it's time

pictures of my desk at work

my coffee mug {which i usually use for tea with chris}

some CDs that i listen to throughout the day

the foot of the gnome that guards me and hangs out in my plants

my assortment of tea

my sticky note pad {plain yellow is so boring}

as some of you may already know, the doors of my company are being shut, and when this happens, i will be out of a job. i've written a little more about it here. but i wanted to post something on this blog, too.

i actually took these pictures quite some time ago—just random things on my desk—'cause i'm a geek that way. but now i am glad i did. it's a small way to record the time i've spent here—many, many hours.

this job is the shortest i've ever had—less than two years. it's not been my favorite job ever, but i have made some dear friends, and i will miss many things about this place. i had such a great little space with a great window view. right outside my window is an evergreen tree. the ground outside is level with my desktop, and this is where the window starts. so it's desk . . . window . . . ground—almost like i'm working outdoors. and in the winter, it feels like it, too. {the chilly temperatures i feel despite my little heater blowing full blast is something i will not miss.}

i have all kind of little creatures who come to visit almost daily outside. squirrels, robins, geese, even rabbits from time to time. it's just a joy to look out the window at this every now and then. i've had other jobs with my own office before, but i've never had a window spot, so this is something i will miss. i will post some more pictures of things i captured outside my window on another post.

i will also miss having tea breaks with my lovely friend, chris. she and i would meet every morning and every afternoon for tea. it was our time to talk about blogging or fashion or design or anything we wanted to. we enjoy it so much and still will for the next two months. but then, it's good bye. that makes me very sad.

i'll miss all my other buddies, too—like chip and zak and barbara and jen and joe and courtney and claire. it will be hard to say goodbye. but i am grateful for the time i had at this company. it served me well for the time i had it. i can not complain, as i know so many others are in the same boat or worse. it is where i started my blogs and spend much of my time after the work day is done to do blogging. i will certainly miss the fast, loaded-with-updated-software computer that i have the luxury to work on. hopefully my next job will have the same.

i just don't know where i will be next. my post on jorjah-b talks about this, but the path is unclear. i only know that i will be okay. i've made it sixteen years so far in the industry. whether i stay in it or not remains to be seen. but even if i don't, everything will be okay.

a very dear friend told me something very helpful yesterday when he found out i lost my job. he said this:

"it's a good thing that we are so much more than our jobs. our jobs might dry up, but as people and friends, we have to hope that we can flourish."

wow! what a thing to say to someone who just lost their job. you can't know what it meant to me. it helped me very much.

another dear friend sent me this bible verse:

"i will never leave you or forsake you."

i told her that i wept when i read it, because it meant so much to me—even in relation to other things in my life—not just the job loss.

i am doing okay today. yesterday i was not. but today i am. this is a scary time to be out of a job. and even if the economy were doing better, our situation is not. but i will be okay. i've been through a lot in my thirty-seven years. i watched my family struggle through many financial difficulties as a child, and we always came through and are still here to tell about it.

i have hope and peace today. this may wane a little from time to time, but i'm okay.