Action is Eloquence - William Shakespeare

"Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action."

  ~Walter Anderson, The Confidence Course, 1997

Oh how I wish I could blink my eyes like Jeanie in "I Dream of Jeanie" and just make everything better.  Alas, it doesn't work that way.

I am staying super positive considering the events in the past (almost 48 hours.) I stayed on task yesterday, knocking out my little "to-do" list, attempting to be the "supportive wife" (lot of good that does) - and just breathing.

I was doing fine until I decided to FINALLY check out the unemployment site. I will receive (if approved) at max of $265 a week. To say that is significantly less than what I made would be an understatement.

Translation - either find a job no later than late September, or move (somewhere) or go homeless.

I just laughed, but the truth is, those are my only options.

I talked to my parents, and believe it or not, they were sympathetic. Of course, they both agree that  someone needs to step up to the plate and take a little more responsibility than they have in the past. ;-)

I am not down. Please know that. Surprisingly I am an auto-pilot, laughing and smiling when I can. I made a long list of things I have to do this next week. It sort of gives me a sense of accomplishment. I thought I would share them with you!

Nicole's "Get It Together" to-do list:
1.  God first. I have no excuse now. I need to spend time reading the Bible, finding inspiration, and turning this over to God. In turn, I felt inspired to make this list. ;-)

2. Call the HR Director at my former job and find out when and how this severance thing works.

3. Apply for unemployment. :-(

4. Make payment arrangements with a certain Power Company. ;-)

5. Double check that I cancelled my gym membership properly (online.)

6. Meet with the Assistant News Director at the TV station I mentioned before. Just check out the possibilities.. and make a new contact all at the same time!

7. I promised to take a friend to the Train station.  (Keep my promises.)

8. Apply for whatever thing is available with my student loans to stop payment for a while.

9. Make sure all of my prescriptions are uptodate, before insurance runs out.

10. Put my Dining room suite up for sell. It's big, it's nice, and I have no choice.

11. Possibly sell the twin/guest bed.

12. Check out Angel Food Ministries. You can purchase low cost boxes of food to sustain a family of 4 for at least a couple of weeks. I figure, if nothing pulls through, may be my only choice for September. (see - thinking ahead!)

13. Use that Ross Bridge Spa gift certificate I was giving for my birthday. I think a hair cut or massage would be nice.  It's for $75 and I think it may be just what I need to feel like my old self again.

14. I am going to organize my closets (again) - but this time, truly downsize, especially if I end up having to move... somewhere.

15. Maybe download some of my cds to my laptop, and try to sell them at Coconuts. (They buy used cds.)

16. Same with the DVDs  - just sell them.

17. I did organize my bills - so I feel good about that.

18. I will make looking for a job, my job. I will check Monster, Careerbuilder, and Idealist.org daily. I will shoot out resumes, and track them each day.

19. Update my resume to include more social media.

20. NOW I finally have to time to study Arabic.

21. I have no excuse not to exercise for at least 1 hour each day (here at home.)

22. I went ahead and stocked up on some groceries to get me through the month. NO EATING OUT. NO EXTRA COFFEE FROM STARBUCKS.

23. I will research freelance writing options, just to pull some money in on the side. Luckily I have some contacts in town.

24. I will finally finish books that have been sitting on my desk for months collecting dust.

25. Finally, I will get to do those things, internal things, that I have needed to do for quite some time. Like focus on me. Focus on my family. Focus on my husband. Focus on my future.

The first step binds one to the second. ~French Proverb