Thoughtful Thursday - One Month

Today is an anniversary. I have been without a job for one month.

Here are my goals:

1. Become bilingual.


2. Write.


3. Become an independent contractor.


4. Get my home clean.


5. Get fit.

I'll break down the status of each of my goals below.

Become Bilingual

• I have registered, paid, and been placed into French level 2. I'm really happy that I found a budget-friendly place to learn French. It is something I've always wanted to do as many of my family members only speak French and I want to be able to talk to them. Family reunions are seldom enough that it's entirely possibly that I will be fluent for the next one!

Write

• I am currently editing a short story for publication in an anthology this fall.


• I will be doing more edits on my urban fantasy erotica novel before submitting it to a publisher.


• I will be writing another short story for winter.

Become an Independent Contractor

• I am registered with a recruiter thanks to a friend I will owe dinner to.


• I have created a website.


• I have met with accountants.


• I am getting my financial advisor to talk with the accountants to get them on the same page.


• I have begun applying to contracts.


• I will be reading to refresh some of my skills because that never hurts.


• I should get business cards and a logo drawn up.

Clean the House

• I bought a small bookshelf to organize my things better.


• I bought a proper shoe rack for my closet to make better use of the bookshelf I had in there and now I can see the floor in my dining area.


• Did some recycling though there is more left to do.


• Did some dishes, but there is more left to do.


• This item will take longer as it is a lower priority than everything else.

Get Fit

• I've gotten some smaller plates and bowls from the dollar store to get better control over my portion sizes. My other ones will be left for special occasions.


• I'm aiming for 30 minutes of cardio each day.


• Every 2 days I'm doing other exercises.

Other than those specific goals, I'm continuing to do my martial art. There is a seminar and taikai (tournament) coming in a couple of weeks that I am preparing for. I came in third at the last tournament. I'm hoping to improve upon that. I've been working hard on my core strength, my focus, and my hip alignment. There is so much to coordinate between one's body, mind, and sword that it is not easy.

What is on my mind, though? Well, for a while I felt like nothing was improving. As I've been editing this short story, for example, I had 10 pages left no matter how much new content I added. Today, I finally broke through that and have 7 pages left. I'm stuck at the current place and need to do some thinking to get out of this spot. And on the job front, all the contracts available were asking for much more experience than I currently have. One came up today that I am missing some things for, but not as extremely outmatched as the rest. I was also informed of a potential writing job, which if I can't get a contract, at least I would be working in the interim and adding to my business writing skills portfolio.

I have some upcoming appointments through my job coach as I'm still unemployed. I am certainly not just sitting around. Tomorrow, I have a workshop on interviews. Next week, I meet with people regarding my clothing. I also have to put in another EI report. Due to severance, I haven't begun actually collecting any money from EI yet.

There is condo drama that is also on my mind, but I'm refusing to get involved.

As I've spent the bulk of the day editing, I am taking the night off from that. Dishes, laundry, and a movie are calling to me.

Ciao,
R~