Another week flew by

Abe and Ali's wedding was awesome, and of course, we didn't take many pics b/c we were too busy having fun. :-)

Work was really busy this week. My poor Manager has pneumonia, and thankfully a co-worker returned from her maternity leave just in time to help keep the office running (even though it's technically not her job). Two other co-workers are working out of other offices for a while and only once in a while coming back to help in St. Paul. (One comes back to help more often than the other, but basically, we are all busy trying to keep things running smoothly in our own areas.)

So, as expected, I hate leaving things hanging, which means I've been working a good amount of overtime. If only I was paid for overtime.... Still, I don't want too much on my plate in the mornings, so I prefer to just stay late. I do like being busy with something I feel that I am capable of doing well. :-)

The zoo was fun. And we were lucky enough to win something during BINGO! Saturday was definitely an exhausting but fun day.

And now the weekend is over. I have watched 4 movies this weekend. I might have been able to get more done had I been motivated, but movies are always such fun! At least my hubby has been motivated to get a few things done. Thankfully, he's not mad at me for slacking - yet....

I'm looking forward to another crazy week! And just in time for another wedding...

A Long Day

I finally left work at 7 PM, and I was just in time to check my voicemail and find out that I had missed my monthly dinner with my Guidant pals. :-( I had to hold down the fort this afternoon, and I didn't even have time to use the restroom. Let's just say that I'm looking forward to the upcoming long weekend in Indiana and the long car rides with my hubby and good books-on-tape.

All in a Very-Early-on-Saturday Morning's Work

Well, here it is. Saturday morning. And the reason I am up so early? Well, we had a new person starting an assignment today, and I needed to make sure he arrived successfully. Results? I call the company - no joy. The new person is not there, and it's a few minutes before starting time. I boot up my machine and sign in to all my software gadgets so I can work from hom, and I look up the newbie's #. I call the n00b, and he says, "I can't figure out how to get in the building." Breathing a sigh of relief that I don't have to make calls for backups at 6 in the morning, I instruct him in how to get in. Believe it or not, I gave him this very same information the day before. I think the problem is that yesterday, the weather was so nice that everyone was too distracted to use their Listening Ears. Now let's hope that he can do a good job so I don't have to find someone else for tomorrow...

New Job

It's been a while - sorry for slacking. I have been busy, though, as you can probably tell from the title of this post.

I started my new job on Wednesday. Things are going really well so far, and I am having fun while learning a lot. :-) My co-workers are friendly and helpful, and I'm excited to be there. It's also exciting to finally have a job that I can expect to keep for a longer period of time. It will be nice not to have to perform a third annual job search next February/March.

So, here's a thought. I like comments, but I rarely write posts that lend themselves to comments. Why don't I start providing a question at the end of some posts that will hopefully encourage some sharing? Here's the question for this post:

What has been your favorite job/career so far, and what was it about that job that made you like it so much?

Please write a comment! (Also, I may turn on comment moderation so I can be sure to see all comments, even to older posts.)

Unemployment, Day 3

Lots of meetings today! Thankfully most were by phone. I spent the morning in meetings and the afternoon catching up on homework and typing up notes from one of my meetings - it was a phone interview for part of our group project. And today is class day, so my evening was also used for school. :-)

Other than that, nothing really exciting happened. But I did update my blog skin again! This time, I actually drew the images instead of using brushes. Still not settled on something yet, but this blog skin can last a while if needed.

Unemployment, Day 2

I got to sleep in today! How nice... it's good to wake up when the sun is shining once in a while. I hung out with my kitties while eating breakfast, and then I got ready for the day and started some more work on taxes. For lunch, I met with some of my girlfriends from BSC, and then I headed back home to work a bit more.

And then my afternoon and evening were lost. I am finally printing all of my tax forms, but I spent all afternoon making sure I had found all possible deductions and credits, and double checking to make sure I handled all investment info appropriately. I am happy to say that I not only know what I'm doing and exactly what I'm paying for, but I am also done - really done. Yay!

So my hope for this week was to have time to clean and do homework. Looks like tomorrow I will be doing homework in the afternoon, as my morning is filled with meetings. Additionally, since I will be helping at MOPS on Thursday, I hope to get cleaning done Thursday and Friday. Oh, and that paper that's due on the 12th? I'll need to get that done, too - maybe sometime this weekend. I can't work any longer in this disaster we call an office...

Unemployment, Day 1

Today was a good and busy day. First thing I had to do was deal with health insurance issues. The insurance we had through my severance from last year was supposed to be a 12-month deal, but I found out after the fact that it didn't cover leap-day... interesting... Anyway, Matt had setup insurance through his company starting on leap-day, but after some checking, it didn't seem like the information had gone through. I also needed to find some sort of documentation to show that I had experienced a "qualifying event" that would allow us to sign up for benefits when it wasn't the standard sign-up time... Suffice it to say that I spent a lot of time on the phone this morning.

So, once I had gotten things settled with that, I folded laundry and cleaned out my "too small" clothes. I was finishing more clothes folding, and I got a call from the person I have been interviewing with for a while. We scheduled another meeting for later this week. After that, I headed out for lunch with Shannon. :-) It was a nice way to break up the day.

After lunch, I prepped for a phone screening interview that was scheduled for the afternoon. The interview went pretty well, so we'll have to see what happens there.

Finally done with the clothes and job-hunting, I started working on our taxes, only to be distracted by a message waiting on my answering machine. It was another job-hunt related call. I called back, and scheduled a phone screening for later this week.

Back to taxes - Due to the taxes on my severance from last year, Matt and I will be getting a refund. Yay! I still have to do state taxes. Oh, and Bible study was last night, too, in between working on taxes. :-)

It was a productive day, but I got no real cleaning or schoolwork done... we'll see about tomorrow. I'll probably first get state taxes done, then start work for school.

Another lead...

My week is quickly becoming booked! I still don't know exactly when to expect a call back from the person I had previously interviewed with, although it should be sometime soon, and today, I made plans for another initial phone screening for a job that one of my classmates recommended me for. Tomorrow will be busy with homework, job hunting, cleaning, possibly breakfast/lunch plans with friends, and general catching-up on "stuff". I will have to try to remember to give a report on what happens during this week. Hopefully I get tons done, including cleaning my house. :-)

I know this was just a quick note, but I'm trying to blog even though I have nothing important to say and no good stories to share, so cut me some slack for now, please...

The Day Before Leap Day

Another February, more changes.

I am going through more emotional highs ad lows right now than I would expect. On Saturday, I woke up feeling on top of the world. It was sunny outside, and I had the whole day to do whatever I wanted. I ended up getting to spend some time with my wonderful friend Jen, and then I got to spend a good amount of time by myself shopping and watching TV. As the day got darker, I got really tired and down. Not sure what all is going into emotional fluctuations on days such as this, but this does seem to be typical for me in these later weeks of winter.

So tomorrow is my last day of work. I have had fun, I have stressed, I have worked hard, and I'm better off because of it all. I am also glad to be moving forward. I have always been excited by change. I seem to enjoy the thrill of the unknown... will I get an offer for the job I think is best? Will I be successful in my future role? Will I ever learn to slow down and stop making so many plans and time commitments? I probably won't ever slow down...

Anyway, I am all prepared to be done at work. I have gone through all knowledge handoffs I could think of, I have checked in all equipment that could possibly be checked in early, I have closed any possible projects, and I have taken home most of my personal items. Today, my manager brought by a very nice letter of recommendation/reference which was totally unsolicited. I feel pretty good about where I am right now, and I'm looking forward to what's next.

It also seems fitting that I take this next big "leap" in my life on "leap day". There is a "leap day" celebration at work tomorrow, and then after work, I'm going out for a Happy Hour with coworkers in honor of three of us who are all leaving work. I always love a good celebration...

Another day, another dollar...

Today was interesting. Since I had an interview yesterday, I took last night and today off from touching anything remotely related to a job search. This is probably best, anyway, b/c I have spent the majority of my time at work this week getting "job search things" rolling.

So today I was able to get a good amount of information/knowledge transferred and cleaned out, so that was good. I also helped out with a mini-project that the director of our area needed, so I felt good about that...

And here's the interesting stuff...

I did find out that the interview went well from the interviewer's perspective also, and on top of it, some conversations at work led to the director of our area letting me know that if things don't work out with the job I interviewed for, it may be an option to extend my temp contract depending on the work that needs to be done.

What an emotional rollercoaster of a week. I know my co-workers are feeling this, too, b/c my availability affects their workload down the road. It's a bummer that the initial announcement was made, b/c now I'm in the mindset of leaving, and I know that leaving would also take me in a direction that I would love to go...

Anyway, I'm excited for the coming weeks and continuing the interview process. It should be an adventure!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yesterday after class, I came home to Matt and found a collection of Gerbera daisies on the kitchen table. What a sweetie. :-)

So, we were planning on keeping it low-key. I have been swamped with job hunting/school, so I was glad to keep things low-key.

Then today happened.

First of all, I had an interview for a job that seems like it would be a good fit. I got the interview because my wonderful co-worker Holly passed along a job description that her other-half had posted for a position in his office. There are a series of events that need to happen before any offers can be made, so I'll have nothing more concrete to say about that until sometime in March. Anyway, I am really excited about having found such a strong possibility so quickly. (Thanks to Holly.)

Second of all, when I got home today, I immediately ran to tell Matt all of the details of my day (as I typically do). Eventually, he asked me if I had seen my flowers yet. I hadn't looked, but I remembered that the Gerbera daisies had looked slightly lonely in our large vase, so I checked the kitchen table, and lo and behold, the vase was filled with even more flowers. I also noticed that there was an envelope tucked in the flowers, so I opened it and read the note Matt had left for me. Here is what the note said:

"Search first inside an old device where we get political advice."

He had created a riddle-based scavenger hunt for me! (Oh, how well he knows me...) I continued to follow clues to find more clues, until I got to the end. Each clue after the flowers was hidden with a piece of Ghirardelli dark chocolate. What fun! For those of you who are like me, here are the clues Matt left. Comment on which ones you think you know, and I'll post the answers sometime in the future.

1. Search first inside an old device where we get political advice.
2. To find me is hard, this do not doubt. A light for when all other lights go out.
3. I'm so glad that you're my wife, apple of my eye, love of my life.
4. I don't like it when you cry, no not at all, but if you do, I'll cushion your fall.
5. You want to have small babies to kiss, so leave me alone. I'm no help for this.
6. You put me inside a home far too small. A buffalo I am, strong, proud, and tall.
7. A treat we serve in Brittish style, sometimes it makes our guests smile.
8. I haven't been paid in years, I regret. You probably owe me $60 I bet.
9. If not for me, I'm not so sure you would have loved Matt Cromer.
10. Come claim your reward you have now won. Let's go out to eat and have lots of fun!

So, even if you don't know the answers to clues 1-9, clue 10 should be clear enough. Matt and I went out to Chili's to spend the rest of one of our gift cards from Christmas. And we got an appetizer. And we took pictures of each other. And I looked good in my picture. :-)

Altogether, it was a wonderful, beautiful, no bad, very good day.

Long story short...

My job is ending on Feb 29, so I'm hunting for work, which means more is on my plate. Lots to do, lots to do. I have to write my first paper of the semester tomorrow and finish updating my resume... scrapping was fun last weekend, but I need another weekend to regroup....

On another note, I love my husband so much and think he is so cute. FYI - he posted a fun story on his blog that you all should read. I will blog more after my paper is written and my resume is out on the web...

Looking forward to Friday

I, the queen of busy-ness, have succeeded in accomplishing at least one thing this week. I completed the layout plans for 19 single/double page layouts, and I compiled and printed 53 - 4x6, 5 - 5x7, and 5 - 8x10 photos. This is much more work than one might think, and I am glad to know that my pictures are ready for the weekend.

Now I will most likely not get through all 19 layouts, but I need to be prepared. What if there is a layout that I don't want to work on? I need a backup plan. Or maybe a selection of backup plans. Can't be too prepared, can I?

On to other things... I have a list going for this week. 32 hours of work (8 completed), finish reading my book for class (I'm slow, so this could be about 4 hours...), read my articles for class (1 hour), journal for class (2 hours, spread out), write my paper for class (~5 hours)...

I'd like to pause and mention that I'm starting to notice a trend...

Back to the list. Laundry. Clean the clutter mess that is forming in my upstairs. Call Grandma (since I was too distracted to call her on her birthday, which was Sunday). Coordinate rides for Friday with my carpool. Organize scrapping supplies for the weekend. Speaking of which, I think I need to buy a rubbermaid bin for some of my larger loose items. Clean cat litter. Call Mom - this one is way overdue. Go to class on Wednesday night. Go to Allison's on Thursday night. Exercise daily - 30 minutes - that's not too much... evening devos with Matt and God. Morning Devos with God. Prep for volunteer training. Lunch with past roomates from BSC...

I almost forgot. I need to eat dinner at some point. And sleep. And blog. And answer emails from friends... and...

Happiness

So lately I have been on a big, random-thought and random-activities kick. Playing piano, looking up random things related to hobbies and interests I used to pay more attention to... I think it's all in preparation for school this semester...

I started classes on Wednesday. I'm taking a class about managing interpersonal and organizational conflict. For part of the requirements, I have to keep a journal about conflict in my life. I told this to my co-worker, who then said something along the lines of me having internal conflicts, but her never having seen me willingly get involved in other conflicts (or something like that?)... still not sure what to think about that, but it is interesting to note...

So now I have a paper due in two weeks - a 6 page reflective paper - which isn't difficult, but I have two busy weekends coming up and no time to sit down and focus on writing. We'll see how long it takes me to start... probably the night before it's due. :-)

And now the good news... I've been sitting on the other side of "the wall" at work for the last week. This means I actually have peers sitting close by, and I am actually being treated as part of the training department, as opposed to being off by my lonesome. And I have a relevant project to focus on for a while. This is fun. Now if only things would settle down at work so I could get hired full time...

The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Frustrating

I finished my last paper of the semester and sent it to the instructor this afternoon! Yay! So now I have time to think about other things, like getting ready to leave for the holidays.

The bad news? I still have a lot of "work" that I have to do, so it doesn't look like I'm really going to get any sort of a break before leaving. At least while I'm gone, I will be forced to relax a bit. Then hopefully I can get most of the "work" finished before classes start up again at the end of January.

And now for the reason I am ready to scream at the moment - A while ago, Matt and I hesitantly decided to purchase an *affordable* (read "cheap") anti-virus software, b/c McAfee has gone up in price, we really hate Norton, and I'm not ready to fight any open source programs. Thinking that at least this software would be a straight install-it-and-forget-it kind of deal, we thought it was worth a shot.

I am glad to say that at least we didn't waste very much $$ on this piece of junk software that has brought me almost to the point of tears. I am so amazingly frustrated that there are simply no words to describe what I am feeling. Matt has agreed, although his computer didn't react as badly as mine, and so he purchased a copy of the more pricey McAfee program today. I am now reformatting for the second time in the last month or so, and I am going to be fighting to take the company up on their 100% money-back guarantee. Apparently the other users who hate this program have not had much luck with this, but by golly I will not go down without a fight!

Tired and trying to stay awake...

I am soooo tired right now! My eyes are burning, and I've had way too much trouble focusing on things I had to read today. Hopefully this weekend I can get some sleep since I don't have any major homework due next week...

I'm looking forward to scrapping tomorrow. I got so much done last week, and I still have a ton left for this week, so I know I'll be productive. :-)

I also had a very productive afternoon at work today. Lots to do! It all helps me stay awake. Now I need some caffeine to get me through my next class. We have a guest speaker today, so that should make me a little more motivated to put extra effort into concentrating.

Working Late!

So I forgot until just now to inform my husband that I would be working from midnight until 2 am tonight. Whoops! So I'm going to be getting a highly caffeinated soda before midnight, and hopefully I make it home awake... :-D

Lazy evening

I am finally able to relax on a Thursday night... I think I've really just needed a calmer night because I've been so stressed with other work lately. Right now, I have my homework for Tuesday done, and I'm mostly ready for the weekend...



So this weekend is going to be fun. Matt and I are going to Indiana to hang out with family and Dad's friends for his 50th birthday... I'll write more about it later.

Quick Recap

Once again, I have let way too much time pass between posts...

Three weeks worth of classes have come and gone since my last post. So far, the workload is manageable, but there is so much reading that I am afraid for later when I will be expected to actually write based on what I will have read. I am enjoying the discussions, though, and I think I am keeping up with my fellow classmates.

On the work front, I have had a couple of okay weeks. Nothing too stressful - at least having other stressors in my life helps to limit the effects of work-related stress. I have now hosted two training sessions for the subject I have been working on most recently, and on top of that, I am training someone this week on the full gamut of standard processes. I really like weeks like this when my job requires that I take a break from creating materials in order to train people. This is my chance to just be confident in what I know and share my knowledge. In addition, I am finding that I am a very patient person, which is good since it is directly applicable to my job. This makes me feel pretty good about where I currently am in life...

Meh. That’s about enough of that for now. I’m feeling bored with this topic, so moving on…

Schedules...

I am so getting freaked about this fall. Two classes, plus a 40 hour work week, plus activities for church, plus weekend trips - why am I always packing an insane amount of activities into my schedule? What is my deal? And right now, I am so extrememly tired that I could fall asleep on Allison's couch if I wanted.

I just spent the better part of my evening going through my email. So much to keep track of! When will it end?! Seriously, I need a break. But alas, I will not get one anytime soon... unless I go to Heaven early... anywho...