Furlough Food: Making Muffins: Just one of those days

...to make cookies.

Chocolate is food for the soul. Or so says the entire Zerger family...and I’d say my Dad would agree to that too...only his is in the form of a Babe Ruth.

I know we’ve all heard the statistics, but there are 11,100,000 people in the United States that are unemployed. That’s roughly three Twin Cities that are unemployed. That is pretty tough to stomach when you know it is an increase of 50% from the previous year.

Here’s an interesting link that graphically depicts the unemployment rate. It’s not the shwoopiest of websites, but scroll down really fast and you get an interesting picture. And scroll slower and you read interesting facts, like when the minimum wage was $0.75. Here's one from NYT and another from MSNBC.

Doom and gloom, eh? Dang this post is bringing you down, isn’t it? Well, just wanted to start out on the lowest point, relay three pretty cool observations for the day…and end with a smile…read on.

I got an email from my cousin, Bill(y):

I will be on multiple furloughs this year ... My voluntary 2% paycut was increased to 5% (now effective for everyone), 401k match was suspended, and we will now have 30 days of 'shutdown' this year, where you can use PTO time to cover, but if you use PTO time for other things, you have to pay for the shutdown days.

Ugly, but I'll take it all day long.

Yep, that’s what he wrote, “Ugly, but I’ll take it all day long.” I glazed over that in my responses to him – focusing on what this meant for his bottom line, trying to figure out if he was getting paid less and working the same or getting paid less and working less…and even I asked if he at least got a free lunch when they broke the news. But, I went back and read his email I saw the last poignant line, “Ugly, but I’ll take it all day long.” It stared me right in the face and said, “Snap out of it! Focus on the positive, not the negative!” Thanks Cuz, I needed that reminder.

Another reminder...music from the upstairs...

Todd is one of those 11,100,000 right now. I think its harder psychologically to be part of that statistic than it is to just not go to a place of employment. He IS working – likely harder than most people who are at work. He’s working on his own website, networking, reading and doing lots of yoga these days….he is smiling and sometimes I hear him singing to his music from the upstairs studio. And, as he said, he will come out on the other side in a better situation with a better understanding of the life-work balance.

And another...warmth of a friend...

On Thursday, Carrie came over for a little lunch, planning for her baby shower and a good hearty MN walk. She came in with a blast of awesome vacation energy. She and her husband, also recently laid off, made a powerful decision to embrace the opportunity in front of them. Carrie was invited to speak at a conference in Florida and they decided to make muffins, er, the most of it. They jumped in the car and headed south…they saw 70+ degrees on the thermometer, enjoyed the company of good friends, played in the ocean, relaxed, and I imagine they smiled a few times knowing Carrie. Three weeks later they came back to MN refreshed and excited to just be here and now. A few potentials on the horizon for both of them, but what I admire most is her perspective on it all….life is here and you just gotta live it.

It is all a matter of perspective isn’t it? Have a chocolate chip cookie today, and just forget about the guilt - enjoy the inner smile it brings you!