Honey, I'm Home!

Well, I keep starting and stopping both a blog and a journal. I don't really suffer from adult attention deficit disorder, but it sure feels like it sometimes. Perhaps that's because it seems my life continues to stop and start.

Who am I? Well, that's a long story. The shorter version is that I'm a woman who, after going through some great, and depressing, changes in her life the last five years, has decided to step out there on faith and do something completely different.

For more than 25 years, I worked as an IT professional. Though I was good at what I did and it more than paid the bills, I never felt the field was my passion. Nonetheless, being a single mother of two sons, I continued to work in the field - to my detriment. I got seriously burned out. I had a job that went from the best job I ever had to the job from hell. For the first time in my life, I had to seek therapy. I returned to work after three months off and was riffed!! I was out of work for seven months and still perservered in the thinking that the IT field was the field in which I should be working. I secured a new job which, again, was a dream job. Three months into the job, the management changed and I ended up with a boss who was a micro-manager to the max! After three years, I took leave under FMLA and guess what? Yep, riffed again after five minutes in the door. I neglected to say that this job loss occurred five months after buying a home and two months after my youngest son completed his first year of college.

Yep, stubbon me, I immediately began looking for another job in the same field. Though I sent out literally hundreds of resumes, and was immensely qualified and educated, I went on a total of a whopping five interviews in 18 months.

Finally, I decided to stop and take a look at my life and the direction in which I was heading. My therapist encouraged me to take a self-directed test to see where my talents lie. I should add here that over the years, I've taken numerous tests and they've ALL said that I should be doing something that exploits my artistic talents and passion. Though I began writing more (and started a novel), I paid little heed to these suggestions.

After 18 months of unemployment, I decided to take the leap and step out there on faith. I decided to do a complete career change and pursue a career in interior design. In May, I enrolled in a residential planning program with the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. When I complete this program, I will be qualified to be a residential planner and/or a kitchen designer. It is my goal to complete this program and continue on to obtain the B.S. in Interior Design. I want to specialize in French Country Design and in kitchen design.

And I'm off!