Looking good!

I've seen Lana twice at the health club this week, and am pleased to report she looks wonderful.

Lana is a coworker of mine -- a woman I liked and respected -- who was let go last February. Her journey has been an interesting one. When she was first laid off, she was philosophical, even enthusiastic. She didn't take the company-sponsored outplacement counseling because she was sure she wouldn't need it. She had an interview set up right away and there were promises of more. Besides, she wanted to finish some redecorating projects she'd begun on her apartment.

Then her prospects dried up. She started freaking out and wanted to come back to us -- the agency that had laid her off -- as a freelancer. I did what I could, even though I was certain that was a dead end. After all, they didn't let her go, just to bring her back and pay her out of a different pot of money.

Just as she began to totally panic because the wolf was too close to the door, a freelance job at another agency -- as prestigious as ours, maybe even more so -- opened up. I found out by talking to her that the gigs been extended: "through the summer" now seems to be "through the end of the year." She's hoping that they will hire her for real, benefits and everything, after the holidays.

She's also begun working out at my health club but with great success because she has a personal trainer. I saw her on the rowing machine and she looked so happy.

So it looks like Lana is moving forward. After seeing her, I felt sorry for me, not her, because the guy we replaced her with is an annoying putz and I miss her.