.  The old adage "be careful what you wish for..." keeps resounding in my head. :-)

I've established a business identity "Peregrine Visions Consulting" and am in the process of finishing up a website for it.  I have a temporary logo, while I wait for one of my favourite artists to design me something, and I'm looking forward to doing some great things for clients/colleagues that I have had to refuse for the past ten months.

I have a lot of emotions in my head right now about the transition, and the decision, but I'm going to focus on the positive ones - I'm really proud of the work I did in the last ten months, and I'm proud I had the gumption to jump out of my comfort zone and try something different. You can't make the horse drink the water, there are things that I couldn't control, but I did the very best I could, and I'm happy with that.  I've made some good friends, that I hope will continue to stay in contact with me after the transition, and I've burned no bridges.  I'm blessed with a supportive partner who is encouraging, empathetic and an excellent cheerleader, and I've got a nice little office set up that I'm looking forward to working in, not to mention two excellent "assistants"...

More later.

Wow! How can it be October already???

I don't know where the time is going! But it seems to be going fast, and I'm going nowhere. I need to get so much done, and my list doesn't seem to get any shorter. grrrr

There's the Choir, and the Music Secretary stuff to work on.
There's my business, and the office, and paperwork.
There's the craft room, which is a DISASTER.  I bought a new sewing machine over a week ago and it's still in the box!  Not to mention the six or seven craft projects I have on the go.
There's the nightstand refinishing, which are half stripped and in pieces in the garage.
There's me - need to exercise, need to relax, need to get a manicure!

So why am I here, sitting in the dark, whining about it??  'Cause I can't sleep (again!) and I read that if you write it down you will stop worrying about it and relax enough to sleep.  meh. we'll see if it works.

The reality is that I am my own worst enemy. I volunteer for stuff, I start all kinds of stuff and over commit my time. Yep that's me.  And I do like to be busy. No, scratch that, I like to feel accomplished. And I do that by having a big list and scratching stuff off it. No feeling like that "tick". LOL

I've decided to take next week off.  I've got a lot to do (see above), but also a lot of thinking and planning to do.  And hopefully, by the end of the week, I will feel a bit more in control and have a plan for the immediate future.  Note to self: must think positively! :-)