Grateful

When I was let go last week, it was a contentious ending between my boss and I, and my first concern was about what everyone would be told for the reason of my departure.  I was also worried that I would become the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong there from here on out.  It was a very tough pill to swallow because I had worked so damn hard there.  Then, on Friday, everyone was told that I resigned and that the company accepted my resignation, and it was immediate.  From what I gather, that was the extent of the conversation.   After that, my phone began to light up – texts and emails from coworkers started coming in.  And they were so NICE.  I cannot express how grateful I have been to receive these messages which show great concern for my leaving, as well as thankfulness that I was there to begin with.   It will help me to reflect positively on the experience instead of leaving with a bitter pill in my mouth.

Besides my work mates, family has been reaching out.  Calls, texts and emails  - telling me that ‘when one door closes, another opens’.  It’s one of those cheesy clichés that I would normally roll my eyes at, but this time, I must say I believe it.  Mr. Mingle has been very supportive too, and does not blame me for losing this job.  It just wasn’t the right fit for us. (Frankly, I was making him miserable nightly by bringing home my work aggravations all the time.)

Thanks to FB, I’ve been back in touch with old friends recently who I haven’t seen in years.  And, it was those old/new friends I had to reach out to when I found myself in my work predicament.   Their skills, availability and willingness to help was exactly what I needed right then.  Others have said ‘send me your resume’ even though I haven’t seen them since high school.  I can’t believe I’m saying this right now, but I’m really grateful for Facebook!  (But really I’m more thankful for the people on FB, you know that right??)

And my kids…. My kids have charmed the pants off of their caregivers so much that both of them told me that they would watch my children for FREE once they heard our predicament.  Seriously!?  How lucky am I to have such loving people looking after the kids, that they treat them as their own.   I won’t be taking too much advantage of this very kind offer, but just hearing that melted me.

Geez, I’m even thankful to the lady at Safeway today who told me that I would save $1.70/gallon of gas if I bought gas there.  (She couldn’t tell me where ‘there’ was, but she was VERY excited about it).

I’m trying to use some of this time to give back to others.  Today I dropped some baby items off at a new neighbor’s house – they just had a newborn.  I let them know I could even watch the little one if mom wanted a break  - because hey! I’m home all the time!  I also almost got a little giddy when I received an email from the school PTA asking for volunteers next week and I realized I could do that!  

And, to end on a final note of thankfulness, my computer literally just shutdown all applications and restarted itself as I typed that last sentence.  Thank goodness I didn’t lose this blog entry and have to start all over again!