Daily

Cycling in the City

I've only been on a bike about 10 times this summer. Most of those times were short rides to run errands, like to the grocery store. I just haven't been motivated to get on a bicycle. Sure, it's hot in Phoenix during the summer and that's part of it, but mostly I've been playing too many video games. (Shouldn't have bought that PS3.)

Last night Chris was playing bike polo in Tempe, so I decided to ride my bike there to meet him. It was a great excuse to do a long ride. It was about 28 miles total. I left the house just as the sun was setting so I enjoyed cooler less hot temperatures. Since it was a school night, not many people were out which made for light traffic.

I've always loved riding through the city at night and last night reminded me how much I love it. I love going at a slow pace so I can look at everything. I love how quiet it is when there aren't any cars around. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I can travel across the city under my own power.

I'm so glad I took that ride last night to remind me why I love cycling. I have a feeling I'll be riding a lot more in the near future.

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Good to be Home

It's so good to be home. I've been traveling a lot. Last Mon - Wed in Portland for work. Thurs - Sat in Seattle for vacation. Sun - Tues in Portland for vacation. Wed - Fri in Chicago for work. That's 12 days total away from home. Though, I slept in my own bed Tues night while I flew through Phoenix. Twelve days is too many. I got really homesick the last couple days. It felt SO great to arrive in Phoenix. Plus, we had gorgeous weather and I was able to join Chris and friends for dinner on a patio. This weekend is going to be about relaxing and enjoying home.

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Travel by the Numbers

8 dollars a day for uncovered airport parking
2.69 dollars for a soda in the Phoenix airport
5 flight number to Chicago
22B seat (middle, but next to a very friendly gentleman from Snowflake, AZ)
277 room number
2 number of men talking on cell phones in the hotel hallways
2.73 dollars for a soda in the Chicago airport
10 flight number to Phoenix
20B seat (another middle)

Food Remains Plentiful

My parents went on a cruise last week and I got this email on Thursday, the day they were supposed to come home.

"Wishing you Happy Birthday. We'll try to call later.
We're stuck on ship. Port of Galveston is closed due to dense fog. No idea when we will reach port. Food remains plentiful!
Love, Mom & Dad"

I laughed out loud. My parents are awesome.

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Employed

Great news! I'm going back to full time employment next week. I've accepted a job with a software company to be a business consultant. In this new job I'll be helping customers install, configure, and customize the software. I'll be helping them create the best business processes for using the software. I'll be writing a lot of documentation and solving problems. But before all that happens, I have a lot to relearn.

This job is at a company I worked for three years ago so I know the software and the customers. But things change in three years and memory fades. So I know the coming months will be challenging as I learn / relearn a lot of information. I'm really looking forward to the process!

I'm also really looking forward to going back to this company. Many of the moments in my career that I am most proud happened at this company. Plus, I'll be working with many people that I already know. It will be like a homecoming. I'm really looking forward to my first day!

Chris and I are very thankful that I've been able to find full-time work so quickly. It's only been three months since I found I was unemployed. Even more lucky for us that I was able to work as an independent contractor during much of that time. I worked with a fantastic team who are doing some really amazing things on the web.

The coming weeks and months will be full of change for us. I'll be getting settled into a new job and working through all the challenges of learning as fast as possible in order to be productive as soon as possible. I'll be going from a very laid back part-time schedule back to a normal full-time schedule. I'm moving from small, independently owned businesses to a large, publicly traded corporation. I'll go from wearing jeans and t-shirts at work to wearing business dress.

The biggest change will be the significant amount of travel my new job requires. I will be consulting with customers at their locations all over the US. I will be traveling Monday through Thursday most weeks. Chris and I know that adjusting to the schedule will be hard. Neither of us like the idea of being apart three nights a week, but we're confident this job is best for both of us. Chris can continue to focus on school full-time for the next year and a half until his degree is complete.

Right now I'm feeling excitement about the new job and going back to a great company. I'm feeling very thankful that I have a strong network of friends and coworkers who have helped me through the job changes. Considering the current economy and the high unemployment rates, I'm feeling very lucky to have full time employment. Finally, I'm looking forward to the adventures and growth that lie ahead.

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Love & Respect

Tonight while cruising on Facebook I ran across a guy I dated when I was much younger. He's married and has a billion kids. I was curious about his wife so I looked at her profile. I almost choked on my dinner when I read her "About me" which started with...

I have an terrific husband who loves me and I respect him...

She went on to share her thoughts on God, of course. All I could think was that she doesn't love her husband, she respects him. Not exactly in line with my personal values. But I've changed quite a bit from when I was younger.

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Using Social Media

Dear Social Media Managers,

My attention span on the Internet is very short. When you want me to see content you've created, please send me DIRECTLY to the content. Don't route me anywhere else. Send me directly to your content. After all, isn't that why you published it?

Be thoughtful about your audience's experience.

Case in Point
Today, Cooking Light on Twitter posted about recipes for the slow cooker. I love cooking in the crock pot because it is so easy. So I was excited to see the recipes. Unfortunately the link on Twitter sent me to Facebook where I had to click on another link which finally directed me to the CookingLight.com. There was nothing on the Facebook page that added any value.

Naturally, I was annoyed at the detour. But more important, Cooking Light isn't getting anything by doing it this way. Their ultimate goal of using Twitter or Facebook should be getting me to their site. Their site holds the value - I find their content, I can add comments. see the ads they're making money from, and most importantly sign up for a magazine subscription.*

*Disclosure: I currently have a subscription to Cooking Light magazine thanks to my good friend, Celeste. I love the magazine and often cook the recipes! I don't mean to pick on Cooking Light because I think their content is great. I've been seeing things like this too often and felt like I should point it out.

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Independent Contractor

Good news on the job front! I'm now working part-time at Aricosa, a web-development company founded by Jason Ayers. Jason and I have been friends for a few years but this if the first time to work together. It's a wonderful opportunity. His company is small and just getting started but it has great promise. Jason has put together a really fun team and I'm thrilled to be working with them.

I'm still looking for full-time work so if you know of any project management / customer-facing roles, please let me know. I'd also like to find an additional part-time contract position to help make ends meet.

I recently had a conversation with Kim who believes this country is moving towards more independent contracting. She believes someday we will all be contractors and work will be done in project teams that change relatively frequently. I agree as I've seen more and more of this happening in the web / software industry. If our government representatives reform health insurance, I'm sure more people will have even more freedom to become independent contractors. Time will tell.

Right now I'm extremely thankful to have work and especially to be working on some cool projects with friends. The future looks very bright!

Unemployed

On Friday, October 30, 2009, I lost my job. My employer, OpenRain, was acquired by another web development company in the Phoenix area, redPear. Read the press release about the acquisition. Unfortunately I wasn't included in the acquisition.

This is the first time I've ever been laid off. As one would expect, I'm going through a ton of different emotions - sadness, anger, fear. As many of you know, my husband, Chris, is in school full time so we're completely reliant on my income. Now that I don't have any income, it's very, very scary. I'm also sad because I loved everyone at OpenRain. I was only there 5 months, but all the people there are awesome. I'll be sad that I don't get to work every day with them.

Chris' parents were visiting Phoenix this weekend so they heard the news very early on. (Though I waited to tell them until I could say it without crying...that took about 24 hours.) It was so encouraging to have them here. They gave us great advice about planning our next steps and setting future goals. My family has been really supportive as well. I love that both of our parents have offered to help in any way they can, because "that's what families are for."

Though this is a big and unplanned change in my life, I'm confident it's happening for a reason. I'm positive that there's something better out there for me. That I'm supposed to learn something through this. That I needed this in my life (and just didn't know it). Things will be OK.

What's next?
Everyone is asking me what I'm going to do next. On Monday, I stayed in bed until noon just because I could. (I spent the time reading The Wishing Year by Noelle Oxenhandler. It was fabulous & exactly what I needed at that very moment. I'd highly recommend the book!) I hung out with friends in the afternoon and did a long bike ride with the ladies in the evening. Today (Tuesday), I've been hanging out with friends and running errands with Chris. Tonight I'm going to clean the house. Exciting, right?

Later this week I'm going to drive to Colorado to visit my best friend, Summer. I figure I might as well take advantage of all this free time. I've already applied for unemployment insurance. I'm in the process of updating my resume. I've just begun telling my network of my new employment status. Jobs come through people you know so I figure I'll give the network some time to work.

I'm also going to spend some time thinking about what I really want in the next job. Because there's nothing like getting let go to make you think about what you'd really like to do with your life.

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