Day 5 - the end of the first week

Maybe it's just me, but I'm really unmotivated. I've got a HUGE "to do" list and have only accomplished a very few things on that list. Granted, sleep and exercise have been hugely accomplished this week (I even managed to lose 2 pounds as of this morning) but the tasks are increasing and I'm feeling unmotivated.

Here are the tasks - we have new flooring being installed next week. This is truly a wondrous thing...our carpet is builder grade and truly ugly and we're upgrading! Not to mention - "good bye linoleum in the bathroom, and hello to porcelain tile flooring - gorgeous!" However, we have to move all the little stuff off the big stuff so that the guys doing the carpet installation can do what they need to do...Hello? The quantity of little stuff is "out of this world!!!" Decluttering sucks - it is time consuming, frustrating and when it comes to paper, a major pain in my ass. Unfortunately, a large portion of the paperwork that needs to be gone through is mine. Which makes me feel guilty.

On the horizon for tomorrow? Purchase Christmas Tree, and we can't forget the floral wire (I have to make bows for the tree and the lamp post outside), then I have to go to Giant (maybe I'll go there first) and get a veggie tray for the Italian Greyhound Playgroup Holiday party - I'm bringing my camera (the party is from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.); and then I have to get back home, get the tree set up and decorated at least with lights and ribbon prior to the party, then we've got to load up the donated crates into my crate - there's a rescue operation taking place at 3:30 p.m. in upper Maryland where 14 dogs are being rescued. All this prior to 11 a.m. Then when I return - depending on what Ted has accomplished, we're going to be removing wallpaper and painting the Master Bedroom and closet and Zac's wall where he currently has camo wallpaper. Not to mention all the trimwork - ugh! So that's tomorrow. I also have to make cookie dough and Z and I will be baking cookies so that he gets what he wants in regard to ginger bread men and cookies to leave out for Santa.

This is just Saturday - Sunday is more of the same - including massive decluttering and moving stuff downstairs. The flooring folks to install the tile arrive between 8 am and 10 am on Monday morning so I'll be up and at 'em early...gotta make sure I set the timer for the coffee machine on Sunday night. Did I mention we'll be sleeping on the main floor?

Personally, I think we're all insane, but hey? It's before Christmas, we have a lot on our plate and I do really well under great quantities of pressure, right?

Meanwhile, we haven't finished decorating our house for Christmas, I've got to finish this task as well this weekend in between painting, decluttering and, of course, removing wall paper...not to forget the dog party.

So - am I insane? Yes. Yes I am. But you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.

On another note, since the title of this blog is "Life After Fannie Mae" I still have friends there. I spoke to one of my friends and she said that people are looking over their shoulder and waiting for the axeman to show up at their desk. Not surprising. Why do you think it is so important for evaluations and 360's to be done? They're cutting yet more positions and if you don't stack up - well, then say adieu. Personally, my thoughts are they should have started with those positions first, but then that would be my bitterness showing through. But then again, that's my own problem.

As a deep southerner we're slow to forget slights against us. I can forgive, but when it's a corporation, who is there to forgive? No one...so I feel as if I've suffered a slight. It's better today than it was last week. Better even than on Monday. But yet, it has taken me one full week to feel as if I'm okay with being unemployed. Granted, I have a decent severance. I can't talk about it because I signed a legal document stating that I wouldn't. Yet, I feel as if all that I've done for the company was overlooked due to the conservator taking over and leaving me without a job. Again, nothing I can do. I'm wallowing. I realize this. I need to get over myself and quick...especially since I'll begin networking and marketing myself in January.

Speaking of January - a new year and a new life. That's my new motto. Starting tomorrow exercise becomes a part of every day. I mean it. I've been okay with exercise this week - not great - OK. 3 out of 5 ain't too shabby in my book, but it needs to be more. Especially with all the cooking and baking I've been doing. Have I mentioned that one of the great loves of childhood is licking the batter of the beaters? It's still treasured...yummmmm.

So - that's all for now - I think my eyeballs are ready for a rest - especially since Lowe's opens at 6 a.m. tomorrow so I don't have the excuse of sleeping in with everything that I have to get done tomorrow. Deadlines, I do work well with deadlines.

All the best,

Amy

2nd Day In

Today is the second day of my life beyond Fannie Mae. I was going to post on Friday night, but to be honest, I was an emotional mess. For some strange reason, I have the tendency to place my own identification in relation to my professional stature...Weird, I know.

So -yesterday? I read. I read about how to network, I read my email, I slept a lot - taking a nap. I worked out and I walked my dog. Then I made little pizzas for my family and caught up on my TiVo.

Today? I confirmed that my severance package was indeed received by the HR service center - whew! What a relief that was. I also heard from our flooring specialist that installation will be on Monday, the 15th. Well - that puts a timeline on everything that I need to do around the homefront. I desperately need to declutter our Master Bedroom and the Office so that it is easier to move the furniture around.

I also need to do some shopping - believe it or not, I love to be organized. I want my closet to look like a California Closet, but alas - this is not to be...tooo expensive. Storage is not really an issue, rather organization is vital - so I'll be doing a little shopping at Container Store to assist me in this plan. I also need to find stuff to contain my shoe collection - shoes are very important in a woman's life.

I also need to cut up the turkey breast that I purchased on Saturday so that I can make turkey tetrazzini for dinner tomorrow night - we're having steak tonight. And I need to get my rear end on my elliptical. I'm not in the mood to go outside - it's way to cold - and I'm a wimp.

So - I've become a housewife. I did this once before, but the change is that prior was due to having an infant in the house. Now, my 9 year old is at school and during the day, there's not that much to do other than clean what is not dirty...I guess I could catch up on all the dirty laundry there is. And there's a fair bit of that.

Well - I'm off to work on prioritizing my organizational skills - filing, de-wallpapering, painting and de-cluttering.

Life after Fannie isn't all that bad - it's just that this month is finding myself at loose ends. I'm not used to this - and it feels weird. I decided that I'd take December off to enjoy preparing for the holidays. So, in order to look like I've accomplished something, I'll work out then go outside and finish some of the exterior decorations and some of the interior as well.

That's what's happening with me today -

See ya,

Introduction

My name is Amy Anderson. I am a married woman (15 years as of last May) with an elementary aged child. As of tomorrow (or today, rather being that it is almost 4 a.m. on Friday, December 5th) I will no longer be a Fannie Mae employee.

On October 3rd of 2005 I began my tenure at Fannie Mae. I was, actually, quite terrified as I had never really worked for a large corporation before. I was hired as an Administrative Associate working with the Housing and Community Development (HCD) business at Fannie Mae. I was to learn a great deal from the people that I supported there. I made good friends, important connections and will always remember the passion of the mission that those that work within HCD have for the Charter of Fannie Mae.

The purpose of Fannie Mae is to provide liquidity to the markets so that banks can lend money to people who want to purchase homes. We're kind of like the Fed like that - however, it is important to understand that Fannie doesn't originate mortgages - oh no, Fannie Mae, and it's competitor Freddie Mac, operate in the secondary markets. This means that when banks lend money to consumers as a mortgage, Fannie and Freddie purchase those mortgages which allow the banks to get more cash so that they can then turn around and provide more money to those who want to buy a house.

So - I worked in Investor Relations. It was an awesome job. I mean, I got to see Fannie Mae and learn about all of the businesses from the top down. Investor Relations may have been under the auspices of Finance, but in truth it worked with the core of Senior Management. We worked with marketing the releases of new stock (usually preferred but sometimes common) with the understanding that this was to raise capital to support our business. Some folks chose to market our preferreds as "safe" but in fact, preferred stock holds all the same risks as common stock - just in a different way, but again - that would be for a different blog topic.

I loved my job - I learned so much and I will miss this so very much.

On September 6th, the government placed Fannie Mae and it's competitor and fellow GSE, Freddie Mac, under conservatorship. Our conservator, FHFA or the Federal Housing Finance Act holds all responsibilities now for the failure or success of Fannie Mae. We'll see what happens. However, when Fannie Mae went into conservatorship - our #1 stockholder became the government. This meant that Investor Relations, Equity, as it stood was extraneous. We would become no longer necessary to the businesses that are all a part of Fannie Mae.

Tomorrow/today is my last day at Fannie Mae. I can't sleep though I'm exhausted. I have an ulcer and it's driving me insane - we're out of milk. So tomorrow, I and my fellow IR employees will head out into the great unknown and learn what life is like after Fannie Mae.

Until then...