Month: November 2023

Feeling like a kid…

Last night, I went to the Illumination at the Morton Arboretum. Walking around looking at the lights and drinking hot chocolate will sure make you feel like a kid again! It was just beautiful!

As a kid, we didn’t have anything like the Morton Arboretum near us. But every year, we drove around town in the evenings to see the Christmas lights put up on various homes – it sure puts you in the holiday spirit! My favorite was always Dr. Herman’s house – he lived in a big 2 story house with a big porch and on the roof of the porch, he had Santa flying the sleigh with all the reindeer. I wasn’t the only one that loved that house – people in town had a Cat’s Meow figure of the house created that was sold in a shop downtown! And when the house was finally sold, a condition of the sale was that Santa and the reindeer would continue to be displayed every year. So Santa has been on that house for more than 50 years! Here’s my Cat’s Meow figure:

I’m enjoying my blast from the past – what makes you feel like a kid again? Leave a comment and tell me!

Orthodontist!

Today, I’m off to the orthodontist. Isn’t that for kids you say? Apparently not! I was an adult when I got braces. My teeth were so badly aligned that I broke one and the dentist told me I had to get braces or it would be the first of many breaks. So as a 40 year old, I rocked a tin grin.

And because I waited so long, I’m still wearing retainers at night. So occassionally, I have to go back to the orthodontist to have the retainers adjusted. Currently, my bottom retainer is cutting up my tongue so the visit today is a must.

But having braces really contributed to my overall wellness. Oral heath has been linked to heart issues, pregnancy complications and even respiratory issues so having an easier time with brushing/flossing and lessening the chances of infection with broken teeth has been a real plus for me. The bonus has been a straighter, whiter smile!

Want to learn more about orthodontia? It really isn’t just for kids anymore – check out these articles for info if you might be considering braces as an adult:

To-Do Today…

We all have those days when we know we have things we should do but just don’t have it in us to do it right? It’s not just me?

Top of my to-do list today? I have to get back to someone about a role at a company – and I’m just not interested in it. I know nothing about the product and it’s not something I’m passionate about. So I’m just not feeling a fit.

On the other hand, my people pleaser gene is kicking in and I’m already feeling a tinge of guilt because the outreach from this company was instigated by a networking friend. And after nearly 3 weeks of not working, I’m ready to be working again. So turning my nose up at an opportunity seems so wrong!

So what am I going to do? Schedule the chat and see – maybe I could get interested in the product right? And you never know what it might lead to…

Monday again?

I know – I’m not working and it’s messing with my idea of what day it is. The long Thanksgiving weekend didn’t help with that either! I feel a bit like I did when the pandemic started – it’s just weird not being in my old work rhythm!

I just sent my resume off to a friend who is a consultant to CEOs – I’ve known her for more than 20 years because she hosts the Friendsgiving celebration I go to every year. And I never realized exactly what she does professionally until this year. How weird is it that you know someone for years and years without ever really knowing much about their professional life?

Networking might be a first step in the job search process, but I can’t say I’m good at it. I know a lot of people and I think by and large they think well of me – but I’m a little on the introverted side so the idea of asking around about open positions doesn’t come easily to me. So I’m kind of proud that I’m putting myself out there so quickly after the layoff – and I’m actually getting my name to the right people! I’m really blessed in my friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yeah, yeah – it’s Wellness Wednesday. But it’s also the day before Thanksgiving so you know what that means – cooking a feast! I will be contributing 2 kinds of cookies to the Friendsgiving party I’m going to – which isn’t your peak health food.

So my only tips for you today are:

  • Moderation in everything – you don’t have to eat full servings of everything on the table! I like to make my Thanksgiving plate more of a tapas experience and just get dabs of everything. It’s kinder to me in the long run when I’m not miserably full!
  • Take a walk! A long standing tradition at our Friendsgiving is to take a long walk around the neighborhood after the meal (and before dessert). We have a lot of fun out on our walk – even when it’s been raining or snowing!
  • Wear stretchy pants. Friendsgiving for me is a 3 hour car ride away from home – comfy pants are a must no matter how much I eat.

So that’s it for the blog this week – taking tomorrow and Friday off for the holiday festivities. Have a great Thanksgiving and see you all next week!

Networking

On this To-Do Tuesday, I’m networking! I’ve got a list of companies I’m targeting as places I would like to work AND where I think my experience and skill set would be appreciated. Yesterday, I spent hours scrolling through LinkedIn and found a list of people that know people in my target companies and started networking.

I’m always amazed at how quickly you can find someone that knows someone. That game of six degrees of separation is even smaller in the business world – and I am VERY fortunate in my friends and former co-workers.

My LinkedIn pages are a gold mine! I’m overwhelmed with how people are responding even during this holiday week. So yeah – I got laid off, but I am blessed. Gotta run now – having lunch and networking with some old friends from my Midas days!

First Rejection

My resume is updated and I started applying for new jobs last week. And promptly got my first rejection note. Oddly enough, it didn’t really bother me. The role was one I could have done well, but it wasn’t really my dream job. And really, I don’t know that I should settle for just “a new job.”

At this point in my career, I really hope I don’t need to settle. I want to work at a company that really values their employees and where I can use my experience/skills to make a difference. I am good at what I do – although at times like these, it isn’t always easy to remember.

I’m reading a book titled YOU are a BADASS: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life. I cannot recommend it enough. I’m not usually a self-help book kind of person – but this book is really helping me put some things about myself into perspective. I’ve never been good at self-promoting but maybe that needs to change.

For all of you that I have worked with in the past and have sent me messages over the last couple of weeks – even when we haven’t spoken in FOREVER, I cannot tell you how much I have appreciated hearing from you. The sympathy and encouragement are overwhelming – thank you!

And last but not least – if you work in HR or know someone who does, know that the rejection notes are the nicest thing you can do for an applicant if you won’t be moving forward with them. Ghosting your applicants just leaves them hanging. The roller coaster of emotions your applicants are going through is hard enough – so send the note so they know where they stand OK?

Thursday Throwback

Part of processing being laid off last week has had me thinking about when I was at my happiest in my career. The thinking being, to shake off the sadness over the Walgreens lay off and find what makes me happy again.

I think my happiest years career-wise were the years I spent at Midas. Big brand – tiny marketing department. It was my first client-side job and while I was hired because of my media and field marketing experience, the tiny size of the marketing team let me get involved in almost all aspects of marketing. Boundary lines between roles and even departments in the company were blurry. There weren’t silos.

Even though Midas wasn’t always a well managed corporation during my tenure, in the later years under our last CEO, we flourished. We got serious about focus, used hard data to guide decisions and put our franchisees/customers first. And it really paid off with 8 straight quarters of amazing growth. Maybe it paid off too well since it resulted in the company being bought out – but I’m thinking I need to get back to that kind of place. Encouragement for out of the box thinking, no silos, customer first. Now I just need to figure out if that kind of place still exists – and how to get my foot in the door when I find it!

Walking to Wellness

So it’s Wellness Wednesday and later I’ll be strapping on my walking shoes to celebrate. It’s really no secret that walking is a great form of exercise. I took up walking kind of seriously in August when I participated in a fundraising challenge from the American Cancer Society. The challenge was to walk 2 miles a day, every day of August for a total of 62 miles. I blew it out of the water averaging 4.2 miles a day for the month according to my Apple Watch.

One of my favorite places to walk

All the walking not only raised money for ACS, but I actually started losing my pandemic weight! Today, I’m down 10 full pounds from the top of my weight (I’m not saying where I started OK?) and I found other benefits too. My Apple Watch alerted me to a lower resting heart rate which is an indicator of better heart health and cardiovascular fitness. I dropped around 6 beats/minute over the course of the month!

I’m also sleeping better. I’ve always been a light sleeper and stress/worry only makes it worse. At the risk of sounding all weird, the walks have given me a way to empty out my head. Being outside and walking hard with my headphones pouring mood appropriate music into my head is just soothing in a way I cannot describe. And given the events of the last week, my walks have helped me put things into perspective and get into a good mental place.

So take a break – go for a walk and see if a few miles will help you too! Want some more info on walking and wellness? Check out these links: