Being caretaker.

Bruno is adapting to his diet rather well. Almost too well. He seems to be satisfied with his new food and the amount he gets. I wonder how long that will last. I just want to get this "fixed" before he notices.

Morning walks at 6:30AM are increasingly dark as we approach the winter solstice. But I don’t feel uneasy because of the hour and the amount of people out and about. Last Saturday, Bruno and I took the Grove and Lynch Roads route going past a favorite Christmas tree vendor. Bruno sniffed a few trees and I made sure that he had poor aim, if you get what I mean. It put the Christmas spirit into my head so later that morning, Doc and I returned to the tree lot to get our fresh Christmas tree. It's the only live tree in our house - there are usually 15 others that are artificial. The lot owners are great people and we’ve bought our tree from them before. This time, he asked how our year had been and we told them about being unemployed for the second Christmas in row but that we remained positive about the future. He asked what I did for a living and I shared my business card. Marketing. He said that marketing was what was probably needed for his two businesses but that right now he was having a tough times and couldn’t afford it. We picked out a tree and a couple of bundles of boughs and he said, “$25 for the tree; the boughs are free because you’re unemployed.” We argued that it was in our budget but he insisted. I’m going to go back next week to see what I can do to help him get more business without spending a lot of money, or any at all. He paid it forward and I'm sure there is something I can do for him. In fact, I have a couple of ideas already.

Yesterday was a day of taking care of others. Part of my morning was spent conducting a workshop teaching other unemployed professionals how to complete a good professional summary and then from it, writing a short bio. For most people, the hardest part of the process is identifying special skills. We’re taught as children to be humble and not to brag. It’s not a lack of confidence about what we can do because in any given situation, if someone has a particular strength for a needed task, they generally jump in and do it. But to talk about, in a bio or cover letter, can be very hard. I shared some of the dozen or so bios that I helped people create. I have their permission to share them and I’m glad for that – it shows that my workshop with them paid off. They feel the bio accurately reflects them and should be shared. My class yesterday knew some of these folks and they agreed about the accuracy of the bios. Now I’m eager to help this new class capture their strengths. I love that "Aha!" moment.

Later that afternoon, I took Doc to a doctor appointment. Sigh. A hernia that had been repaired 30 years ago is back. That means more surgery. Now is not a good time for a lot of reasons. Everyone agreed that he could wait until the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, except, of course, if an emergency occurs. He's already met his health insurance deductible (he has his own coverage, separate from mine) so at least our financial exposure is limited but it still means he has exposure to the risk of surgery. He’s had several abdominal surgeries in the last four years and I worry how this one will impact his digestive tract. We’ve adapted pretty well to his food issues and are thankful that we can “figure it out.” I wonder if this will change what food he can enjoy – we love food! We’ll see.

In the evening, I spent a good hour with Laura on the phone. She is tying up loose ends with her former employer and getting her resume in shape. She sounded pretty good on the phone and yet I could still hear the pain. Not so much for losing her job but more about the effort finding a new one will be. A career search is a full-time, plus overtime, job. The thought of it never goes away. Weekends are just short work weeks. There are no breaks from the career search and networking. Speaking of networks, a big “Thank you,” to Josh and Pete from my CCN group (and any of you who have contacted her directly) for reaching out to Laura with job opportunities and including her in your own network. She is very appreciative of your kindness. I can’t believe what great people I’ve met during this time and I am so very glad that you’re part of my new life.