The cover letter I really want to send...but then I chicken out.

Dear Hiring Manager,

My name is Kady Colabrese and I am interested in the -----------   position for +++++++ that I saw on Monster.com. I am looking to move my career into the marketing field and my experiences in psychology research, telecommunications, and business sales would allow me to hit the ground running with your team. I work hard and diligently to get the job done right the first time which is why I won't stop emailing, calling and stopping by your office until you give me an interview. 

I know you stopped reading by now anyway so I will give you a break and just start adding pictures.

If you'd like more information, more graphs, or the musical version of my cover letter please contact me. 

Thank you for your time,

Kady Colabrese

Updates from the Lone Star State

So as you’ve probably gathered, Phase 3 of my workout didn’t happen. I was flying back and forth from LA to NY to Dallas getting set-up for this new job. Dallas isn’t a particularly exciting place to move after living in NYC for 2 years. All my friends are in NYC and I’ve become accustomed to the lifestyle. I basically love the idea of living in NYC. The crowds, the fast-paced commute, the “hard-knock” life of it all is a measure of pride. I lived in the big apple and I did it for two years. Bring it on Texas. What have you got?

The offer was a higher paying job, the best hours you could ask for and a lower cost of living. Sure, up front would be higher because we’d have to buy cars and insurance and stuff. But with my new job it wouldn’t be so tight. We settled for an inexpensive apartment. The best we could find with a washer and dryer inside (yes!).  The whole idea of the move and lure of the southwest of the ability to save money…so let’s go all the way. We bought an endearing rustic orange used car that had low miles but great gas mileage. The compromises seemed worthwhile with the promise of a better quality of life. No more late night stays at work with rude customers and long commutes. No more holiday shifts and my family getting the short-end of the stick. I was finally getting the life I had always wanted. I even got to move closer to some of my favorite relatives. I don’t want to stay here forever, but I feel like it is a good stepping stone to something better for me and my husband. A way out of the rut we were living in. My company even paid for us to leave NYC and move to Dallas. How could we say no?

I worked for about a month for my new company before I left for the holidays. I woke up every morning before work and exclaimed my gratitude for this job. “I love my job!” I would say as I left in the morning and sometimes when I returned home in the afternoon. I even got a full week vacation at home in Florida over Christmas time before I left for a cruise with Matt’s family. That is the longest period of time I’ve had off since I was in college.

I loved being on a cruise. No cell phones made everything so simple and close; food, drinks, activities, the bedroom. It was like being on a retreat with some of your favorite people and nothing else could interfere. The weather was somewhat cold in the last two days but we made the best of it! As the trip ended and we started packing up the room I decided to turn on my phone so I could tell my Mom when to pick me up at the terminal. A flood of text messages came in. One from an unknown number was particularly puzzling. It read “It was a pleasure working with y’all. It sucks it had to end this way.” I knew the area code was from Las Vegas. Only one person I knew would have that area code and it was a guy from my new company. His wife was expecting so I assumed something happened and he had to resign. He was a great employee and even trained me a few days so I knew it couldn’t be business related. I was pretty bummed.

On the morning of New Year’s Eve we finally docked and I could get my emails without significant roaming charges so I began to sift through them. I got one from a different colleague who also expressed her regrets about leaving the company. What is going on? Where they letting people go? Why didn’t they contact me? I begin to notice the string of emails about a conference call that took place two days ago.

Oh.

I better call someone. No answers anywhere. The guy from Las Vegas called me back.

“Hey, what’s going on? I just got off of my cruise and missed the conference call.”

“Oh…you don’t know? ... The company closed down. They basically laid everyone off. The first person I thought of was you since you just moved here and everything. I’m really sorry…”

“Okay. Well thanks for letting me know. Good luck with everything.”

“You too.”

So that was it. It was over? I just moved across the country for nothing? All I could think about was how I was going to tell my husband. I was still in shock. All I could say was “Okay.” No tears or screams or shouts. Just a simple acknowledgement. In less than two hours I was going to get on a plane back to Texas. For no reason. To an apartment that was only okay because I was going to make a lot of money. To a city that was only okay because I would have better hours. To a job that was okay because it was the only other option I had than working at a cell phone store.

I’ve been staying pretty positive overall. I realize that the only purpose this job served in my life as a whole was getting me out of New York. Why? I’m not sure yet. But I have faith that there is something out here for me that I couldn’t find in the city. It was strange to find out on New Year’s Eve that the biggest change in my life was completely different than what I thought it was going to be.  It doesn’t feel good to bring in the New Year unemployed. Every thought I had about what my life was going to be is obsolete. All I can do is breathe, have faith, and redirect my hopes to something new. This is my chance to start over. Rediscover some of my passions and create the life that I want.  I have declared that this is going to be the best year ever. 

Pause.

I took a break in the program. I felt like I was so exhausted I was going to either injure myself or someone else by sheer clumsiness. I only took two days off so I'm not falling off the path...I just needed to pause and re-evaluate. Why was I so tired?

Cause 1: So I'm pretty sure everyone knows the iPhone is launching soon. Working at a wireless carrier means that I'm breathing this fact 24/7. It also means that I want to work harder, faster, and longer than normal to take advantage of the traffic coming into the store.

Cause 2: The workouts are getting longer and harder. As I mentioned before, working 9 hours a day and then another 2 hours in the gym is pretty tiring. I love working out and I love feeling strong but I also love to sleep and sit around my apartment. Matt and I calculated that I spend more time in my week at the gym then I do sitting down...yikes. I started to feel some pain in my right knee (it has occasionally emerged over the years) so I decided to go easy on the legs this week.

Cause 3: I am not eating enough calories. I am not drinking enough water. I am not eating frequently enough. The solution to this problem was to give myself some more time for to plan for these things. Yeah. Right. When?

Cause 4: I am sick of chicken.

I also started to realize other things were eating into my time like coordinating with my consulting jobs, planning trips, and planning big life changes like possibly moving... I kept having this thought that doing all this work to get fit is just taking time away from solving my real problems. So when I'm done with this huge goal that's sucking up all my time...I'll look really good... but I won't have a better job, I won't have more money, I won't know any more about what I want to do with my life, and I still won't be able to go home for Christmas.

I needed a break.

I didn't eat chicken for three days! I didn't do two of the workouts. And I bought a new pair of dress pants. They make me feel....in charge.

And so now I'm back in it to win it.

If I'm nurturing myself I should have MORE energy not less. When I look good I feel GREAT. I'm so far into this program that I can't quit now. With a little bit more effort on the diet side I will see a huge payoff in mood and energy. With only 5 weeks left, I'm over half-way there! Let's start that second wind.

How it's going to Be.

Thank you Third Eye Blind for letting me see things in a different way. You got me off my ass this morning and I am starting to see the humor in this new way of life.


I'm making things. Even if it's just for me.

I went on a date this weekend and it made me realize how much life I have in me.

I am new. I am ready to be something big.

"to every young person listening tonight who's contemplating their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child – become a teacher. Your country needs you."


Mr. President, you addressed something I've been fighting with for a long time. Where you speaking to me directly? As a young person, who appears to be having a difficult time choosing a career is this what I should do?

My bigger problem is not that I can't "choose" a career. I'm having a hard time even finding one that I can make happen. Two whole months of job applications and I've been on one interview for a retail position that I won't get because I'm over-qualified...

But that teaching position always pops up in my search. "Be a science teacher" it whispers. I've been down this road before and it didn't feel right. Was it just bad timing? Wrong city? Wrong kids?

Where will that take me? I'll have a masters in education and then what. I still feel like I'll be looking for something else. Like what I really want is still out there somewhere. What is it.....