Next week I will write up a ‘year in review’ post. Today it’s just a “Hey, where’ve I been the past couple of months” post.

Well, my plan when I last posted was to write fast and furious(ly). Sadly, that didn’t happen. I got about 8,000 words written over two days and BAM! Life hit me like a sledge.

I was informed that my entire workgroup’s responsibilities were being shifted off-shore and I had until the end of January to find myself a new job. Let’s just say I was not prepared for this to happen. It wasn’t even anything I was thinking about. Normally there are rumors of cuts or an announcement of a 10% or 20% cut coming. Something. This was a quick, sweeping cut that affected 189 people including my boss, his boss, everyone. To say it was shocking is an understatement.

I could go on and on about how I feel about this decision, but from the person’s level that made the cut, it makes sense. I don’t think that person will realize just what a terrible mistake they’ve made until it’s far too late and will likely not care nor will there be any repercussions for this cut.

I have secured a new position within the company. Thankfully I do work for a company that does try and look out for its employees even if people in levels of power don’t appear to really care about the little people (from time to time). The group I’m moving into, I won’t be doing web design any more. I will be working in a ‘growth’ area. The job appears to be very secure. I’m excited for a new chapter in my working career.

So I’m safe for now. So are many that were affected, but there are still quite a large number out there looking to find something else. We even had a few take an early retirement, so at least some people had options. At 44 with 17 years with the company, I did not want to leave and start over somewhere else. Thankfully, I won’t have to.

Needless to say, it’s amazing just how much stress like this can shut down the old brain. I tried to write. I did some editing (and got V&A Shipping II publishing, a post on that later). I could do little but stare at my screen and wait for someone to ask me a question while I looked and asked for a job. I didn’t sleep well. I struggled just to leave the house. I kept up a brave face and projected a positive attitude even though I felt like I’d been hit repeatedly in the gut for no apparent reason.

So needless to say, very few words have happened in the time since I started looking for a new job. That makes me sad. I had high hopes for this year, but there’s always next year and it brings with it a lot of its own challenges. I’ll get to those in another post as well.

I didn’t post anything here while I was stressing out and told only a handful of people anything was wrong. I want attention on me and what I do. I didn’t want pity or sympathy. I needed to focus on what I was doing and make sure I secured a position. I’m sorry if I’ve been distant, but I hope you understand why.

I’ve got news aplenty that occurred while I was away. Be sure to look for more blog posts from me. I’ll also get out there and update the blog to get V&A Shipping II announced and clickable to you can purchase a copy.

I plan on blogging a couple of times per week just to keep my head clear, my direction focused, and my goals out there. I allowed life to collapse all my goals in on themselves when I should have tried to stay focused. 2014 will be much different!

Watch for future announcements!

Until Next Time!

WOO WOO!