All dressed up and nowhere to go.

Welcome to day one of the "Fall of Mariah!"

Hmm, that was supposed to be more inspiring - sort of akin to the "Summer of George" from Seinfeld, but instead, it reads more like my life has fallen apart.

I had a whole plan to start my day bright and early at a new gym, but it seems in addition to an over-priced deck of playing cards, I also brought back a stomach bug as a honeymoon souvenir. My new husband and I have quickly gotten over our shyness at never having lived together and all the bathroom related awkwardness that implies.  We had no choice, given that we both came down with a case of the DRRs (Dominican Republic Runs). That's just a disease I made up.  Don't WebMD that or anything.

This post has really gone down the toilet, but trust me, I have plenty of other shit to cover today.

I mentioned in my previous post that I needed a plan.  I'm a task oriented person by nature.  It's part of what makes made me good at my job.  Trying to navigate this new unemployed existence without some kind of a game plan gives me extreme anxiety.  I go from being confident about my employability in so many fields, to seeing myself on the couch, buried under throw blankets and Krispy Kremes, 100lbs heavier, injecting myself at regular intervals with insulin to support my new diabetes diagnosis.  In other words, not living the dream.

But it's still daunting to start at square one.  Before I went on my honeymoon, I jotted down a few random thoughts that, post trauma, have sort of congealed themselves into a schedule for how to spend my unemployed days. It's still a work in progress, but here are the 7 things I think I need to do while I'm between careers:

1. Pray
2. Exercise
3. Clean
4. Work
5. Create
6. Cook
7. Recharge

I know myself and my lazy tendencies well enough to know that I have to have a schedule and a to-do list.  I don't want this to feel super rigid; I just need enough structure to get through a normal-length day without succumbing to the gentle pull of QVC and Maury Povich.

Here's how this will work:

6:30am - My alarm will go off, and I will ignore the impulse to hit snooze.  This is an hour and a half later than I'm used to getting up, so this should not be an issue.  I don't mind taking advantage of a more relaxed schedule, but I don't want to lose the ability to go to work at a normal time.

6:45am - Now dressed for the gym, I will spend about 30 minutes on a bible study/quiet time with the Lord.  This is one of those things I always tell myself I would do if I didn't have such a tight work schedule.  Well, I've been given the gift of time, so I'm going to use it to strengthen my relationship with the Big Guy! I hear he's a great counselor, and I assume that includes all manner of career transition services.

7:15am - Head to the gym.  I already found a Planet Fitness very near my house.  It's affordable - $10 a month, and comes with free personal training services.  I'm used to working out 30 minutes 4-5 days a week.  I'm going to start putting in 60 minutes 5 days a week.  I may be unemployed, but I'm going to look GOOD while doing nothing!

8:45am - I am going to clean something!  Admittedly, this is the part of the plan I am the least excited about.  My own husband, who not even two weeks ago publicly pledged to support me forever, has zero faith in my abilities here. To be clear, "clean something" can mean a number of things.  Basically, I just mean I'm going to contribute to the running of the house in some way - I can actually clean a room or a bathroom, tidy up a space, organize a closet, tackle a random errand, etc.

9:30am - Hit the showers.  I'm going to bathe, get dressed in normal clothes (not just fancy sweats), fix my hair, and put on make-up and jewelry. I think this is a crucially important step for anyone experiencing a traumatic life event. And my husband will probably appreciate that I don't smell like a foot.

10:00am - Get to work.  This will look different on different days.  I will be researching careers and companies, applying for jobs, following up on applications, handling severance related paperwork, taking career transition courses, etc.

12:00pm - A girl's got to eat!

12:30pm - Time to create!  I have a number of creative hobbies that I never get to pursue anymore because I simply don't have time.  I'm going to give myself about a half hour every day to play the piano or flute, work on a knitting project, or do something else that gets my creative juices flowing. Suddenly I'm reminded of being in elementary school.  We had what they called "specials" which were our daily art, music, or library time. Adults deserve "specials" too.

1:00pm - Get back to work.  More of the same - researching careers, applying for jobs, finding networking opportunities, work on this blog or other writing projects.

4:00pm - Recharge.  I need to take some time to just relax - watch a little extra television, read a book, catch up on some blogs I enjoy, take a nap - whatever floats my boat that day.

5:30pm - Make dinner.  My husband is totally on board with this part of the plan.  I have gotten lazy about cooking over the past few months while I've been waiting to get married.  Now that I have a permanent home again, I want to work on making new and interesting dinners every night.  My husband is concerned about my use of the word "interesting."

In addition to the schedule, I'd like to do the following things each week:

1. Attend one Weight Watchers meeting.
2. Shop for groceries.
3. Have lunch out with a friend or my husband once per week.

Hopefully, I'll be able to give regular updates on this blog about my progress.  If the schedule doesn't work, I'll adjust it.  It's all a work in progress after all, and the point is to keep me focused, not make me hate my new life.

But here's the thing about the best laid plans - they get screwed up in a hurry.  I was sort of supposed to start this new schedule today, but there are a number of things I need to do as a newly married gal before I can really get going.  So here's what I did instead:

• Made the bed - yes, I'm counting that as an accomplishment.
• Showered, dressed, hair fixed, and make-up and jewelry on.
• Got my home office set up.
• Unpacked from the honeymoon - yeah, I'd been putting that off.
• Washed, folded, and put away 3 loads of laundry.
• Organized the master bathroom (now that my stuff is officially moved in).
• Cleaned out the guest bedroom - it had been used as wedding prep central.
• Had lunch with my husband and mother-in-law.
• Unpacked and put away a few wedding presents.
• Tried to access the online career transition services website my company paid for - this was annoying and really deserves its own post.  Suffice it to say, nothing at the company works, and the call center reps don't speak English.  Thanks for nothing.
• Signed up for career coaching, resume prep, and interview skills courses through the physical career transition office.  I'll be taking those classes on Wednesday.  I'm not sure I need them, but I want to take advantage of whatever is offered to me in terms of advice or assistance. 
• Sent my resume to someone I know at another company who had sought me out while I was on my honeymoon.  I'm not sure this will turn into anything, but you never know, and I certainly appreciated someone showing some interest. 
• Updated my budget to reflect my most recent paycheck.  It's so weird to still get a normal paycheck even though I don't really have a job anymore.
• Wrote this blog.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day.  I feel like I got a few things done on the career front, while still easing into a new schedule. The rest of my week will probably be a little off schedule while I take care of some newlywed business like getting a new social security card and driver's license.  

I'm feeling better as the day goes on, so I am going to start back to the gym in the morning.  That should be interesting after a week of heavy food and lots and lots of vodka. I wonder if Planet Fitness will provide me a personal vomit bucket.  I guess that's what the trainer is for.

Since I'm used to having coworkers to talk to all day, I'd appreciate some comment love to make me feel less alone.  Tell me what you think about the plan, share your layoff story, or post some advice or encouragement.  The more cliche the better.  If it belongs on a motivational poster, it belongs on this blog...obviously.