Perks of unemployment.

Freedom from 8-to-5 schedules.
Freedom from Monday-Friday schedules.
Finally paying back my sleep deficit.
Getting a head start on handmade Christmas gifts.
Making minimum wage while cleaning out my closets.
Making more by taking temp jobs when I feel like it.
Walks around the lake in the sunshine.
Committing to a major cleanse I never felt I had the time to take on before.
Reading more.
Cooking more.
Being with Hubs more.

Vegan? Who, me?

I've been on a very careful vegan, gluten-free, no-refined-sugar elimination diet for almost a week and have discovered that after just a few days, some inflammation (that I hadn't even recognized as such) was completely gone. I've had this tightness in my back for, yikes, over a year, and could never quite "crack" my back to relieve it. I would contort myself into all manner of positions until frustration would set in and force me to give up. I'd pretty much just gotten used to the constant sense of irritation. However, I half-heartedly twisted in bed a couple nights ago, and lo and behold, my spine easily gave out a series of satisfying pops and everything fell right into place. My muscles and joints have begun to feel so much looser; I used to get stiff just from being curled up on the couch to watch a movie, and would creak around painfully for a few minutes afterwards until everything got moving again. That hasn't happened in a couple days either, and I love the newfound flexibility. As I eventually add things back into my menus, I'm very interested to find out what triggers the muscle congestion again so I can isolate it from my diet (and I'm really hoping it's not chocolate!).

 

I'm wondering if other irritating conditions might clear up too. Allergies? Headaches? Acne? Hormonal junk? I can hardly wait to see what happens!

I made this Double Broccoli Quinoa for lunch today and boy, was it good. (Probably would have been even better if I'd included the parmesan and cream called for, but I'm cutting out dairy for a while.)

And that's about as exciting as my life has been lately. ;-) We're both still looking for full-time jobs, and both have very promising interviews scheduled for this week. We're both also working some side gigs that could continue indefinitely, so that's encouraging too. In the meantime, we're volunteering here and there as needed, often at the food bank. I am so enjoying being home a lot more than I ever used to be, and taking the opportunity to do some mental and physical and household cleaning-out that's long overdue. I'm also just plain resting; it's fantastic to have the freedom to just go take a walk in the sunshine, or read, or have a nap, just because I feel like it. We'll need regular paychecks after a while, but unemployment does have some perks. ;-)

Life is pretty real these days,

I honestly have no clue how long it's been since I last posted here-- I'm thinking a month ago, but I don't want to check and prove myself right. (Or, horrors, discover I'm even further behind than I currently believe myself to be.)

Due to various projects winding down, Hubs worked only three days a week during August and the first half of September. We were getting by just fine when he was informed in mid-September that they were putting him on an unpaid furlough for two months. So, he's been home for the duration, and there's a possibility that they actually will bring him back in November, but it seems unlikely. We've been treating it as a layoff but haven't had much success with finding another full-time gig for him.

Last Thursday I was blindsided a little bit (mostly by the timing) by being laid off myself. I'll keep working here and there as a contractor on projects that were solely my responsibility, and probably take some temp jobs as they come available. I too am supposed to be called back eventually "once business picks up", but again am not going to put a lot of stock into that. I'm going to take a little bit-- maybe the next week, or two, maybe even three-- to just breathe, catch up, clean out, plan... maybe even sew a little bit, who knows.

Being home with Hubs today was... weird. I took the opportunity to purge our my overflowing bookcase and clean out my collection of midwifery texts (after 5 years, I'm pretty sure I'm not ever going back to it, at least not with the goal of practicing). I posted a bunch of the more obscure on eBay and will haul the rest of the more general interest books (at least a hundred) to a used book seller, and then donate whatever's left to the library book sale. It was good to get things back in order and clear out the excess. You can actually see the carpet now between my nightstand and the bookcase. ;-)

Crazy Love.

Heh, apparently I never got this past the draft stage-- it was supposed to be published 10 days ago. :-P

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you've popped over to see the new improved site lately, you might have noticed a little button over there on the left.

<<<<<<<<<<<< See the cute pink one that says Bloom? (You might need to scroll down.)

Bloom is a new online book club I've joined to read through and discuss Francis Chan's Crazy Love. I think most people in the club are reading hard copies, but I'm listening to the mp3 version from Christian Audio. (Helpful fact: if you sign up for their email newsletter, they'll let you know about a free audiobook download each month!)

As soon as I fired up my nonPod to begin the book, I thought, "Oh dear. Monotone. I'm never going to be able to stay focused on this." I am happy to admit that I was entirely wrong. Sure, Chan's delivery is fairly flat, but the material he presents is gripping and I had no trouble at all staying engaged. It also helped to follow his directions ("now go watch the video on the website...") and actually see him.

I've just finished the preface and first chapter, and so far it's challenging, refreshing, and Biblically sound. Chan introduced the book by pointing back to God's greatness, using God's revelation of Himself through Scripture as well as several reminders from creation-- looking both at the magnitude of the Milky Way and the intricate detail of a tiny caterpillar. (It reminded me of a fantastic post by Greg Boyd about being in the middle of infinity; go read it-- I think you'll find it perspective-changing.)

I'm really excited about this book.