Ranty McRanterson + Some Interesting News

I think that's my new name. I DO have an explanation for my absence. It's in the vlog. Also please allow me to rant a little in this vlog. I also think it's my 12th vlog and not my 10th. Apparently, 33 is greater confirmation of my slow descent into senility. :)

Are you enjoying fall? Do you have any tips for how to cook a Thanksgiving turkey? I just found out this morning that my in-laws are actually coming for Thanksgiving. Oy!

I hope you all are well and not too offended by me. :)

Lots of hugs!
TSN

Should I Party...

like it's my birthday?!!! Well, it is just that. Today is my 33rd birthday. Good lord, that was hard to write. Sigh....Anyway, I talk more about my birthday in this vlog.

Here's a link to my other blog where I posted my 33 things for my 33rd year. Enjoy!

I'm off to not think about the future but enjoy this great day and figure out where I am eating tonight. :)

Just Checking In TSN Style

Hey, all!

I am checking in via vlog this time. I haven't done one in awhile. I miss them.

I'm having a very productive and rainy Wednesday here in NYC. I hope all is well in our neck of the woods.

Here's a preview of what's in the vlog:

1. Do you know WHY you procrastinate? Take some time and think about the reasons why you may put off important projects or tasks?

2. Does the manner in which a prospective employer treats you during the hiring process a red flag? (I think this has come up before, right?)

3. Entrepreneurship - do I REALLY want to do it?

Enjoy and "talk" to you all soon!!

I Can Do Better

So last week I totally had a public meltdown. Technically, this is my space to fall apart and not my other blog, Try Anything Once (yes, I can totally plug my own blog, thank you very much).

As I am sure you've seen here, I think it is perfectly fine to hit rock bottom once in awhile. I've been allowing myself to wallow in my own mental toilet. Yuck! I surely did wallow waaaay too much last week. Yet even before my little mini-breakdown, I think I was already on my way back.

It's not unusual for me to wallow just a tad, but I shouldn't feel this way. Why? Well, I like to think of myself as a person of faith, and I have not been exhibiting that to myself or by writing my craptastic post last week. By the way, based on Site Meter, it was the most read post I've ever had on my other blog. Can you imagine that?!

Lots of the things I've been reading lately have been reminding me to trust where I am and that God (Universe, Allah, Shiva, etc.) is working things out on my behalf. It's one of those things that I know, BUT I have learned recently that I am not doing a very good job putting it into practice.

Yet something caught my attention this past week during my church's weekly sermon. The visiting pastor mentioned that sometimes we go through trials and periods of upheaval not only for ourselves but also for others. It made me think a lot about my mother who has been unemployed for a little over a year now. (I have not mentioned it here 'cause you all know that I am relatively private). She was laid off of her job of over 25 years last year. She's having a hard time assessing what to do next after being at one workplace for so long. Unlike me, she does not have a multiple degrees or 30 plus years left in the workforce. While there are a variety of issues at work here, I know that it's been a hard road for her so far.

It got me to thinking that maybe I've got to keep myself together for her. I usually don't share my frustrations with my mother, but I feel like I've got to step it up for her (be a better role model and also perhaps eventually a provider)....and perhaps maybe I need to step it up for all of you too? Now let me say that I am no martyr or anyone particularly special. I am just crazy enough to write a blog post from time to time. I know that there are some of you out there going through job searches, having your own 30's life shifts, thinking about taking own projects and businesses, etc. I know that you read this blog. I want you all to know that I've got to be a better for you all too. We're all going to get through whatever it is we're dealing with currently. The change we seek will happen maybe not when we want it to, but it will. I think we'll all be a bit better for it. :)

Anyway, this was just a post to say that I can do better and plan to (and I have been...I've been meaning to write a post about entrepreneurship issues that I've been working through). Also feel free to call me out if I am not handling my business in terms of being forward-thinking and positive about what I've undertaken here. I'm serious! :)

My Girl Monica

I am sure you all think that I have been doing this process of career exploration completely and totally by myself because I'm clearly doing this super well. Nope!

I actually do have some help. I've been working with a career transition coach named Monica. Could I do this whole career change/exploration process by myself? Yes. maybe. Do I want to? Not really. As I have mentioned before this can sometimes be a lonely process both because I spend a lot of my time alone but also because I don't know that many people who have done what I'm doing.

Monica was a practicing lawyer before she made the transition to being a coach. She's gone through pretty much everything that I am now and that makes her a great support system for me. She has no preconceived notions of what she thinks I should do, and she encourages me to step out and do things that are scary to me and always call me out on my stuff when I need to hear that too. It's nice having a neutral sounding board for a lot of things.

Of course the only issue with this wonderful relationship is that I have to pay for it. Monica ain't cheap. It will also eventually come to an end. Either way, I've appreciated her help.

Thanks, Monica.

Don't Call It a Comeback

Ha! LL would be proud! :)

Popping in to say that I have not forgotten about this little corner of my blog world.




There's stuff on my mind and a birthday just around the corner.

June 1 (no catchy title for this post) :)

Hey there!

I've had a very busy late May (and June will be even more busy), and so I have not been writing as much as I'd like here. I also have to admit that my inspiration has been running a little low lately. I think I may be transitioning into a different phase in my little journey, so I am trying to figure out which fork in the road to take.

One thing that has been on my mind lately is the fact that people think what I am doing is easy. Well, it's not. Maybe I'm beginning to sound like a broken record here, but this job/career path search thing doesn't necessarily mean I sit at home and pop bon bons all day yelling at Oprah (although occasionally I would like to yell at Oprah). I don't want to start out this week here on the blog being angry, but I must say that I am getting a little tired of people feeling like I am chillin' here living the good life. I've had a few "comments" both verbal and written that what I am doing is somehow cushy and carefree. I will agree about that fact that Jim (my husband, not his real name) and I are not currently worried about paying our bills. We're making it. That being said, I don't really feel like what I am doing is constitutes an extended vacation.

This is %$@^#& is hard. Why? Well....

I spend most of my days alone. Most people I know have jobs and if they don't have jobs they are in school so that they can (you guessed it) find jobs. The other people I know have found a way to start their own gigs. This process in general is also pretty lonely because I often feel that I have no one to talk to about all of this. Most people I know have no clue what it's like to do real career exploration. Doing a job search is one thing, but I am in the process of possibly reinventing myself career-wise (or at least exploring that possibility) and most people I know: 1) don't understand why I'd want to do that; or 2) have never undertaken this themselves so they don't really get it. Others are ridunkilously successful themselves, so they don't really get a Thirty Something Nothing like me who's always struggled with feeling empowered in my career.

I guess people think that watching my husband work very hard everyday while I am not in the position to help; knowing that my earning potential is slowly eroding every day that I am not doing something (starting a business or working); not necessarily seeing the fruits of networking labor, yadda, yadda, yadda is wonderfully amazing. NOT! I wish I could send these people this blog post, so that they could somehow stop projecting their own staycation/funemployment fantasies on me. This is not a vacation and a lot of times it's not fun. I'm not struggling living in abject poverty alone, but this little journey of mine has its own related issues, frustrations and heartbreaks that I wish people would find the time to think about before opening their mouthes or letting the words fly across their keyboards and onto their computer screens.

Okay. Phew! I'm glad that I got that out. :) I usually don't blog like a meany or "angry", but sometimes I think you've got to put stuff out there. Thanks for letting me get this off of my chest.

More informative and (hopefully) inspiring stuff to come.

By the way...OMG..it's JUNE!!!!