Adulting - my way!

Hello to my faithful readers:

Tomorrow will make exactly one month since my last day at Twitter!  Wow - what a difference a few weeks makes.  I've spent a lot of time this week focusing my energies on quite a few things.  Here's the listicle of the top 10 things I did while 'adulting' this week:

1) Wrapping up all of my doctors visits so that I can take full advantage of the money I had left in my FSA account (almost $900).  The good news is that I'm healthy (though there was a slight scare with one of my breasts, which turned out to be nothing) and now I have new glasses on the way soon!  I will say the Cigna FSA process is a pain in the ar$e and very confusing.

2) I also finally transferred everything from my old Macbook Pro to my new one, wiped the old one and sent it to be sold for more money than I thought I'd ever get for it (I bought it in 2009).  This involved 2 appointments at the Genius bar to get things all resolved, but it was worth it.

3) I finally ended my #SocialMediaDiet (though I haven't added any of the apps back on my iPhone or iPad yet), so far I'm just limiting myself to desktop access.   One thing I recognize is that I will need to be cautious because honestly - I enjoyed the bubble of the past couple of weeks.  My anxiety went down because I wasn't seeing all of the news stories that made me angry!  

4) Ladies That UX LA hosted a financial seminar on budget and salary negotiation and I attended it (even though it meant schlepping all the way downtown).  It was excellent and I realized that I need to re-frame financial planning as an extension of my creative process because of the talk by Claudia McGowan.

5) I had a referral from one of my former Twitter colleagues for a potential freelance project that I might pickup this week!  It's for a company that really resonates with where my head is, which is philanthropy and making a positive impact on the world I'm living in, especially because everything seems so uncertain with our new President Elect making all sorts of diplomatic gaffes this week.  

6) Paypal encouraged me to participate in #GivingTuesday (so I did)

7) I finally found chairs that should work well with the new counter height table I ordered for the little nook in my kitchen.  I'm excited that the table will arrive tomorrow and the chairs should arrive by Tuesday!!!

8)  I've finally found a group of women in tech that I can connect with here in Los Angeles.  This week I reached out to a group that I'd been a member of for about a month and the reception was warm!

9)  I bought some Affirmator cards on a whim at World Market and they've inspired me way more than I thought they would... the way they work is that you're supposed to shuffle the cards, spread them all out and ask (God, The Universe, whatever higher power you believe in) to help you choose the card you're supposed to read for that day.  I pulled 'bonus' cards on Thursday (Abundance) and Friday (Perseverance) and the messages on them felt like just what I needed to see to keep me going!

10) I attended the Preserve LA meeting for the westside today to hear more about their Neighborhood Integrity Initiative.  Essentially they are a collective that want to help pass laws that will help keep the developer and city council/planning relationships here in LA on the up and up.

This issue is important to me because I've noticed some seriously horrendous developments cropping up all over the city.  Take for example this multi-unit apartment complex that has popped up on the corner of my street.

It looks NOTHING like the rest of the buildings on the block, though somehow it got a pass from the LA City Council and City Planning commission.

So this is 'adulting' for me now, which means actively being involved in my community both professionally and personally (I never did that at all in NYC), taking better care of my mental and physical health, plus focusing on becoming comfortable with the financial planning process for myself!

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog and I'll do my best to write more often.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

The benefits of unemployment

Hello my faithful readers:

It has been a while since I've posted a blog.  I've been quiet because I things have been quiet for me - I'm still working on finding a the right job for me.  Not working full-time has given me lots of time for self reflection and although it took me a lot longer than it should have while to realize it, having all of this unexpected time off is allowing me to cross off most of the non-work related goals I'd written for myself back in July 2010.

Rather than focusing on how terrible it is that I'm not working full-time, I thought I'd share with you some of the benefits I'm currently experiencing as a result of my unemployment.

1)  I have more time to focus on my spiritual side.  Since I've been home I've felt the need to strengthen my relationship with God.  I'm praying more and attending church more than the every once in a while I did when I lived in NYC.  I didn't make the time before, but now that excuse (no time) has been removed.

2)  I have plenty of time to spend working out and as a result I've lost 22 lbs. (and going) since I first realized I was gaining weight at an alarming rate (for me). Working out is also a great stress reliever for me and it does wonders for my mood.  I have about 8 more lbs. to lose before I reach my target weight and it's been great to have people notice all of the hard work(outs) I've been putting in.

3)  I'm getting to know my family much better.  I'm sure most of you are scratching your head and thinking - "get to know her family better what does that mean?"  Although I saw them at holidays and talked to them on the phone (and later by Skype), there was an awful lot going on that I missed in ten years away simply because I wasn't here.  It's been nice for me to allow myself to catch up with the circles of life happening right here in my own family and getting to know them as an adult.

4)  My friends, former co-workers and acquaintances have been great about sending me job listings, hooking me up with freelance projects, connecting me with volunteer opportunities, introducing me to their network for informational calls/meetings and offering me places to stay when I need to come to town for a visit.  It's a really great feeling when people are willing to lend a helping hand.  There have been a few friends who have really kept me going throughout this period and I'm eternally grateful for their help and support.  Never underestimate the power of encouragement - it really does make a difference on a bad day!

5) I'm also still continuing to learn Spanish - although I'll admit I haven't spent nearly as much time with my grammar books as I should recently.  I do make sure to squeeze in at least an hour per day of Spanish language programming and I'm happy to say that I comprehend (with captions) about 65-70% of the language without looking up the words as much in my dictionary.  I still need to work in my grammar books a lot more though.

Now this isn't to say that I don't have bad days, hours and weeks, but I think the most important thing for me in getting through this time of unemployment intact is my attitude.  I've had to make sure that I really focus on surrounding myself with positive people and positive energy.  It's really easy (for me) to get into a funk of self doubt and self pity, so I have really tried to make sure I don't spend a lot of time talking to people who help me to get to those places quickly (even if it's family).   It's nothing personal, just something I have to do in order to preserve my mental health and sanity.

This period of unemployment has also taught me more about my capacity for persistence and patience.  Some of the informational calls and meetings took me months to set up, but they finally happened - I'm still waiting on a few more to happen.   The fact that they are happening makes me more optimistic than I've been in a long time.  I can't give up! Good things come to those who wait right?

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

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