Opening windows when a door is closed...

Yesterday the company that I went to work for less than a month ago laid me off. "It's not your performance, April. You're talented and intelligent, and we've loved having you here. The company isn't doing well, and we hired too many people too soon." My consolation prize was an incomplete paycheck and a weak letter recommending me for hire elsewhere. How nice of them. I understand that business is business, but that didn't make my situation any less dire. I was really upset, especially considering that it took me 2 months to get THAT job. How was I to know how long it would be this time? The economy sucks. Most people aren't hiring, and when they do they are inundated with resumes from the hoards of qualified people like me who are desperate for work. Average starting pay has dropped significantly because business owners know that people will take what they can get at this point. Well, to answer my previous question, it took less that 24 hours!

I got home yesterday afternoon and was absolutely devastated. I was disappointed in myself and embarrassed to be unemployed once again. I thought about sitting on the couch, drinking, and pouting, and then I thought that I might as well start looking immediately. We can't afford for me not to work. We were having a hard time when I WAS working; how long could we make it this time? So I went online and started sending out multiple resumes for anything that I might even REMOTELY be qualified for. I got a call yesterday for an interview, which I went on this morning. The interview went really well, until we got to the point where I had to explain my "situation." Then the enthusiasm dropped right off her face, and she said she didn't know how it would work out. I walked out of that interview knowing that I didn't stand a chance. I got home and checked my email, and a man had responded to my resume submission and asked me to call him at my earliest convenience. It was for a Spanish newspaper here in Dallas. They wanted a person who would wear multiple hats; some writing/editing/design, some customer service with the clients, and some administrative work for the publisher. I went in for an interview this afternoon. I spoke with the publisher and the GM, who is from El Salvador and did my entire interview in Spanish. Then I got hired to start Monday.

I'm so excited. I can't believe that this opportunity presented itself so soon. It pays better (somewhat), and it's actually a job that will use the skills I have. I get to write and edit and speak Spanish ALL THE TIME. I hope this turns out to be a long-lasting, positive thing.

Last night when Justin got home he handed me some paper. He said he had some time, so he wrote me something. I can't remember the last time he did that. I read it, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever read. It said that he believed in me, and not to give up. He said that he knows how hard I work and all the things I do. There was also a poem that he wrote that made me cry. I needed that so much; I don't think he realizes how much that helped me. I've had so many bad things happen lately, and I felt like I had let him down; like I had let the kids down. I felt like a failure. To read that just made me feel like I could do anything. So I did.

And I start Monday.