Well, I’ve been leaving a job, trying to squeeze every ounce of time out of one week off, and starting a job.
Leaving a job…
I have just closed the chapter on a 10 month journey at Blue Cross. I must start by saying that the job I had there presented itself at the perfect time. My job at Wayne State was officially over on 12/31/06 and I started the job at Blue Cross on 12/29/06. You can see God’s fingerprints all over that scenario. The commute was rough, but I met some really great people, gained a TON of new skills, learned how to toughen up a bit, became much more detail oriented and grew quite a bit. The downside was that I worked my ass off for a boss that always left me feeling like a failure. I spent 50 hours a week working and commuting which left me very drained for any outside activities. This did force me to learn how to say “no”, how to buy store-bought goodies for events that I attended (instead of making everything home-made as I would normally do), and how to pare down all of the unnecessary things I was spending my time on. Obviously the whole experience taught me, first-hand, some of life’s valuable lessons. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
Trying to squeeze every ounce of time out of one week off…
I gave myself a one week hiatus between jobs, but it ended up being nowhere near a hiatus. I spent Monday in bed all day sick, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were spent working from morning till night cleaning and organizing the house, and Friday was spent shopping all day for clothes that didn’t fit, cost too much, were the wrong color and overall caused me to be frustrated with my body and the world! The weekends on either end didn’t really count since I get weekends off when I’m working anyway. I was happy about getting things organized around the house and I was able to exterminate entire populations of dust wolves (those suckers were way beyond bunnies!). I feel a sense of accomplishment and peace about sorting through all the books and boxed junk that we hadn’t opened since moving in a year and a half ago. I was even able to create a nice office/library/reading nook in the basement. I’ll post pictures sometime.
Starting a job…
On Monday I started my new job! I was anxious about starting a whole new thing and was wishing that I could just stay home and start making babies, but I had to suck it up and move on. Reporting to work at 9:00am and only having to commute about 20 minutes was a dream! I actually felt like I was able to sleep in. Day one was full of the basics. I was doing my best to soak up as much of the information as I could and take good notes. My boss took us out to lunch at Salvatore Scallopini (my favorite restaurant!) and spent some time just getting to know me. The rest of the week was full of all kinds of training. It is so new to me to be part of a small business. I can’t just submit expense reports to accounts receivable because I am accounts receivable! I can’t just email an order to the purchasing department because I am the purchasing department! It’s pretty cool learning each step of the process from start to finish. I don’t have any accounting experience, so I’ve been trained on some basic accounting work and I’ve realized that I may not hate math as much as I’ve always thought I did. I think I just hate math that doesn’t seem practical (algebra, trigonometry, etc). I think I’m really going to enjoy working with all these numbers and formulas! I ate delicious lunches everyday on the boss’s dime (which is so crazy…I can’t get over the fact that he buys lunch for everyone in the office every day that he is in!). I got to know some of my new coworkers and I tried to stay calm in the midst of not knowing everything (I hate not knowing everything!).
So that, in a nutshell, is what I’ve been up to. What have you all been doing?
Mom says
This job is a direct answer to my prayers… I know you are going to love it because God set it up!!
I love you and can’t wait to spend some more quality time with you and Andy over Thanksgiving.
XOXOXO Mom XOXOXOX
Sara M. Sabbagh says
I think this is a great and detailed explanation of what is going on with you! Thanks for posting it!
I hope you and Andy have a great Thanksgiving.
Muah! ~Sara
belovedone1023 says
I’m so glad that the job has been good so far in spite of having to learn new things and not know everything.
Let’s see what I’ve been up to…hm well a retreat filled with middle of the night surprises, watching Bryson and learning the art of perseverence. Oh yeah, I got to hear your husband talk to our middle schoolers (He did a great job by the way).
Now I’m heading off to Atlanta for a conference and perhaps a visit to the Coca-Cola Museum.
scraps_n_stuff says
I have been up to… “spring cleaning” in the fall! Maybe it’s my dyslexia but I always clean in the fall. I think it’s because I’ve been outside so much in the summer and now I’m back inside and I see all that needs to be done.
I’m co-tagging you with Ruth! Have fun posting 7 random things about yourself!
Aunt Becky says
I was hungry for news of your new job and now I’m satisfied. Wish it worked that way with food! I had no accounting experience either Rebecca, when I started at MTC some 20 years ago. I hated math as well, but found business math fascinating. I ended up taking two accounting classes at our local community college which garnered me enough info to move on to become an Accounting Supervisor (and only person in Accounting). I loved doing statements, paying bills and booking expenses. I’m sure you will too. Because of all that great experience, I’ve been able to work while being retired, still doing bookkeeping for my former boss. I’m proud of you!
Ruth says
Congrats again on the job change, Rebecca! Just hang in there – I’m sure you’ll start getting the feel of it all soon enough! You’re a fast learner… and I just know they’ll love you!
By the way, I’m “tagging” you now! (See my blog for details!) If/when you get the time, post 7 random things about yourself – then “tag” 7 others to do the same, if you like! :)
xoxo