The New Job (A Day Late)

This should have been posted yesterday. But it was crazy and exhausting so I'm posting it today. I'm also cheating by cutting and pasting what I put on Facebook. Sue me.

Monday, Day 1:
Dudes, I hope you appreciate this. I am so friggin' tired. And sore. But very happy. I put down the iPod, got out of bed, fired up the computer and am typing this update because I can't type this much with two fingers.

I woke up at 5:15am. Unless you know me, you really can't appreciate the miracle here. I am not a morning person. I'm not sure who invented mornings. But they were mean and hateful. I got my kids up 50 minutes before they normal get up. And this, after a late (but awesome) night at church.

I dropped the boys off at day care at 6:30am. The boys weren't thrilled about it but they are troopers. They know "mom has a job" trumps "I hate early mornings".

I left the day care around 6:45am which misses the hellish rush hour. I made it downtown by 7:15am. I parked on the 8th floor of a state employee parking lot which I thought had no elevators (this will come to play later).

I got to the orientation conference room at 7:33am - way early. A really cool lady dragged me into her office saying, "Tell me who you are, where you came from and what you're going to be doing here!" She rocked. She must have had like 17 cups of coffee. She was from NYC so we bonded on the north-eastern-chicks-rock thing.

Orientation started at 8am and went to about 11am. We got a quick tour of the building which included some huge room where they were prepping a Christmas party - complete with amazing smelling BBQ!

11:30am - my new boss came to get me for lunch. And proceeds to take me to the afore mentioned really amazing smelling BBQ room. So on my first day, I got to participate in the IT Christmas party. Sweeeeeeeet!

Later, I had to register my car for the free state employee parking (woot!). So I ran up the 8 flights of stairs in the parking lot to get my registration from my car. Well, I ran up about 5 flights and then pretty much dragged myself up the last 3, gasping like the out of shape suburban mom I am.

The rest of the orientation lasted until about 4:00pm. Complete with a video outlining one of the agency's procedures. All my former Big Financial Corporation coworkers will enjoy conjuring visions of all of the "superbly acted" corporate education videos we endured. Seriously, the kids in the Peanuts cartoons can read their lines better than these. It was a hoot. It had this horrid screeching string quartet as the "incidental music". The poor instructor looked like he was going to put knitting needles through his ears. He said he has to listen to that video EVERY Monday. He's a musician and now refuses to play his own violin. HA! Anyway, made me recall many hours of corporate videos over the last 22 years.

I got to see my new...um...office...er...desk...er...converted supply closet ala 'Office Space'. I think tomorrow, I will bring my own stapler and clutch it to my chest all day.

I don't really care. They created a space for me. I share this little supply closet with two other people. The one I met is awesome. I asked her if she was ok with me bringing in my 'Precious Moments' figurines and could she help me figure out where to place them. She laughed hard which gives me great hope.

Also, my new boss is super nice. When I would tell people who I was working for, they'd all go, "Oh he is like the nicest guy!" And apparently knows his stuff. I'm told my new PM is quick thinking, very focused and doesn't like excuses or drama (those last two are his words). I told him I just finished swimming in a shark tank. I can hack it. We'll see if I can still swim.

Everyone I met today seems really nice. I'm sure there are the usual mix of characters and personalities.

The benefits rock. Health, dental, wellness initiatives, optional life and all that stuff. The official state holidays we get off are great. Plus, they just this year started giving "early release" days on a schedule. So you can know that you'll be released after 4 hrs on, say, Dec 23rd. So you can actually PLAN something in stead of being told 3 seconds before it happens. VERY cool.

Clothes are "business casual" but on Fridays, it's "jeans and tennies". I'm quoting. I'm not sure I own "tennies" but my pink Chucks will have to suffice.

I have not been around an IT group this calm in...well...EVER. There are stress times, don't get me wrong. But not like the sweat shops most of me and my IT pals are used to. They don't like you to work OT. If you do, you get COMP TIME! What is THAT about?! I told them, I just finished working for a company that thinks working 40 hrs a week is slacking. Can you imagine? I'm in heaven.

Oh and here's a chuckle: So when I left for the day, I walked up those 8 flights of stairs again. I was dying. As I drove out of the parking lot, I pass a big sign on the wall: "ELEVATOR-->". DOH!!!

So...day one is done. It's a 12 hr day for my boys. That's my only regret. But they'll get used to it and I will make sure the weekends are family time. They're going to let me work 7:30a-4p with a 30 min lunch. I opted for 30 mins in stead of an hour so I could leave and miss the worst of the rush hour and have more time with the kids doing homework and such.

I think this is going to rock. I'll let you know.


Tue, Day 2:
I'm still loving it. I'm being introduced to a gazillion people and only remember about 3. I'm doing a lot of reading and getting overviews from people. Everyone is being extremely generous with their time. Their tools & software are a bit different but similar to what I've used before. So nothing (so far) is making me think I'm out of my element. I just want to do a really good job. This state agency is one of the best. So I want to help by adding to the "cream of the crop" thing.

The funniest adjustment for me today was returning to Windows after a year on a Mac. Outlook is way different since I last used it in...oh...when did we can that? Maybe 2002? But hey, if that's the worst of it, I'll do ok.

All in all - WOO HOO!!!


Thanks to everyone for praying for me. Thanks for all of the encouraging notes on here or in emails. Thanks for the text messages and phone calls today. I did see everyone's texts today but couldn't really justify replying ("Hi, I know it's my first day but let me just reply to my friend..."). And tonight, my bro-in-law and niece just got in so I went from work to day care to my mom & dad's house. Then I got home and tossed the boys in bed. I was in bed before 9pm. But decided to come down and type all of this for those that care for way too many details.

You all rock. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing cheering section!

The Job Has Been Approved! WOOT!

So I officially have a job. Well...I guess it's not official until I sign a bunch of papers with HR some time later this week. But today I received the call that the job offer was approved by all levels of approver type people and I'll be hearing from HR soon.

I cannot TELL you what a huge relief this is. This is - in my humble opinion - God rockin' a huge year of blessing. Wanna see?

• I was laid off in January and took the summer off to hang with my kids.
• I used my time off to hone my resume writing & figure out what I wanted to be when I grow up.
  
• I only started looking for a job (for real) in August.
• The average job search takes 4 months and mine only took a smidge over that.
• I only used my "networking" skills twice - which all the outplacement people tell me should have been the kiss of death.
• I applied to about 102 jobs through a myriad of different online job search engines.
• I probably only got phone interviews for 4 of those jobs.
  
• My severance lasted until...well...it would have run out in this next January.
• I've kept my house.
• I've paid off all non-house debt.
• I've been able to fund birthdays for two boys this year.
• I've been able to fund a pretty decent Christmas.
• I have been able to both tithe and give out of my surplus all year long.
• Even when things looked bleak and my hope waned, I knew I had friends and family that would risk our friendships by letting us move in (if the worst case happened).
• All the while, I received phone calls, emails, Facebook comments, etc., from friends, family and blogger pals telling me they were praying. Telling me it would work out. Encouraging me to never give up. I cannot TELL you how much that part mattered. If you prayed and encouraged me? I am asking God to heap huge gobs of blessings on you and your family.
  

I have been blessed beyond measure. I have been scared out of my mind at times. But God never left me. Even when I doubted and asked him just what the heck he was doing.

So God has rocked me a state job with some pretty cool people. And in a state agency that helps the schools. An actual job I like to do, in a city I love, for a company that I feel good about.

I'm not sure how many times I can keep saying God rocks. But he does!

I Have A Job! ...I think...

I've been a bit busy. Thanksgiving was awesome. I hosted my parents, BigSis and her TallGuy. Not having to work is the key to a stress-free Thanksgiving. Or at least it is for me.

The week before Thanksgiving week, I had an interview for a job. Like all of my other interviews, it went well. And like all of the other times, I didn't get my hopes up. I have spent the last few weeks, admitting to God that I'm terrified and full of doubt and really am wondering just what it is He's doing with this whole situation. I fluctuate between absolute faith and thinking he must be teaching me some lesson where I'll have to walk through fire. But I found that finally telling God that I'm really scared and having trouble trusting him helped. Kind of got that guilty feeling off my chest.

So for the week of Thanksgiving, I didn't worry about it.

When this past Monday rolled around, however, I had trouble motivating. I couldn't face having to apply for jobs I didn't want. I couldn't face reading through job listings going, "Oh, I've already applied for that one." So I did what any strong person would do. I climbed back in bed and hid under the covers. If I'm asleep, I can't worry or feel guilty. I ignored my constantly vibrating cell phone. And when my house phone rang, I almost didn't get up to answer it. Almost.

I answered the phone to hear the nice man who interviewed me last week. He proceeded to tell me how well I had done in the interview and subsequent test. And would I like the job? Hmmm...would I like a job...let me think about that one. I nearly screamed! Yes! I'll take it! He told me a little bit about it and could I fax him this or that. I honestly don't remember what he said because I was busy silently jumping up and down.

I called my parents. I called BigSis. I posted it on Facebook. Everyone I knew was informed within the hour.

But I may have jumped the gun.

You see, when they offer you the job, it would seem that you have the job. Not so. When they offer you the job, you have said you would like the job. Then they have to see if upper management will approve it. This is where one previous job offer tanked on me a few weeks ago. When I realized this, my heart kind of sank again. But not too horribly. God's got it. This one really does seem like it's a done deal. But until I have it in stone, I'm not counting any chickens.

Yesterday, I went in to meet with my potential future 2nd-level manager. It went well, I think. So hopefully the approval process has moved up to the two people above him. They wanted me to start this coming Monday. I'm not sure they can get the approvals and paper work done in time. But I'm operating on the assumption that, come Monday, I will be sitting in traffic, honing my road rage skills.

So...I have a job! Kinda...

Job Hunt - Belly Intellesting

If you recall from my previous post, I had a great interview with a local company. I've been in communication with them now for two months, all told. They were working on getting me an offer for a position I really wanted. I've kept looking, however. Because, until you have the offer in your hot little hands, you ain't got nothin'. I will confess, I had been doing much more minimal work in my continued job search because most of the conversations with the company sounded very positive. It seemed a done deal.

Today, I received an email that the requisition for my position had not been approved by senior management. So no job.

It's a bit of a blow, I admit. But again, I'm very surprised by how calm I am. I'm not dancing around farting rainbows or anything. Not by any means. [Although, that would be pretty cool! But I digress.]

So here we go. It's all you, God. I'm ok with wherever you take this. Just help me be patient. And point me in the right direction.

Randomosity

Nothing much happening today but thought I'd toss something out here.

Both boys are home sick today - the second sick day for both. We all got flu vaccines last Friday. Lil'Bro developed a low fever over the weekend and felt punky. I've assumed it's a mild reaction to the flu vaccine. And it was on top of his normal allergies. So it has kind of confused us. The combo of the runny/stuffy nose, general punky feeling and low fever sounds like flu. But I kind of think it's more like a low fever from the vaccine on top of sinus junk from allergies.

Pokemon Boy stayed home yesterday as one of his 3 hookie days I allow. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he developed intestinal distress and a low fever in the early afternoon. Today, he's got a low fever still, but it's climbing. Other than that, he has no symptoms today. So I think his is vaccine reaction, too.

It's so hard to tell how cautious to be right now. The flu and other viruses that are running around the country are just knocking people off their feet. Everything from H1N1 to regular flu to those anonymous viruses. I think about every 4th person I'm connected to has some kind of illness in their house (or just did).

It's a nice couple of sick days. No puking. They're rather quiet because they're not 100%. Yesterday, we spent some of the day on the floor with a Hotwheels race track set up. We alternated between racing little cars and Bakugan balls. Pretty fun.

Today, Lil'Bro is drawing a comic and Pokemon Boy is working on a chapter story he's been writing (for fun) for a few days now. Lil'Bro is learning how to read/spell in school. So right now, I keep hearing him say, "How do you spell 'aaaaaah!' like you're falling?" Pokemon Boy is being very patient, assisting him with spelling for his comic book.

In other news, I'm hearing from the job I interviewed for that they're checking all my references and background. So I'm hoping that's a good sign. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high but I have to admit, they ARE up!

That's it for now.

Job Hunt

Since being laid off last January, I have luxuriously taken the summer off with my boys. But come this past August, I got down to the job hunt in earnest. I haven't talked about it much here because almost all potential employers Google every potential candidate. And while I've made things like Facebook and others private, this remains open for all the world to see. I have no doubt that most interviewers already knew I was a mom (they're not allowed to ask) and that I am divorced and that I'm a total wise ass and that I love to write run on sentences.

Yesterday, I had the best interview I've had yet. I met the potential hiring manager, two of the people under her, an IT director and the HR manager. All I can say at this point is, I love this company. And everyone I met was incredibly nice and really passionate about the company and its mission. Wow. Haven't heard that in a while!

I should have been terrified and wanting to throw up. I was absolutely calm and excited to go. I didn't break out in a horrid sweat. I didn't fumble my words. I didn't let loose with inappropriate subjects (or at least I think I didn't...). I have about 952 thousand people praying for me. So I knew the peace I had was from God.

I drove there yesterday saying, "Ok God, if this job is for me, please give me the right words and help me to present myself honestly and well. If this job is NOT for me, please just don't let me sound like an idiot!"

After the interviews, I was just stoked. I like this company even more, having met some of its people and seen its facilities. But as I got ready to leave, I told God, "Thank you for such a great interview time! This job seems so awesome and I really want it. But if this isn't the best job you have for me, I'm ok with that. Because this one rocks! So if you have something even better than this one? Yah, I'm ok with that!!!"

So we'll see what God has in store...

A Nice Boring Post

Well, the first week of school is done for my boys. And the fact that I have nothing substantial to report is awesome. Because that means that Tourette's hasn't factored into anything this week. YAY!

Things that happened this week:

• I had a 2nd phone interview with an awesome local company I'm really hoping to work for. But I'm leaving it to God. I figure, if I get it? He knows it's the right place for me. If I don't get it? He knows something I don't and is protecting me from a not so great situation.
• I had a cool casual meeting with an IT recruiter that a friend referred me to. She asked me to add a few things to my resume. So hopefully she can help.
• I wrestled with anger issues each time I drove to the school and had to deal with other parents driving in ways that just defied my understanding. I really am at a loss when people block the bus driveway or park on both sides of a narrow street so it becomes a one-way situation or don't follow very strict instructions that were sent home on the first day. It brings out the bouncer in me. I want to get out of my car and start barking like a marine drill sergeant. GAH!
• We had two nights of severe thunderstorms. Only one amounted to any rain so we're still in a drought. But I enjoyed laying in my bed watching the lightening storm from a relative safe spot. One night, I had Pokemon Boy in there. Last night, it was Lil'Bro. Usually they sleep through anything. But each one had a night where they were woken by the storm. If they both wake at the same time, I may have to get a king sized bed! HA!
• Got to have lunch with one of my favorite moms of Lil'Bro's classmate. She's actually the mom of two boys - right around the same ages as my two. All four of our boys really like each other. It's awesome.
• Am wondering how to teach Lil'Bro some assertiveness. Where Pokemon Boy inherited my vocal projection talents, Lil'Bro is whisper quiet when he tries to talk in the classroom. Where PB is an extrovert, LB is shy. Where PB is tenacious, LB will only try once. LB has an awesome teacher. But he's intimidated in trying to make sure she knows his concerns. And his teeny quiet voice doesn't help. I'm sure it will work out. But I've had to send an email to her just so she'd understand one of the little things that was bothering him. Fortunately, she's a doll.
  

That's about it. Nice and uneventful. Tonight, I got to sit on the couch with my boys and a big bowl of popcorn. We watched the computer animated version (2008, I think?) of Horton Hears A Who. It had slapstick, pratfalls and just enough silly to keep them laughing out loud. I had more fun listening to them than watching the movie. Now we're watching PowerPuff Girls and then it's to bed.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Teachers: Two Thumbs Up

Well, we met both teachers today. My mom got to go with me to the kinder meet & greet. It was very cool. My heart goes out to the first time school parents. For most, it is just such a hard time. It was for me. I faked it well for Pokemon Boy's sake back in 2005. But man, it can be such a hugely paranoid time.

Lil'Bro's teacher is in for quite a ride. There are at least 6 kids in her class from his preschool. Which is odd since there are 10 kinder classes (all full - so like 20 per class!!!). But somehow, he and two of his best pals were placed in the same class. Three others we saw were in different classes. But his teacher seems very sweet. Very attentive. I think he'll have a great year.

Pokemon Boy is in the talented & gifted program. So his class is mostly those kids. His teacher seems like a doll, too. One kid from his summer daycare is in his class. They are both crazy for Pokemon. At one point, his teacher mentioned she needed to be schooled on Pokemon. Both boys offered to educate her. HA! Boy she's in for it now!

I chatted with Pokemon Boy's teacher - just letting her briefly know that his Tourette's isn't physical at the moment. That I'm her partner and will back up what she does and continue it at home. She seemed to know him from the prior year. He is a very outgoing and friendly kid. So almost every staff member we passed called him by name. So I imagine she already has some idea of the kind of kid he is.

We all left feeling very comfortable with the assigned teachers and excited for next week. Once again, God's rockin' the answer to prayer. So yay!!!

Oh, and while we were at kinder meet & greet, I got a phone message about a 2nd phone interview with a company I really want to work for. WOOT! I'll let you know how that goes.

Strange Places In Which I Find Myself

So here is 2009.  Technically, I still work for the Big Ol' Financial Corporation.  They will pay me with full benefits until the end of this month.  But my last work day was 12/31 and I'm pretty sure, were I to try to log into their network, I'd be blocked.

I find myself in a place not travelled since I was 20.  I'm not 20 any more.  It will take a pretty big work by God to get me motivated.  I don't really want to do all the resume writing, pavement pounding (albeit, mostly on cyber-pavement), clothing buying, self promoting, etc., that needs to be done.  But since my friends have failed to find me my 40-something, single Christian rich guy with no crazy ex-wife, I must go through the job hunting thing.  Blyeck.

Today, I spent a good portion of the day putting thoughts together for a resume.  I sat there going, "Hmm...what exactly have I been doing these last 22 years?"  I sent out emails to former managers and coworkers saying, "Hey, mind if I put you as a reference?"  I tried to put a true list of skills and tools that represent my current knowledge.  I know plenty of friends who put down every piece of software they've ever touched, seen, spoken of, etc as actual skills.  I refuse to oversell myself.  I can read enough java to debug some coding problems.  But I usually end up needing help because it's still rather Greek to me.  So I certainly won't tell them I can code java.  I hesitate to put any of my coding languages down because I haven't coded in over 4 years.

I mean, if I could put down the best parts of my skill set, it wouldn't look all that good on an IT resume.  "I provide the comic relief.  I kill the tension between adversarial IT groups.  I make sure everyone is heard.  Even the timid wallflower with no self-esteem that usually has the best ideas.  I deflate over bloated egos and keep technical people rooted in reality and not in Star Trek ideals.  I speak techie.  I speak end user.  I speak tester.  I can communicate with the lowest pee-on.  I can talk to the highest up mucky muck.  I make things pretty.  But I also make sure the pretty actually works.  I make sure all the different groups in a meeting understand each other and aren't reliving the Tower of Babel.  I'm a unificator."

The hard part for me is, putting all of the above in corporate speak.  I have to use all the correct buzz words.  Whatever the hip corporate vernacular is at this moment.  I have never been good at blowing my own horn.  Not in the business world.  Singing, yes.  But not in the corporate world.

Anyway, I will be going on interviews.  They will be interviewing me to see if I'm made of stuff they want in their company.  I will be interviewing them to see if they are a company in which I want to work.  I will dance the dance.  I'm just hoping God gives me big signs.  I don't want to just grab the first thing I'm offered.  But I also don't want to be stupid thinking there are 8 million jobs from which I can choose.

I'm pretty chill.  God totally rocked the whole move and house purchase into the most awesome neighborhood.  I'm sure he can get me into a great job with the most awesome coworkers.

Anyone who likes to pray?  I'll take anything you're willing to send up.