Getting laid...off

I've taken a bit of a break from blogging because, well, life has given me a few hurdles. I went back home to Virginia for a week over the Memorial Day holiday. I figured 3 and ½ months after my move would be a good time to get a taste of home and to tell everyone how much I love California. Well, my trip to Virginia ended up being a bit different than planned.

So I left for Virginia with:

*A Tan

*Enough clothes for a week

*A job

I returned to California with:

*A panini maker

*400 Fish oil tablets

*Way too many pictures of my cat

*A Crown on my tooth

*No job

*Apprehension about the future

In a way, the beginning of my trip was so depressing that it was kind of comical. I had known for a week prior to leaving that there was a possibility that I would get laid off. Mentally I was prepared for it but the reality of being unemployed after just moving across the country was a bit unsettling. Here's the kicker--I received a call on the Monday night of my holiday with the news (Happy Memorial Day?).

To top it all off, I had a sudden and horrible toothache that day so I went into the Dentist on Tuesday morning and was told that I would need to get a root canal. Seriously, was the God I don't believe in unleashing some sort of wrath on me? With my insurance only lasting 3 more days, I had an emergency root canal done on Wednesday. I had something which was supposed to be done in four visits done in one sitting. The dentist's office told me I had a record for how long I was sitting in the chair. I guess you can call that a silver lining.

So after the demoralization of being laid off, the physical pain of going through a root canal and the financial pain of having to pay an unexpected $600 for the root canal, I can't say that I was in the best of spirits early in the week. But after having the re-charge of seeing my good friends and spending time with my extremely supportive family, my perspective on the situation turned quite positive. I will be working for the rest of my life, this time of unemployment is just an opportunity for me truly relax and re-charge and strategically plan my next steps for a career change. The only thing I know for certain, I want to stay in Southern California.

What has been most overwhelming about the whole situation is how supportive and willing to help everyone has been. My former colleagues were exteremely supportive and had such positive feedback and kind things to say to me. With a very limited professional network in LA, I have really had to reach out to everyone I know to put me in touch with people that they know in LA. I've had some success professionally that way and in the least have been making more connections and more friends through the experience.

While being laid off was less than ideal, I'm glad I used my former job as a vehicle to bring me out to California. I don't think I would have done it otherwise. I always tell myself that life could be a lot worse. Afterall, its summer, I live in a wonderful and fun community, and this is what I see every day: