Now What?

It's official.  I've turned in my key card, removed my work email account from my phone, and retired to the deck to enjoy a cold, but sunny afternoon.  Now what am I going to do?

I have one or two things planned to keep me busy while I look for gainful employment:

• Going to the gym at 7 AM instead of 6 AM every day (that extra hour is awesome!)
• Obtaining my PMP certification.
• Learn how to speak German.
• Get my motorcycle endorsement.
• Train for my half marathon in June.
• Train for my multiple century rides and the RSVP in August.
• Do some secret shopper work.
• Come up with ideas for greeting cards (really, I came across an open call for submission.)

That takes care of April at least.

I've had some good suggestions for how to turn my interests into a career like travel blogger, TV producer, PM for various travel networks, destination wedding planner.  The wedding planner idea does sound like fun and is right up my alley.  Anyone need a hyper-organized wedding planner who will give it to you straight about how that dress really looks on you?  Does David Tutera need a sidekick?  I'll have to look into that one a bit more.

Keep the great ideas coming and I'll try to figure out why Blogger is eating comments.

Blogger is Eating Comments

Apologies to those of you who have tried to leave me comments.  It appears all this talk of food and travel had made Blogger hungry and it is eating comments.  I'll look into this next week when I have more time, but in the meantime feel free to shoot me a direct note or pass on your wisdom through the social networks.

One Week Left

Only one week to go until I join the ranks of the unemployed and I am relieved and panicked at the same time.  I have been doing a lot of reflecting on what it is I want to do with the next phase of my life and the idea of travel continues to surface.  It is not the action of sitting on a beach that draws me, but the experiences and opportunities encountered when traveling.  I love to learn new things and constantly be challenged by ever changing scenarios.  Living in Seattle I find myself acquiring "stuff" as a substitute for having new experiences.  I have a great house and and a supportive husband, but my passion still needs to pay the mortgage.  The key will be finding the  balance.

Laying it out, here are the tools I have to work with so far:

• I love to cook, but my knife skills are "unique" at best.
• My passport is current with additional pages added just waiting for new stamps.
• I have traveled the easy way and the hard way so I have a well rounded perspective of the industry as an end user.  
• I can organize anything like nobody's business.
• I believe it is not just about the job, but about enjoying what you do. 

I'm sure my journey through this process will be an adventure and I'm not sure what will come out the other end.  That's the best part of the experience.  

If you have ideas about I would be good at or opportunities I should pursue, leave your thoughts in the comments.