Thursday, April 17, 2008

Moving On


Tomorrow is my last day at my current job. I've taken a newly created position at a well-respected hospital in town where I'll still be writing, just doing a different kind of writing. Hopefully a kind that I like better and for a boss who will like me better. That's all I have to say about that, at least until I'm officially out of here.


I have gone from being thrilled about my decision, to a little sad at leaving my friends, to ready to bolt at a moment's notice, to being freaked out. Right now I guess I'm a little bit of all of those. It seems that the older I get, the harder change like this is for me (yeesh, getting stuck in my ways already). And I have always hated starting a new job. I hate that feeling of cluelessness, of not even knowing where the bathroom or the pens are, of having to ask people for every little thing. And then there's the bigger stuff -- trying to figure out personalities, what the new boss's expectations REALLY are, who the crazy people are, who to watch out for, who's the go-to person for info. So, that part I'm dreading.


Now on to the good stuff: first is that I get 4 weeks of vacation in the first year (plus 5 sick days plus 8 or 9 holidays). Four weeks of vacation is like gold to a working mother -- I would clean the bathrooms with my own toothbrush for 4 weeks of vacation (luckily, that's not part of my job description). The other benefits are good, too. For the first time, I'll carry the health insurance in my family because it'll be better than Bret's. And they have a good retirement plan, life insurance, etc. etc.


My commute won't be any better -- in fact it'll be a little worse because I have to park off-site and take a shuttle. Ugh. And I'm back to dressing up, after four and a half years of wearing jeans/sweaters/clogs all winter and jeans/t-shirts/sandals all summer. But both of those things were completely worth the time off, not to mention feeling better about the work I'm doing, and who I'm doing it for.


As for the next two days, I have plenty of work to finish up. And then my buddies are taking me out after work tomorrow for a proper send-off. I will be plaing stay-at-home mom for a week before starting my new job. That should be interesting.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Four Things

I'm totally stealing this idea from this lovely woman's blog but, hey, an unoriginal idea is better than no idea at all, right? (trust me, I'm in advertising) So, here we go:

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. waitress
2. balloon-seller at the Lincoln Park Zoo
3. proofreader
4. bookseller

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1. Braveheart
2. Animal House
3. Office Space
4. Austin Powers
(good lord, I am a guy)

Four places I've lived:
1. Grand Rapids, MI
2. Columbus, OH
3. Oak Park, IL
4. Delaware, OH

Four TV shows I watch:
1. The Office
2. What Not To Wear
3. The Biggest Loser
4. Jon & Kate Plus 8

Four places I have been:
1. Bar Harbor, ME
2. San Diego, CA
3. Portland, OR
4. Omaha, NE

Four favorite foods:
1. Cereal w/milk (preferably something with very little nutritional value, like Golden Grahams or full-fat granola WITHOUT raisins)
2. Chocolate milkshakes
3. Warm bread with butter
4. Pancakes

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. The beach
2. In my bed napping
3. A spa
4. The movies

Four things I'm looking forward to this year:
1. More sleep
2. Enjoying more time with Bret since he'll soon be done with school
3. Lauren learning to talk
4. Hopefully, a more balanced, less stressful life (more on that later)

Four places I love to shop:
1. Online -- for anything
2. Crate & Barrel
3. Anthropologie
4. Target