Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?

So today was my first day of self-employment. Last Thursday I got the axe at work. Friday I was finishing up being laid off--went back to clean out my cubicle and turn in the signed severance agreement, then deposit my last paycheck and the check for my accumulated PTO days in the bank. I spent the weekend at the coast with my lovely and talented wife discussing how we were going to handle this situation.

But today--today was the first day of being self-employed. Not that I earned any money today. No, that won't happen for a while yet. But then, that's what the severance payment is form. It'll keep us in beer and skittles while I get organized and start generating income again. So what did I do today?

I got up, showered, dressed and drove my wife to work just as I always have. We'd both been employed downtown for as long as we've been married so we always carpooled to work. Now only she works downtown but I will continue to drive her to work and then pick her up at the end of the day. This requires me to get up and get moving every morning, just as if I had a real job.

Which, you know, I do. Just not the sort of job I had before. I came home again, ate a little breakfast and then sat down at my computer to write. That's going to be my routine for the next little while. When I finally start doing contract work, or part-time or temp work (whatever it turns out to be), it'll probably change. But until then, that's the plan. The afternoons are for other tasks.

I spent not quite three hours writing. I produced 2,050 words split almost exactly between two stories. That averages out about 340 words every half hour. Not bad, but I'd like to do better. I'm not pleased with the stories, really. But I think I'm probably being overly critical because I feel the pressure to write, write, write--and I wonder if they're really as bad as I think.

Per Heinlein's rules, I will nonetheless finish them, give them a quick once over (and perhaps have my wife take a look at them--I may have to see if she's willing and able to act as my first reader)*, then put them in the mail. I don't have to like them, I just have to finish them and send them out. And I don't. Like them, that is. Not at the moment. But even if they suck, the next ones won't be so bad.

But that was my morning. In the afternoon? I did the following:

1) called my former employer one last time to have them send me a copy of my job description for cribbing purposes while I
2) updated my resume
3) made an appointment with our accountant to pick her brain about the tax implications of freelance work (contracting, freelance writing, etc.)
4) put in my claim for unemployment insurance
5) bought filler pages for my planner, which has languished unused for years but will now, I suspect, become a very frequently accessed tool
6) did the laundry--hey, not everything is about the job search. I have a lot more time now to do household chores, and more motivation as well (it makes me feel useful, now that I'm not currently bringing in income).
7) stopped periodically to breathe deeply for a minute and calm myself. I'm not scared, I'm excited! Or so I'll keep telling myself until I believe it.

And I already have a list of tasks that need to be done tomorrow.

So, to sum up (on the writing front):

Words Written Today: 2,050
Words Written YTD: 2,050 (the year got a late start, beginning April 30, when I lost my job)

*Strictly speaking, that's against the rules, but I'm gonna do it anyhow.