Unemployed!

Since October 2008, I have been working for a non-profit organization, The Wireless Innovation Forum, as an office manager. This was the perfect job because I was able to work from home pretty much whenever I wanted to - just so I put my 25 hours a week in - and I got paid well. I was also able to travel to conferences a couple times a year, which I really enjoyed. 

I arrived home from our Annual Conference in Washington D.C. on Friday, Dec 2, spent the weekend recovering (after working for 71 hours the week before) and on Monday morning, Dec 5, my boss called to let me know that my services were no longer needed with the company. I was stunned, to say the least. Apparently, this was all in the works before and during the conference and my job and the Deputy CEO's job were being turned over to a management company in Virginia. They even had the new people at the conference observing how things were done and I had no idea - not even an inkling that this was happening. It was pretty devastating to me, actually. I think it was more the way it was handled than anything. I never received a "thanks for all you've done, we're really sorry to let you go" or anything. It was all matter-of-fact, business-like. My reviews were all close to perfect over the years and I worked really hard for this company, so it was like being kicked in the teeth. I was just told that because of the slow economy, the company was going in a new direction. 

This job was perfect because Real Estate has it's ups and downs and the last couple of years have actually been very down, so it was nice to have the extra income during this slow real estate time. So, in January, I mourned the loss of my job. It was so much a part of my everyday life, it was hard to move forward and know what to do with myself. I will survive, but this definitely was a jolt to my self-esteem and to my life in general.