New Job Bliss

it finally happened this afternoon: i was offered a job! and not just a 'ho hum yeah a job', but a job i am actually excited about. there will be a lot to learn, challenges to overcome, puzzles to figure out...all the things that i enjoy about work. the interview process was a little daunting, so it's nice to see it come to a positive end.

i initially went on an interview at their headquarters in golden valley. while i was there, i was a little ambushed by learning (when the first person i met wasn't the person i had been in contact with) that i would be meeting with 3 separate people. i like to talk and know my abilities pretty well, but this was a little unnerving for my first interview in 4 years. i talked with each person and felt like everything went well. i was happy with expressing my ideas and explaining what i did at my old job. i also feel like i did a good job making it clear that i bear no ill-will towards my former employer, but it was time to move on since waiting for things to pick up could take months. but then again, one never really can tell. they emailed a few days later and asked if i was still interested because they would like me to meet with a few more people and tour their plant in chaska. i had to laugh at the phrase 'if you are still interested'. duh! i am unemployed. the second interview was meeting with 4 more people. for a company of 100 people, i have now met 10% of the work force, and multiple opinions can only work in my favor right?

here is what i have learned about the company as a whole: smaller company, very team feeling; they have not laid off at all in the economy crunch and have been experiencing growth in the last few months; the position is being created and tailored to the specific person they hire; their benefits include company paid dental insurance, a company contribution to a 401K whether i participate or not; profit sharing; family owned since 1902; and an atmosphere that is one that people enjoy working for this company so much, the average employee has been with the company 10+ years. i was very impressed. i am very excited to have the opportunity to work here. did i mention they offered me more than i was making and i still get 2 weeks of vacation? yeah, this has been a great day!

Colds Suck!

Yes I know, that’s not exactly news. But it’s certainly how I am feeling right about now. I am an allergy sufferer. And when those allergies decide to kick my ass, my weakened immune system enjoys inviting the cold virus over for a vacation. And par for the course, I am totally miserable. I am usually on really good allergy meds before everything really takes off, which holds off the cold. This year, being uninsured, I simply cannot afford the $183 for a month’s supply. I have used a ton of home remedies (and have the upset stomach to prove it). I have been cleaning my sinuses again which I haven’t had to do in years. And my head still feels like it’s about to explode. Not to mention this elephant sitting on my chest. My (hopefully!) future employer is going to be shocked when I start work and sound completely different. ‘No this raspy, wheezing voice is not my real voice’. But I am not at the ‘please just let me die’ state yet. God willing I won’t get there.

What’s been even more miserable is I have found myself in the role of Nanny Extraordinaire these last 3 weeks. I have been getting up at o’dark hour to drive out to Shakopee to watch the lovely Miss Allie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been fun and we have really been enjoying ourselves. But we are both sick. Caring for a sick child is no fun at all, but takes on a whole new set of challenges when you are sick too (oh yeah and when the kid is not yours, and this is not your chosen profession). Allie had RSV when she was 2 months old. As a result, she is more inclined to develop respiratory problems. So when Allie gets sick, she gets really sick. And she just doesn’t understand why we need to hang out at home and rest all day. And she also doesn’t understand why Auntee Mollee wants to hang out at home and sleep. We have reinstituted nap time and she has not been happy with me. She fights me tooth and nail, and then falls asleep within about 10 mins after we lay down. She also falls asleep at about 8:30 at night…which means she is up at 7am! Trying to go back to bed after she is up and all over me wanting me to play is impossible. When she is sick, she tries so hard to be ‘normal’. She cries that she doesn’t want to be sick and then tries to play and do all the things she does every other day, wearing herself out so she end up crying because she is over exhausted. When she was 18 months old, she had pneumonia and I will never forget going over to the house the day she got home from the hospital (she was there for a day and a half). She was so sick and weak, but she was trying so hard to play. She smiled and walked over to her ball and tried to pick it up and bring it to me. She didn’t have enough energy and sat down and cried. Allie is one of those kids who doesn’t ever act like she is sick. Wonder how long that will last once she starts school :-p.

We are trudging along. Hopefully the worst of it was today (my last day of duty for the week of course). We won’t have these days much longer. She is starting preschool and I am hopefully being offered a job this week. So our Allie and Auntee Mollee days are almost over. I just want to spend out last few days having fun together and not laying around being miserable. This will probably never work out where I get so much one on one time again…and by damn it: I want to enjoy it!