Blinking in the light
Aug. 26th, 2008 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wickedwordsWow, I am back from my vacation and boy, am I tired. VVC was incredible and I loved it to death this year. Short version: Down and depressed, I arrived at the con feeling old and washed-up, completely irrelevant and an utter has-been. (Such is the impact of getting laid off.) All I could see was the down side of things--you know the negative self-talk that we can all get into--and couldn't even attend the first history panel as I was breaking into tears.
So, I took a break up in my room for a bit, and came down to the con suite part way through the first session. Apparently, I had won something in the opening raffle, and I got my choice of prizes. I decided on the small stuffed llama--now named Fuzzybutt--and wore him like a corsage to the collaboration panel. The silliness of it all was a real pick-me-up, and even though I felt completely outside of the main thread of vividcon, by the time club vivid rolled around, I was able to look around me at all of the women dressed to the nines, all of them having a blast and think: "Damn. We are so fucking awesome."
And that feeling pretty much held through the rest of the con.
Coming home, I had one day to prep up for the leisurely family trip down to a water park, then Portland and Powells, then finally Salem and my folks 50th wedding anniversary. I had to bring the decorations, so I spent my free Tuesday getting everything together, along with pulling up info on how much I'd need to buy to feed 100. Then I unpacked and re-packed for the new trip, and settled in for some family time. Lar and I had a couple of little fights on 5-day extravaganza, and I was very, very, very done with my dad by the time I went home on Sunday, but all in all, it was a pretty successful trip. I saw cousins and aunts and uncles that I hadn't seen for years, plus my mom had a really good day, even though she couldn't open her eyes; she smiled a lot, and she hasn't done that in a long time.
Both Dad and I had to do some emotional supporting of people that hadn't seen my mom in a long time. It's hard watching her fade away and forget people. So while intellectually everyone knows she has Lewy bodies syndrome, it was the first time that several people had seen her in person since it got bad. But everyone was able to pull through, and we had a nice time; I had been too ambitious on the number of people that would come, and we ended up with a lot of leftover food, which we donated to the Union Gospel Mission.
It was a good thing, too, as they had run out of food that night, and we were literally the answer to their prayers. Both my mom and my dad were very happy about that.
My one bugaboo in this vacation, was that I kept having to deal with recruiters. The evil empire has two job categories for contractors, and with one kind, you have to take a 100 day break after a contract while with the other, you can go right back to work. And since I was on the 'right back to work' contract, several wanted to get ahold of me to see if I wanted to work through their company this time. Hence lining up the interviews for the day that I got back from Salem.
Honestly, having 4 interviews in 2 days has really worn me out. I have done very little slacking so far, and my goal for the rest of the week is to read, watch tv, and get a couple of drabbles written. At this rate, I'm going to be back at work before I have a chance to get anything done!
So, I took a break up in my room for a bit, and came down to the con suite part way through the first session. Apparently, I had won something in the opening raffle, and I got my choice of prizes. I decided on the small stuffed llama--now named Fuzzybutt--and wore him like a corsage to the collaboration panel. The silliness of it all was a real pick-me-up, and even though I felt completely outside of the main thread of vividcon, by the time club vivid rolled around, I was able to look around me at all of the women dressed to the nines, all of them having a blast and think: "Damn. We are so fucking awesome."
And that feeling pretty much held through the rest of the con.
Coming home, I had one day to prep up for the leisurely family trip down to a water park, then Portland and Powells, then finally Salem and my folks 50th wedding anniversary. I had to bring the decorations, so I spent my free Tuesday getting everything together, along with pulling up info on how much I'd need to buy to feed 100. Then I unpacked and re-packed for the new trip, and settled in for some family time. Lar and I had a couple of little fights on 5-day extravaganza, and I was very, very, very done with my dad by the time I went home on Sunday, but all in all, it was a pretty successful trip. I saw cousins and aunts and uncles that I hadn't seen for years, plus my mom had a really good day, even though she couldn't open her eyes; she smiled a lot, and she hasn't done that in a long time.
Both Dad and I had to do some emotional supporting of people that hadn't seen my mom in a long time. It's hard watching her fade away and forget people. So while intellectually everyone knows she has Lewy bodies syndrome, it was the first time that several people had seen her in person since it got bad. But everyone was able to pull through, and we had a nice time; I had been too ambitious on the number of people that would come, and we ended up with a lot of leftover food, which we donated to the Union Gospel Mission.
It was a good thing, too, as they had run out of food that night, and we were literally the answer to their prayers. Both my mom and my dad were very happy about that.
My one bugaboo in this vacation, was that I kept having to deal with recruiters. The evil empire has two job categories for contractors, and with one kind, you have to take a 100 day break after a contract while with the other, you can go right back to work. And since I was on the 'right back to work' contract, several wanted to get ahold of me to see if I wanted to work through their company this time. Hence lining up the interviews for the day that I got back from Salem.
Honestly, having 4 interviews in 2 days has really worn me out. I have done very little slacking so far, and my goal for the rest of the week is to read, watch tv, and get a couple of drabbles written. At this rate, I'm going to be back at work before I have a chance to get anything done!
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 06:02 am (UTC)I'm glad things turned around for you at the Con. :D:D:D
no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 01:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 12:02 pm (UTC)I felt exactly the same way about VVC. Such an awful headspace and so stressed out before I got there, but it turned around pretty much the moment I saw you guys at the airport, and got better from there. I was so glad I went, even though the familial guilt quotient was high.
You definitely, definitely need to concentrate on fitting some slack in while you can. You earned it, man.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 12:42 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you had a good time at VVC, and hope you can slack for just long enough!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 01:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-27 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 01:33 am (UTC)