Birthday Placemat

This is a picture of the placemat that I made for my daughter's birthday. I have been stressed lately by my decrease in funds, and have been trying to keep my sanity by doing knitting and/or sewing projects. I made this placemat as a fun gift for my daughter.

I got a new job in June and I love it. It keeps me very busy and is challenging. I am working in construction which is totally different from Human Resources. I make follow-up calls to find out about encroachment permits, as-built drawings of intersections, getting power to our systems and such. Today was a somewhat stressful day, but in general my job is less stressful than when I worked for a big corporation.

I am now an empty nester, but had originally thought that this would be an easy time in my life. Because I lost my job last year it is harder than I anticipated. But that is okay - I am starting to view it as a challenge - to write a new chapter and learn more about myself and my strengths. I am looking for a roommate to bring in more income and am also considering taking a part time job. I placed an ad at a roommate site a few days ago, and have had two interested people so far.

The room I want to rent is not ready at this time. I would take a picture - but I don't want to scare off the few readers that I have. The room is a storage/sewing room but still has items left from when my son and daughter moved out. One of the things I hope to accomplish soon is to clear out the room. I had planned to try to work on it tonight, but got sidetracked by an online chat, and then decided to finish my daughter's placemat.

Part of me is afraid to get a roommate, but it is a more immediate and cheaper solution than moving. I love my apartment and the few places that I have looked at are so small for not that much less money. So I will try the roommate thing. Even if it doesn't work out long term, it will allow me to save money so that I can afford to move if I need to.