2009 in a Nutshell

January 5 --> Laid off.

January 7 --> My Fair Lady gets contract job with Fortune 500 firm as their real estate attorney. Promised the job once they were ready to take things permanent.

Mid-February --> I get a part-time gig with a former co-worker with plans to revolutionize the medical industry via new software. Brilliant ideas, determined nature, effectively keeping things small and slow while money is tight, and I’m listened to when I make suggestions regarding things I understand implicitly. I learn first-hand how screwed up the medical industry actually is.

Mid-July --> Money for this firm vanishes and I’m left with insurance for the family but no income. Not the best trade off in the world, but I’ll take it. Begin tail spin into depression.

Mid-August --> We receive word that Fortune 500 is planning to hire attorney at some point in the fall. We get our hopes up as our bank account dries up. The work My Fair Lady was supposed to receive for a while has all but vanished. We assume it’s piling up on her desk at her future office, but uncertainty continues to cloud the air.

Mid-September --> I’ve been actively job hunting for several weeks. We’re continuing to watch our finances dry up and have no idea how we’ll pay our mortgage come October. We begin to have conversations about whether or not to sell the house. Future grows bleaker by the moment.

Mid-September Part 2 --> My Fair Lady’s work begins to flow again. Disaster is averted but just barely. I’ve taken a personal vow to go a full month without eating $.99 Mac & Cheese again.

Mid-September Part 3 --> I submit an application to a recruiter I’ve been submitting applications to for over a year with no results. The position is for a copywriter. I don’t expect to hear anything back but we need to get out of the house since we’ve spent the last two weeks sitting on the floor staring at one another for entertainment. We leave and go walk around an outdoor mall for some air. I get a call from the recruiter saying they want me to come in and interview for a position they have with one of their clients. We’re thrilled, even more so when 20 minutes later I get a second call from another firm that wants me to come interview.

Mid-September Part 4 --> I interview with the recruiter and they have a different position in mind for me than the one I applied for. They want me to have a phoner with their client the following Monday. I agree, we set it up, and I leave. Later that week I have a lengthy interview with Prospective Employer #2 and it goes really well. I’m flying high. The following Monday, I have a great interview with Prospective Employer #1 on the phone and we seemed to click. Fingers are crossed.

Mid-September Part 5 --> Next day I get the phone call in the afternoon that I landed the gig I interviewed for on the phone. It’s a long-term contract so who knows how long it’ll run. But I have it for a really solid salary, and I get to be a writer for a big name real estate/financial firm. Booyah.

September/October --> I start at firm, immediately click with crew, and begin doing what I want to do – write professionally at a big firm in the marketing department. Some of it is boring, some of it repetitive, some of it I have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. I love every second of it though and the people are great. My Fair Lady continues to get strung along by Fortune 500 though.

November --> Holiday rush insanity starts, magnified by Max’s 1st birthday party. This starts what we anticipate will be six weeks of non-stop crazy due to his birthday followed by Thanksgiving followed by Christmas followed by New Year’s. We’re expecting not all of this will go smoothly. Holy crap, will that prove to be an understatement.

December --> Month goes by like a flash. My Fair Lady goes into the office routinely and lands tons of work. Still not feeling the love from her co-workers, but the extra cash will help us get through the year in fine fashion. I’m also contacted by an old co-worker who wants me to help his new firm out on the side with some marketing and IT work. We’ll meet after the New Year to discuss more in-depth but things sound very promising as well as continuous. My actual work continues to go well. Been so busy lately that I haven’t posted squat on Gaming Trend in over a month. Will get back into that in 2010. Christmas hits, and it was such an Epic Fail on so many previously undiscovered levels that it deserves, and will receive, its own post. Hint: Spending Christmas Day wishing you were dead is not the most festive way to observe the holiday. We eventually make it through the other side and New Year’s is uneventful. We hope for good things in the new year.

Was 2009 a traumatic year? Yes. I pretty much stopped writing here and at GT because to do so at both while literally pondering how to pay our mortgage struck me as silly. Why spend time on a hobby when I’m not making any money at it and have no prospects for doing so? Why not spend that time looking for an actual job to help pay the bills?

So, has 2010 started better? You bet your assets. There was a silver lining throughout 2009 in watching Max grow for his first year. Simply put, it was amazing. We saw all of his firsts together (rolling over, sitting up, walking, et al.) and we fully recognize how rare it is nowadays for both parents to be able to see those. Here’s hoping this year goes smoother than last, but it’s starting off well.

Now on to that Christmas post...