What a fascinating thread this has become!

Zensojourner - that was beautiful. I look forward to my new phases in life as well. Very well worded.

Flybye -another well written and expressed comment.

Ivana - I'm hearing a lot of "can'ts" whether typed or implied of why you can't find a job. Turn those into "cans". Target companies that you want to work for then find the decision makers in those companies and be persistant. I lost my job in August - the most senior person in my department, but they let me go and kept the guys. I sent out all sorts of feelers to everyone I knew and started doing my research on companies I would have liked to work with.

Long story short, I found a company I wanted to work for and I knew I could work from home doing it for the first time in my life. I'm a single parent and I was tired of spending my whole day working and commuting. I, very professionally, kept contacting the owner and my now new boss with reasons of why they couldn't afford NOT to hire me! With my skills and contacts I was able to justify my salary to them, and they didn't even have a position open! Finally, I pulled a little bluff that I had another company interested (but I was prepared if they called the bluff because I would not have been any worse off, and I was working with another company just didn't have the offer). Not only did I get an offer from them, but I work from home and my salary is $10,000 more than my last job. Persistance, done right, pays off.

Be patient, persistant and professional. It will pay off.

And I for one, would have loved to met a few of these TE'ers in their younger days and am grateful for the wisdom they so eagerly share with the rest of us. It's like an extended family of really cool sisters