hallelujah

So today is the best day ever. I must have had some good karma saved up or something. When I was at Guilderland I signed up for a 12 month payment program even though I was a ten month employee. The deal is you make about $200 less per pay period but at the end of the school year you get one large bonus check called a 22nd paycheck and it's all the money they've been streaming out of your check every two weeks. Since I was laid off in December I had to fight to get this money back before June. The check for nearly $3000 was deposited today!!! I am so happy! I would have had to tap into our savings this month without that money coming in. The 22nd paycheck is more than I would have made in an entire month so even though I am unemployed, it's like we still have my paycheck factored into our monthly expenses! YAY!

Wait it gets better. Then I got a phone call from my travel agent. For those of you that don't know, Joe and I got evacuated from our honeymoon a week early by Hurricane Dean. That was in August. We had full insurance coverage but we've been fighting the insurance agency over the claim because for one week we had rented a private island in Belize to stay on. Well when the Hurricane came the island shut down. In our insurance there is a clause that says if the destination is uninhabitable that we are entitled to a full refund. Since the whole island shut down and evacuated, it is "uninhabitable" and we just found out the claim was approved so we should be getting back our entire $7500 sometime in the next 30 days!

Wait it gets better. Really I told you I am having a good karma day. I don't know what I've done right. So today on a hunch I logged onto the state's unemployment website. I really don't want to take a job just to have one. But I would so that we didn't tap into our savings accounts. If I could get unemployment it would be enough to float us until I found a good job, that pays well, that fits what I am looking for. But since the school fired me by asking for my letter of resignation, I didn't think I would qualify because technically, on paper, I resigned even though I didn't have a choice in the matter. Well, turns out that I qualify and that I start recieving benefits next week. AND the claim rep qualified me to be back paid all the way back to 12/21 my last official day of work, so I get the extra week!

I feel so relieved. I know the right job is out there, and I know if I am just patient and use the resources given to me I will be okay. Now I feel like I have the time to do so.

My aunt and a friend - both are in HR - have been looking over my cover letters for me and giving me advice and suggestions so that I can nail the prescreenings. I contacted several alumni in the area and two have offered to meet with me over coffee to help me put together ledes and both have offered to make contacts in the industry for me. Sidenote: I love Newhouse alumni! Seriously, who else would put themselves out for a total stranger, we have THE best alumni network ever. This is the third time I've utilized the alumni network in my job search and each and every time people have been so generous with their time and their contacts. Amazing. Go SU! Okay back to the subject at hand. I also found two positions with boutique agencies here that would be a perfect fit for me. I'd have the opportunity to work with a stable growing agency and build a CAREER (love that word) while being able to be really hands on on both the business and creative side of the industry.

I am having a good day. What can I say? Sorry if this all seemed boastful. But sadly, I can't get a hold of Joe and I don't have anyone else that I can tell (no one else really gives too much of a $hit about all this!)

YAY for the first good day in three weeks!