Unemployed…after all these years

I have recently joined the ranks of the unemployed. Taa, Daa!!! At first, I thought I might enjoy the free time. I have finished all the projects I put off for the last four years because “I was working and didn’t have time”. This was my mantra each time a project looked like it might take more than 4 hours and cut my precious weekend short. Now my house is clean and organized (way too organized). I am looking for ways to make it cleaner and more organized. Crazy? Absolutely! In anticipation of getting a meaningful interview in my field I have updated my resume, created a new e-Portfolio and burned it to CD’s with a cool stick-on label to impress prospective employers. I am a graphic designer recently employed by a company that publishes real estate magazines and, well, we know in which toilet the Real Estate Industry currently awaits flushing. The state of the economy and the time of the year means that I might just as well forget getting a job or an interview until sometime in the spring. I am willing to work part-time in another type of work. My husband transitioned from Sales Support and Telemarketing to WalMart Greeter. He is 80 years old. I am 64 years old, and age is another obstacle to re-employment. Ageism is alive and well out there! MDES (Mississippi Department of Employment Services) has been sending me literature about how to get a job, how to construct a resume and cover letter, how to dress for an interview, what to say in an interview, punctuality, etc., all the stuff I already know and the reason I have been able to remain employed for the last 39 years. The real trick is to find a job opening in my field. For that to happen hell will have to freeze over and the Catholic Church will have to sanction birth control. I am trying to use the free time I have now to get a feel for what I will experience (emotionally and physically) when I am retired. I really haven’t been able to savor the “sleeping-in late” thing, yet. I continue to awaken around 6AM, the time I used to get up and get ready for work. After I eat and take my pills, I fix myself a cup of coffee to get the neurons working at optimum speed. I walk the 30 second commute to my home-office to check my e-mails to see if I have a reply to any of my on-line job applications, then I check the current temperature and today’s weather forecast, and I look for more jobs. Can’t give up trying.