New Year’s Eve – a 2008 retrospective and a look ahead to 2009

As 2008 comes to a close, what better time is there to look back on the past 12 months and look ahead to the next 12?

2008
For me, personally, 2008 was a year of extreme highs and lows. The year started out with a continuing job hunt, but my family was healthy, and together, so it wasn’t all bad.

In February, not too deep into the new year, I finally found a job – one that I thought could be that perfect job everybody is looking for, usually through their whole life. I began my position as director of communications for a non-profit that protects the rights of hunters. As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, I realized that this was not the perfect position I’d dreamed it to be. In fact, I realized I was in the completely wrong position. Don’t get me wrong – I actually loved the things that I was doing, but the message I was putting out wasn’t one I believed in. After some days of sending out press releases and taking calls from media and the public, I would drive home with a sick feeling inside because I just didn’t agree with what I was doing. At that point, I realized what I had to do. I could not be the mouthpiece for an organization I wasn’t behind. I left that job at the end of May.

While leaving a job like I did may seem like one of the downs, I can say that it also provided at least a couple of the ups. I met a great group of people that I continue to consider friends and learned a lot about how non-profits work.

After leaving this position, I scheduled a trip back to Dallas in June to recharge and reconnect with my good friends. I came home refreshed and ready to get on that job search horse once again. I had a few interviews here and there, but nothing that seemed to fit. I figured it was just a matter of time before I found something that worked for both me and the company that was looking to fill a position.

Then, in July, came another disappointment. My mother had been cancer-free for nearly a year after having gone through surgery and a long cycle of chemotherapy. She had been going in for scans and check ups every three months after that to make sure the cancer had not come back. After her July scan, she was told that everything looked good. The next morning, however, she received a call from the doctor stating that something came back strange in the blood work and they needed to do more tests. She did another scan and the found that the cancer had returned. She has been doing chemotherapy since that time and will be having another surgery sometime in the early part of the new year.

It was somewhat of a blessing that I was off work during this, as it is hard for her to do the things she would normally do because of the effects of the chemo.

In October, after several more interviews at various places, it seemed that I had found the position that I had been looking for. I interviewed for a public relations writer position with a software company and was called back for a second interview. Everything about the job sounded great and I thought it was going to be a perfect fit for both myself and the company. At the second interview I was told by the hiring manager that at that point she had planned to offer me the job, however, she received a resume just the night before my second interview from a woman with 20 years experience of writing for the software industry and she felt like she had to at least interview that person. It ended up that the experience won out and I did not get the position. I have stayed in contact with that hiring manager and she continues to help me using her network of public relations professionals in the Columbus area.

One other disappointing development for 2008 is the return of my grandmother’s cancer. She too had been deemed cancer-free, only to see the return of her pancreatic cancer in early December of this year. She is likely to begin chemotherapy again soon, depending on some forthcoming test results. As bad as this seems, I still often think of how blessed I am. I am the only 32-year-old person I know that still has all four of his grandparents still living, and living unassisted at that.

2008 was also a year of reconnections for me. Thanks to Facebook, I’ve managed to get back in touch with so many people that I thought I’d never hear from again. It is so nice to get caught up with so many people that I’d lost track of over the years.

So, as 2008 ends, I remain unemployed. If I had known the worst economy in my lifetime was about to begin, would I have changed my decision to leave the position with the non-profit? It’s hard to say. Part of me says yes – I would have wanted to keep that stability, but part of me knows that I’m just not the kind of person that can stay someplace when it doesn’t fit with my beliefs.

Yes, 2008 had its share of ups and downs, and a lot of people might say mostly downs, but I try to see the positive side of all that has happened. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that sometimes, in weaker moments, I questioned the existence of God, or wondered why He was doing this to my family. Each time, however, I end up coming back to Him and praying to Him.

2009
As I enter 2009, it is indeed a year of uncertainty. With economic times as bad as they are, one must wonder how this job search is going to move forward. It is important to me that I once again become part of society and I will find a place where I can not only support myself, but also in some way help others.

The health of my family is in question. Surgery and chemotherapy are givens, but even with that, results are unclear. I do know that my family and I will make the best of whatever hand we are dealt.

With that, I ask each of you to love those in your life, and don’t take anything for granted. I wish you all nothing but the best for 2009.

End of the Year Update

Hello all. I hope this update finds you all doing well and finished with your Christmas shopping so you have some time to enjoy the season!

Sorry for the lack of updates - I know it seems like I start each of my blog postings with that apology. Hopefully I'll do better updating throughout 2009.

My mom is still going through her chemo treatments. We're hoping that she'll be done with those before too long. I'll update again once we know more.

My job search is not going too well. It is not a great time to be job hunting when the world economy is in the toilet. I'm trying to keep my chin up however. Hopefully the first of the year will bring more opportunities.

I wish you all the very best holiday season and a most prosperous new year. Hope to hear from you all soon!

- C

Quick Update

Just a quick update on things. Mom went to see her oncologist and the tumor in her liver didn't shrink any with the first three chemo treatments. She's going to go through three more and then they will look at things again to see what's going on. She's still looking at a surgery in the not-to-distant future, but the timing on that will be determined after the chemo cycle.

On the job front, it was a case of so close, yet so far away. I ended up going in for my second interview for the PR writer position I spoke of in my last blog post. The hiring manager was very candid with me and said that she had received a resume just a day earlier from a lady with 10-years writing experience, with 6 of those years being in software. She said that I was her choice at the moment, but she still had to interview this woman. Well, long story short, the woman got the job because of the experience factor. So, the hunt continues.

That's it for now.

- C

Update

Hello all. Just a quick update. Mom is hanging in there. She's finishing up her third of four chemo treatments. After the last one, she'll have to schedule the surgery to remove part of her liver. She's not looking forward to it, but she's a trooper.

As far as the job hunt goes, I interviewed with a publicly-traded software company last week for its open PR Writer position. I felt like the interview went well and I got a call today to schedule a follow-up interview next Wednesday, so that seems like a good sign. I'll keep you all posted!

- C

Another update

Just a quick update on my mom's condition. She started her second chemo treatment today. She will be at the halfway mark of her chemo after this one is done. Then, on to the surgery, which we will get more information on in the weeks to come. So far with these treatments she hasn't been too sick, just exhausted. I'll post more when I have it. Thanks for caring!

- C

Life update

Greetings blog readers! Just a quick update, since it has been so long. I'm still on the job hunt - sent out several more resumes just this week.

More importantly, things are not going great with my mother's health. She found out about a month ago that her cancer has returned. She starts chemotherapy again this coming Monday, so we're hoping she gets through that without too many problems. After two months of those treatments, they are planning to do another surgery to remove the cancerous part of the liver. We're hoping that this will take care of the cancer and she can go back to living her life.

That's about it from here, sorry for the lack of updates!

- C

So, here it is ...

Some of you already know this, but I ended up leaving my position as director of communications a couple of weeks ago. I am once again on the job hunt.

After about three months at the organization, I came to the conclusion that the message and goals of the group did not fit with my beliefs and I could not in good faith continue to be the mouthpiece for something I was against.

I have a couple of irons in the fire regarding work already. I just wanted everyone to know what was going on with me. Thanks, as always, for your continued support.

- Cory

The new job

Well, I thought it was about time for me to do a post on my new job. I've been there about a month now and things are going great. I actually feel like I'm doing what I went to school for now. My official title is director of communications. I have my own office, a laptop, cell phone, corporate card, etc. I have an assistant director, an intern and I'm hiring a second intern.

As far as what I do, it is somewhat of a small organization (22 people I think) and you end up wearing many hats, but my main duties are all relevant to public relations and communications, which is awesome. I write a lot, which is a big change from the previous job. We have two monthly newsletters, a small weekly e-newsletter and about eight quarterly specialized e-newsletters that we produce. I've been working on a powerpoint presentation I'm doing for our board meeting in a couple of weeks. I've fielded several media calls and have been working with several outdoor writers associations in relation to their annual conferences.

There is going to be significant travel involved in the position, and I'm very happy about that. I figure I'm single and don't have any kids, so what better time than now to see the country. So far I'm scheduled to visit Tennessee twice, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pennsylvania this spring and summer. In fact, I go to Nashville for our board meeting a week from Tuesday. I then fly back on Wednesday afternoon and turn around and drive 2 1/2 hours to northern Ohio on Thursday for a four-day convention up there.

It is so nice to feel like part of the world again. I really enjoy the people I work with so far and I think I found a really good place to work - finally!! Thanks to all of you for your continued well-wishes as I went through the trials of trying to find a position.

Work so far

So far, so good on the job front. I've been really busy already in my two days there. I can tell this is going to be a pretty hectic job, but I'm enjoying it so far. I'm going to a four-day conference in northern Ohio in the middle of April and I'll likely be going to North Dakota for a couple of days for a conference in late July. So far I really like the people. Everybody seems to work hard, but they still manage to laugh and have fun. This job is a lot less structured than my previous job, so it is a bit of an adjustment. I'm going to have to be spot on in my time management and multi-tasking. I managed to move some stuff around in my office and make it more "mine" today, so that's kind of nice. Just wanted to update everybody on the progress so far.

The rollercoaster continues - I've accepted a job offer!

I accepted a job offer this morning and start my new position on Tuesday. I'm the new Director of Communications for a non-profit that protects the rights of outdoorsmen.. This job is infinitely better than the one that didn't work out a few weeks ago.

I just wanted to let everybody know and thank you all for your support and well wishes during this trying job hunt. I guess things do work out for a reason.

Life is a rollercoaster

Well, I wrote the blog last night saying I was going to accept a job offer this morning. I called and spoke to the owner and told her I was going to accept when she started with "I don't want to sound like I'm reneging, but" and I figured out immediately that I wasn't going to be working there. She said that she'd been thinking more about it and she didn't feel like she was able to offer the type of position or pay that I would need and she thought I'd be bored with the job because I'm overqualified. So, basically, she snatched the job out from under me. She did say that a couple of her clients are looking for people right now and she was going to pass my resume on to them because they would be able to offer a higher level job with higher pay. I sure hope having her pass it on works out because I really need a stinkin' job!!! I must say I'm kind of in shock right now - I've never just had the rug pulled out from under me like that before.

I'm accepting a job offer

Just to let everyone know, I went to a job interview for an account coordinator position with a small travel public relations firm in the north part of Columbus on Monday. I interviewed on Monday, was given a writing/editing assessment on Tuesday, turned it on Thursday morning and was offered the position on Thursday evening. I'll be calling back to accept the position later this morning, so I will soon be in the world of the employed again.

This is a very small PR firm. There is the owner, me and an intern. That's it. I'll be doing press release writing, editing, event planning, database upkeep and other things. I'm looking forward to the experience for sure. This firm specializes in travel/tourism clients, so that should be pretty interesting.

Well, I really just wanted to let everyone know that I've finally found a job. Hope you all are doing well!

- C

Excellent News

My mom had three-month PT scan a couple of weeks ago and her three-month CT scan this morning. She's been pretty upset over the possible results for the past few days. She had her appointment with the oncologist after the CT scan this morning and everything is all clear! I just wanted to let everyone know that all is well! That's all for now.

- Cory

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Well, I woke up this morning to a bit of a surprise. There were about three or four inches of snow on the ground. Now it is probably up to five or six inches, but it seems to have stopped. The weather folks said we'd probably get a bit of snow overnight, but I didn't expect this much. It sure does make for a nice view, but I could do without the cold that comes with it.

I've basically been inside all day (with the exception of getting the mail) so at least I haven't had to drive in it. My brother's normal 25 minute commute to work took him about an hour and a half this morning, so it did slow things down out on the roads. He said there were cars that had slipped off the road all over the place.

Well, that's about all I've got right now. I did take a couple of pics of the snow and they are below, so enjoy!

- C

Hello!

It has been well over a month since I posted last and for that I apologize! Blogging just hasn't been on my radar much for some reason. I have done some interesting things since Oct. 17 - the last time I posted.

There was Thanksgiving for one. That's always fun. It was nice to spend the day with my extended family and to see the Cowboys beat up on those Jets from New York.

Another fun thing for me was a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico. About a year after I left my old job, the company decided to merge the editorial operations into three operations bureaus. One of those bureaus is in Albuquerque. I have several friends in management at that office and they asked if I'd like to come help them out for a couple of weeks during their busy period.

Seeing how I still am unemployed, it sounded like a really nice deal - two weeks in sunny New Mexico, visiting with friends and getting a paycheck, at least for a couple of weeks.

So, I agreed, hopped on a plane to Dallas and from Dallas another plane to Albuquerque. My first night I had a nice dinner with a bunch of the folks I used to work with. It was nice getting to see friends that I hadn't seen in a while.

I did get to stay at the Marriott for 13 nights, which was cool. My rental car was a nice gray Ford Mustang, which was also cool. Meals were on the company, so the steak dinner was a player a couple of nights. There was a casino about two miles from the hotel and I went there a couple of times and left about $100 for them to remember me by.

As far as the work goes, I did work two 40 hour weeks and it was nice feeling like part of something again. I enjoyed working with my former co-workers and enjoyed getting to work with and getting to know all of the people there that I didn't already know. They seem to have a really good team in place.

I guess that's about it for now. I am planning to do more blogging for the rest of the year - let's call it an Old Years Resolution!

Update on my mom's condition

Sorry for the lack of posts - haven't had too much to talk about lately. I do have an update on mom's cancer situation however. She finished up her chemotherapy in early September. She then had a CT scan which showed that the spot on her liver had shrunk to about half the size it was when they began, which was excellent news. They then had her do a PT scan, which actually detects cancerous activity, rather than just showing a picture of the liver. She went in to see a surgeon and her oncologist on Monday to see how they would proceed. When she spoke to the oncologist a couple of weeks ago he pretty much told her that they would probably want to do another surgery to remove that part of the liver or do what is called a radio wave ablation, which essentially means they would insert a needle into the suspect spot on the liver and burn that area out with high frequency radio waves. So, she was pretty much expecting a surgery or at the very least some sort of procedure to be coming up soon.

Well, here's the good news - the surgeon said that he's not convinced that the spot is actually cancerous - he feels like it is the scar tissue from the last surgery in April shrinking down. He said that to him, the PT scan did not show it to be cancer. Basically, he all but said that he feels she is currently cancer-free. He said at this point they just want to watch it, so she goes back in for tests again in late December. He said that if things are clear still at that point, he'll have her come in every three months after that for tests. So, she basically got news that was better than anything she could have expected.

It is like a weight has been lifted off of her and she seems so much happier now than she has been in quite a few months. So, with continued prayers, we will hope that this cancer stays away for good and is defeated! Thanks to all of you for your support, love and well wishes! It is all very much appreciated.

A much needed visit with friends

Well, my trip to Texas has come and gone. I got there on Wed., Sept. 5 and left on Sun., Sept. 9. Not a long enough trip in my opinion, but what can you do? I really, really enjoyed my trip. I got to see a lot of friends. Of course seeing them all makes me realize even more how much I love them and miss them!

I spent pretty much the whole time with my former roommate. On Wednesday I got to see the new house of one of my best friends from high school and visit with him and his family and another high school buddy. I also rode in my first police car (no I didn't get arrested - my friend is in law enforcement). On Thursday I went to happy hour and got to catch up with nine of my former co-workers. On Friday night I spent an evening of pizza, booze and games with another of my best high school friends and several of her friends. On Saturday I attended the wedding of another of my best friends from high school with my former roomie and the high school friend I hung out with the night before.

All in all, it was an awesome trip and I have awesome friends. I hate being 1,000 miles away from them, but they and I know that this is where I'm supposed to be for now. There were quite a few friends I didn't get to see, but hopefully next time I'm in town I'll be able to see them as well (maybe more than four days next time?).

Finally - an update!

Hello my loyal readers. Please accept my apologies for the lack of communication. Just haven't felt much like writing anything lately I guess. Still no job, so nothing to write about there.

Mom's doing okay. She's got one more chemotherapy treatment left and then they will do some scans to see what remains of the tumor on her liver. Depending on the size (they're expecting it to be very, very small since the last scan showed it was shrinking) they have a couple of options for the next step.

They can either do surgery and remove that part of the liver or they can do a radio wave ablation, which basically means they put a needle through the skin, into the liver and they send high frequency radio waves into the tumor, essentially cooking whatever is left of it. The surgery would mean another week or so trip to the hospital and the normal possible complications with a surgery. With the ablation you generally don't even have to stay at the hospital overnight and it has a good success rate, so that's what we're hoping for and what the doctor is expecting to do at this point. So, that is basically all good news.

I am flying to Dallas on Wed., Sept. 5 for a few days of visiting for the wedding of one of my oldest, dearest friends. I'm excited about getting to be back in Big D for a little while. When I was growing up, my family would frequently vacation in Ohio so we could visit with our extended family. We lived in Dallas and everybody else lived in Ohio. Needless to say, our vacations were basically like being drawn and quartered. We had x number of family members trying to drag us in x number of directions. I've found that this is going to be how it is when I return to Dallas from now on. It is still two weeks until I come down there and I've already got a burgeoning schedule. It's all good though - I absolutely want to see as many old friends as possible. I miss everybody tremendously.

My brother is moving up here to Ohio in the middle of September. A few days after I return from Dallas, my mom and dad are flying down there to finish packing up his stuff and they are renting a u-haul to drive his belongings up here. I think it'll be good to have him here. I'm looking forward to having someone a little closer to my age around. My brother is five years younger than I am and we've never been especially close (not that we didn't like each other - just never had much in common), but in the past few years it seems that we have been getting closer and close, which is a good thing. He's also bringing his miniature pincher, Bowser, who is awesome, so I'm looking forward to that as well.

Well, that's really about all I've got at this point. Hopefully I'll do a better job at keeping everyone updated in the future. Thanks as always for reading. Hope this blog finds everyone doing well!

- C

A night with Pauly Shore

Last night I had my first experience with a comedy club. Not sure why it took me until the age of 31 to go to one, seeing how I love comedy and all. I found out about a week or so ago that Pauly Shore was doing one night of shows at the Columbus Funny Bone and thought to myself, "Self, this is actually someone you've heard of so it might be a good opportunity for you to make your first trip to a comedy club." So, I got in touch with my cousin that lives in Columbus and he said he'd like to go, so we reserved tickets to see the Weasel - Pauly Shore. One great thing about Ohio is that it is completely non-smoking in public places, so I didn't have to sit in a smoke-filled club all night. That being said, lets get to the show itself.

They started off with a local comic (whose name I didn't get, but that is really neither here nor there). He was actually pretty funny and he was only on stage for about five minutes. Next came out one of Pauly's comic buddies from LA. He started off slow (the crowd really wanted Pauly, so he had to endure a few less laughs than he probably would have normally gotten) but by the end of his routine he had gotten a few laughs out of the crowd. His portion of the show probably lasted about 15 minutes.

Pauly (sorry for the awful zoomed camera phone image above - it was the best I could do!) then came out to some strange country entrance music. He got on the mic and said that he had requested hip hop entrance music so he could pop lock his way out to the stage. He left the stage and told them to play his hip hop music. They accommodated him (clearly this was part of the show) and he pop locked his way back out to the stage. Pauly's act was probably about an hour and 15 minutes long. Now, as is the case with most comics, Pauly's act is not for the easily offended. There was a lot of sexual humor and he does George Carlin proud with his language, but honestly, that is to be expected with most comics today. Besides the sexual humor, there was a lot of self deprecating humor about his former status in Hollywood compared to today. He said that people often ask him why he doesn't do more movies and he told the crowd that he'd love to do more movies, but nobody is asking him to do them. He had several jokes about his former movie co-stars and other Hollywood types. I actually found Pauly to funnier than I expected. I would give his act 4 out of 5 stars. If Pauly Shore comes to your town and you are a fan of comedy, I would recommend checking him out.

So, I found my first comedy club experience to be quite enjoyable and I'm planning on keeping an eye on the Funny Bone web site for future acts that I might enjoy.

Update on my mom

Mom went in for a CT scan on Monday so they could see how the past two months of chemotherapy have worked on the small spot on her liver. She went in this morning to see the oncologist for the results of her test. He told her that the spot is shrinking, so the chemo has been effective. He said they would do two more months (four treatments) of chemo and then look at it again to see where to go from there. If it is not gone at that point, it sounds like surgery may be an option again, or they can insert through the skin a needle-like device that shoots high-frequency radio waves into the cancer and can kill it. Hopefully the chemo will take care of it all and we won't have to worry about another surgery or the radio wave thing. Mom sounded upbeat when I spoke to her on the phone - I'm sure it makes the rigors of chemo a little more bearable when you know it is doing its job.