Man, Suzi, I don't know how I'd deal with that if I were you. At the very least, it just shows a massive lack of forethought on their part.
 Steph, how are you doing?
I'm okay. Now that work is all finished, I'm 95% less anxiety-wracked. Because it's done, you know? Nothing more to anticipate. I still worry about finding a new job, but it seems that most of my debilitating anxiety was from waiting for the end of my job.
I'm still concerned about being shafted on severance, but I'm oddly more or less at peace with that, because I have zero control over what they decide to give us.
Things keep breaking ever since my last day -- $900 to replace the a/c compressor in my car, my cell phone is breaking (literally, the case is cracked and falling apart; I don't remember dropping it, but obviously I did, and the lesson here is maybe don't buy the cheapest dumbphone Cincinnati Bell has to offer) -- and that's stressful, because I need to keep expenses down, but I can't really do anything about that. Except get an indestructible cell phone.
I feel like I need to be going at full speed to have a new job by next week. But what I really need is a little bit of downtime. And I feel guilty about that. So I keep making lists of things to fill my day with. And it's only Day 2. I just don't want Tim to realize, with less than 2 months to go to the wedding, that he doesn't want to marry a lazy, shiftless, unemployable deadbeat. 
And, I guess, I don't want my worst fear to be confirmed, which is that I *am* a lazy, shiftless, unemployable deadbeat. Which makes it hard to let myself have a little downtime to decompress.
	
 
		
		
  I feel like I need to be going at full speed to have a new job by next week
I don't know how to break it to you, Tep, but the job market has changed a bit in the last 18 years. So...it's gonna take a little while.  I'd advise doing a little freelance between now and the wedding while job hunting as a side gig.
	
 
		
		
the job market has changed a bit in the last 18 years.
Noooooo!  
Look, I realize I'm NOT going to have a new job by next week (chief among the reasons is that I don't even have my resume together). I'm just saying how my lizard brain is making me feel about it. Two different things.
	
 
		
		
Take some time to decompress. When you're ready, we'll get your resume and cover up to speed. No worries. 
	
 
		
		
Schedule  the down  time.  
I don't  know  what  your  usual schedule  is - -but I  can  say  that  friday and  Saturday  - bad  days  to  look  at  craig's  list.  
Do  those one or  two  things  that niggle in  the back  of  you  mind ( go to  the gym  more  often , clean  out  that closet, explore  new  ways to  cook)  Things  that you  will not be  able  to  do when  you  go  back  to  work - but  will be things  that  are  taking care  of your self  and positive.  
Start tellng  yourself  stories- so  when  you  you  walk into  an interiew  you  have answers to  those  questions - when  did  have  a coflict  with a  co-worker  and  how  did  you solve  it? how  did  you  deal  with a  difficult  client? what  do  like about  working with a  team?   what  is the worst  thing about  you  last  job....
and  when  you  decide on  down  time - Say  - I  need  an hour  at  least , but I  might need more...in  an hour  I  will decide...
But  mostly  I  am  glad  to  hear  that the  worst of  the anxiety  has  passed.   
	
 
		
		
I actually have 3 lists going (the theory being that I will do at least one thing from each one every day): (1) shit to get myself employed; (2) shit that needs finished for the wedding; (3) adequate self-care.
I am coming up woefully short on the list for #3. Partly because "walking the dog/going to the gym/doing yoga" is on my list of non-negotiable stuff, like brushing and flossing. [Edit: what I mean by "self-care," I guess, is more than baseline stuff of eating fruits and veggies and personal hygiene, etc. Stuff like...go read a book on the front porch. Or go to the neighborhood pool for a couple of hours, since it is summer.] But I am lousy at self-care, because my jerkbrain tells me that it's self-indulgent bullshit that I don't deserve.
I totally have to clean out my closet and dressers, though. And -- holy crap -- the bookshelves. (I also have a list of stuff that needs to be cleaned, which is basically the whole house. Stupid baseboards. How do they get so dirty? I don't mean dust; I mean actual filth. I am looking at you, Kato.)
	
 
		
		
Hah--whereas my first thought was "don't do too good a job on those to-do lists lest he get liking the idea of a stay-at-home wife!"  
	
 
		
		
"don't do too good a job on those to-do lists lest he get liking the idea of a stay-at-home wife!" 
If we could live on just his salary, I would not be in a hurry to get a job. Totally true.
	
 
		
		
Ah... but  new  cooking ideas - can  also  take  care  of  Tim.   
ditto dust  reduction and stuff  reduction
hair  and  wardrobe  are  job  hunting stuff
now  back  to  mememememe
Today  is  my  morning off.  Usally i  go to  the coffee  shop, grocery  store  do  a little  scrubbing somewhere.   Today  I  am  hanging with the elctricain.  which  meant  getting dressed  fo r work early - I  can't  really  clean  becaus e - work  clothes.  so  all  I  can do  is poke  at  the computer , read or  watch  tv.   Please  some one  tell my  brain not  complain.   I don't  care  that  there are drill noises  ,  radios  and singing  comming from  the garage.  Really,  it  isn't a  horrible  way  to  spend  the morning