Officially EMPLOYED!

Gigantic, enormous, crazy sigh of relief. For serious. I am now officially an Office Assistant for a new company. I start Monday, so my Months-of-Unemployment Period is finally coming to a close. I had good days, bad days, fun times, and miserable times. And I learned a lot about myself and my capabilities. Also, I learned that I can live incredibly cheaply if necessary. I learned that I have a really great support system, and I learned that the job market really does SUCK big-time. "They" aren't lying when "they" say that.

I don't like to get on a soapbox very often, but I'm going to do so now for a minute. Being unemployed was at once exhilirating and terrifying. The times when things seemed hopeless and scary were very hard to deal with. People like me, who have a tendency towards clinical depression and extreme anxiety, may not always be very good at coping with that kind of stress. But it is important to seek help when help is needed, and it is even more important to stay active. Chris has helped me stay motivated to exercise regularly lately, and it has really helped me. I experienced a good bit of rejection in the past couple months, and I could have easily not gotten out of bed in the morning. That's what depression does to you; it makes it so you can't find a reason to get up and do anything about anything. But, I got through it all without having one day where I didn't get up or went back to bed to sleep the afternoon away. So, go me! I also had the help of my family and friends, along with that of a wonderful counselor, who all did their parts to keep me from going totally insane, so I just want to say thank you to all of them.

So, on Monday I gotta get my butt outta bed early in the morning, and drag myself to my new work. The first day is going to be scary! And getting back on a "normal" schedule will be difficult as well. And, Chris and I seem to have only just recently adjusted to both being home most of the day, so now we'll have to adjust back the other way!

In other news, my band is entering the home stretch of the recording process, and I will keep The Interweb abreast (yes, I said "abreast") of the details surrounding our album release. It's exciting stuff! It's so very glamorous! Photoshoots, days in the studio, CD replication, artwork... it's pretty cool. But, these things cost money, so it's a good thing we saved our pennies for so long!

sigh. Wine now.