Take a Moment to Speak Out

Out of the trillions we are spending on "economic stimulus", Congress is considering including $50 million for the NEA to help save non-profit jobs in the arts. As someone who has lost their job in the arts as a direct result of the recession, I urge you to take two minutes to fill out the form and reach out to your representatives in Congress.

Please follow this link to send an email to your Senator and House Representative urging them to support this small but vital investment in non-profit jobs.

As the form letter states, "Arts organizations employ performers and curators, but also employ accountants, designers, plumbers, union workers and engineers. In fact, there are more full-time jobs supported by the nonprofit arts than are in accounting, public safety officers, even lawyers and just slightly fewer than elementary school teachers." It's about time that Congress made an investment in this critical segment of the American economy.

Spread the word!!! We don't have lots of money for fancy lobbyists like all the other industries out there trying to get a piece of the stimulus pie!

Hibernation

Usually a slower work schedule corresponds with an increase in blog posts...but lately I've been slacking on all conceivable fronts.

No, not slacking. Sabbatical-ing. If that's a word.

I'm down to working a couple days a week outside of the house, and (ideally) working from home a little bit. I thought I would be bored, but I have been filling my time with all sorts of fabulous things and I kind of don't know how I had time for two other jobs until this point. What have I been spending my time on?

• Quilting for my soon-to-arrive nephew
• Organizing my home office
• Taking pictures of my cats (no change there)
• Exploring websites, message boards and blogs about babies, babies, babies...
• Knitting a little bit
• Watching ZPJ kill zombies on his video game
• Going to the gym and yoga as much as I can given how unreasonable the weather is
• Complaining about the weather
• Doctor appointments
• Having lunch, dinner, and desserts with other unemployed friends

So, that's keeping me pretty busy...

I think that I could use just a little more structure in regards to my work-related ventures, but I'm sure that will come. Its just nice, after many years of having too many jobs, to slow down a little bit. I still feel the need to apologize for my free-time, as though it were some kind of character flaw not to be over-committed, but I'm working on getting past that and just enjoying the time and space and cats that I have.

2009

Looking back on 2008

Roses:

• TBTL came into my life
• Jamaica with good friends
• Having four awesome jobs
• Two new cats coming into my life
• Getting a new brother-in-law and new sister-in-law
• Getting to spend a lot of time with family
• Finally going to the Bronx Zoo
• Finally convincing ZPJ to impregnate me and (rawr!) we were successful!
• Safety and relative health
• Going to Prom!
• Obama!

Thorns:

• Having to listen to too many blowhards during the last nine months of a 16 month presidential campaign.
• Losing both of my first and most beloved cats
• Ongoing drama with family
• Several friends losing parents
• Several friends ending long relationships
• Losing one of my great jobs
• Watching NYC'ers usual optimism get crushed under economic collapse
• ZPJ having to take the Bar...
• Losing my nesting impulse and watching my home slip into squalor
• Not reading enough (I blame TBTL)

Resolutions from 2008 (all were destination resolutions):

• Boston - YUP! 4 times!
• The Philimando's Lake House - YUP!
• North Carolina and a certain bus/coffeeshop- YUP!
• The Rockhouse, Jamaica - YUP!
• Eastern Europe - NOPE :(
• Seattle - YUP! 4 times!
• Washington, DC - NOPE :( Maybe in 2009...
• Another place that somehow got erased off my list, so I don't remember it. But I definitely didn't go.

Looking forward to 2009

Things that thrill me:

• Pregnancy
• Beginning motherhood
• Keeping two of my awesome jobs
• Getting closer to friends and family I love
• Getting a new nephew!
• My relationship with my new cats growing in love and cuddles
• My relationship with ZPJ growing in love (and sleep-deprivation)
• Upcoming weddings for people I love
• Coming up with a plan for my unexpected part-time maternity leave (January-June)
• Not doing a damn bit of (non-baby) work during my actual maternity leave (June-August)
• Reading books again - without giving up TBTL
• Getting a new sewing machine
• Checking things off my lists
• Obama!

Things that scare me:

• Pregnancy
• Beginning motherhood
• SPECIFICALLY - labor, delivery, episiotomies, cesareans, drugs, and PAIN
• The continuing economic collapse and the crumbling of my personal financial solvency
• The shrinking of options and flexibility
• The possibility of turning into a barefoot and pregnant housewife
• Being far away from family

Resolutions:

Not really this year. I don't even know what this year will bring, so I guess I'm just hoping to have the grace and dignity and perspective to deal with it all in a positive way.

I love you all!

Holiday

I keep thinking how lucky we are to have made it at all. The day we flew out, 680 flights were cancelled in or out of NYC, and we made it to Oregon with only a four hour delay. The next day we put chains on the rental car and made it driving east on I-84 only two hours before the freeway was closed for three days due to ice and snow and wind. A few days later, and another nearly-cancelled flight, we gave up on flying and rented another car to drive over another mountain and made it with no weather to speak of. Snow, hail, and freezing rain has followed us for two weeks, and yet we have travelled undeterred.

A lot of people didn't make it home to see their families this year because of the uncommonly bad weather, and we could have easily been stalled several times along our way, but we made it. We've had two weeks of gorgeous snow-drifts, cozy fires, family meals, wonderful friends, and good cheer. Usually after a long trip out west ZPJ and I are tired and longing for home, but this year we feel grateful for a laid-back trip with lots of time to just sit back and enjoy the people we miss so much the rest of the year.

But it will be good to fly back in the morning and return to our home and our (almost certainly furious) cats and the people we love in NYC. I feel so lucky to have two coasts that I belong to, both so full of people and places I love and who love me back!