The second I said out loud (or typed out loud, anyway) that I needed to bring in some additional freelance editing work, my wonderful friends began to respond. There were postings on Facebook walls, linkings in on LinkedIn, and various leads sent not just for me, but for James, too. A listing in a university online marketplace (also suggested by a couple of friends) led to a possible connection for some dissertation editing.

I’m still tying up all these various loose ends. I don’t even have my resume on LinkedIn. You know what? I never updated my resume after getting my current job. There’s still a hard copy of it tucked into the portfolio I carried with me to my interview — I just tucked it back in there, walked out the door, got the call that I had the job, and never looked at my resume again. That was ten years ago! Whether or not I’m able to make a go of this new venture (on top of all the ventures I already had going), I think it’s good that I have the impetus to sharpen up and make myself a little more visible.

Just to be perfectly clear, I love my current job and am grateful to have it. I’m not looking to replace it and certainly don’t want to do anything that imperils it. I’m just looking at the two weekdays off I have, plus all my other “leisure” time (ha!), and wondering if there’s a bit more I can do to see my family through its current financial crisis.

Thank you, friends, for all you’ve done and continue to do. This is not an easy time, but your connections, advice, and support have already added up to *something*. It’s all still taking shape, but I remain confident that James and I will be able to cobble something together, and maybe one connection will lead to another and another, and then … Well, you know the rest. (In case you don’t — James needs a job.) Actually, I am not at all confident in the middle of the night. I can’t tell you the whole truth, or even call my bete noire by its full name. The closest I get is to call it “impending economic uncertainty.” How’s that for euphemism?

On the creative front, the 21 poems that I needed to pare down to 20 instead ballooned to 31 and stayed there for a while. Nothing like backward progress. I finally got it down to 20, and now I *just* have to edit them. 

I got the news that I didn’t win a contest (and its $1,000 prize), but there’s still one more publication I haven’t heard from, and 2011 was already a pretty good year … on that score, anyway.