Why I LOVE being unemployed.

It was only a matter of time before this post came out of me. Now you know I'm not much of a "do nothing-er." My family might argue with me, but besides the occasional long weekend vacation, I was never much a fan of not having something to do. I mean, how many kids hated summer vacation because it meant no structure? I can count at least one and that's me. And while the list isn't very long, I have come to find some benefits of not having a job. So, in no particular order, here goes nothing:

1. I have time to read. I love reading all kinds of things. Books, magazines, short stories, articles. I spend hours online moving from one website to another looking at the news or reading up on the latest research. One of the greatest gifts my parents ever bought me was a Kindle which I get a heck a lot of use out of, especially with all the free books they offer. I'm well on my way through the Harry Potter series...again, am rereading Dante's Inferno because it's just genius, and have great plans to go through the works of Mark Twain soon. My grandma used to ask me how I could be reading so many different things at once, but it's like changing the channel on the television for me. I just find it much more enriching.

2. I exercise at least an hour a day. I never really put my health as a priority in my life, but over the last year have learned some great reasons why I should. And to tell you the truth, it's been pretty interesting. Surely, that's not easy, but the challenge is part of the fun. Let's be real. There's not much else egging me on, is there? And besides, it's autumn in North Carolina. Why wouldn't you want to be outside if you had nothing else to do?!? After my usual run (I'm up to two miles now!), I returned to my route with Daddy and the puppies just to take these pictures. Don't you wish you were unemployed, too?
  

It's blurry, but the trees know something of color gradation. ROY G. is just missing a little BIV.

3. I'm practicing in the kitchen. This is both scary and ridiculously entertaining knowing how little experience I had or ever wanted cooking, but I have to say, it's starting to grow on me. Especially after starting this healthy lifestyle kick, I've been working on "my housewife skills." Ha. Hahahahaha. Veeeeeeeeeeery funny.

4. I can schedule my time as I wish. There are no problems if I want to pick up and go visit friends or do something with my family. Earlier this week I wasn't feeling great so I moved from the bed to the couch and took a nice long nap. One of my biggest flaws is time management, but I'm definitely getting a better sense of how long it takes me to do things and how all those things pass the hours of the day. So what if I didn't get everything done as I planned? I'll just do it tomorrow. :)

Of course there are disappointments that come along with the benefits of unemployment. I wish I had something to do during the day that was productive to society and myself. And then there are days where it feels like things are never going to change. Today while applying for education loan deferment (on the grounds of unemployment, of course) I signed up for a new online job search agency. I uploaded my resume and then read this great message...

with no recommendations. It was good for a laugh, but I can't say I don't get discouraged. It's not the time to be a job snob, but for now I've just got to keep applying, waiting, and being thankful for the time I have to be unemployed.