Okay, so I had to work my last day at my old job yesterday. It sucked working the holiday and not having a break between jobs, but it is what it is. I will miss my bosses wife and I will really miss the gal we had as a file clerk, but I made the right decision.

Driving in for my first day of work this morning just felt "right". My hours aren't as early as they were when I worked in the business before (no way I was gonna work 5am to 3pm with no lunch, plus most Sunday's), but driving into downtown while it's still dark seemed so normal. It only took about 15 minutes to get to work, and that's erring on the long side.  I stayed 30 minutes over, hit every red light between the office and home and still made it home in a little under 30 minutes. My combined commute today was half the time it would normally take me to get home from my last job!  Plus, I didn't have to stress about finding a parking space once I got home!  I turned the corner to my street and BAM! Parking right there!

I have a lot to learn with the new job, but it's all vaguely familiar. I only hope I can pick it up quickly.  I really want to do well.

So far, the only drawback with the new job is that I'm working with a guy I used to REALLY butt heads with when I was in downtown before. I'd heard he moved to this firm, but they didn't tell me I'd actually be working with him! We had a long chat about working together and came to a (sort of) agreement. We'll see how long it lasts before he becomes abusive, which he is prone to do.

My only real concern now is my car. The last few times I've gotten in it to start it, it has felt like it didn't want to start.  I have felt this before with my car and it isn't good.  I think the alternator is going. That's around $1,000!!!! I just took a job that, while it has A LOT of potential in the long-term, in the short-term, it amounts to a 25% pay cut, so I'd rather not have to pay that out right now. I'm having it looked at this Saturday morning. Fingers-crossed it starts okay the rest of the week. I've worked-out bus and metro routes to work if I need them, but I'd rather not use them if I don't have to.

I know things won't be perfect at my new job, no job is, but I really, REALLY hope this is a good move for me.  The company has an excellent reputation and I really like my manager and people I'm going to be working with.

It will be nice to be a cog in a machine, rather than the machine. For the first time in almost 20 years, I won't have the weight of an entire office (or more) on my shoulders. I'm so tired of being responsible for everyone else.  What a change it will be to only have a few people to keep on the straight and narrow!!!

I can't wait.....

The new candidate / temp started yesterday. I was hoping that I would be able to actually train her, but my bosses keep interrupting and giving me "rush" items to do and weird, once-in-a-blue-moon personal crap to do.  Plus, they have been coming in each day (although, they won't be in Thursday, they have a landscape guy coming to the house...gotta have your priorities, right?), which is always counter-productive.  I asked for them to bring in the other gal (who trained me) today, you know-- to pick up the slack, but they decided that a good use of my time and the candidate's time is to finish the mailing portion of our quarterly project.  Folding materials, stuffing, sealing and putting postage on envelopes.  Yup, that's WAY more important than training or finishing pending items.

I guess they are just going to have to be good with me not wrapping everything up on my desk and actually finishing some training before I leave.  Disappointing.

I should tell them that I changed my mind and I am taking back my offer to work the MLK holiday Monday.  I thought we'd be working hard training and would need the extra day.  Sure, I'd wanted a break before starting my new job, but I was willing to take the hit in order to benefit my replacement.  But if their priorities are this out of line, why should I put in the personal time?  A holiday weekend sounds good right about now!

Ack, this stress has caused me to put on weight!  Well, the stress-induced stuffing of my face with trail mix, zucchini bread (made with my new Kitchen Aid mixer) and candy, has caused me to put on weight. I'm wearing my fat pants!!!

And I've been up since 3am. Better than yesterday though.  I woke-up at 2:30am yesterday.

I got word Friday that I definitely have the new job.  Yay!  I start on Tuesday, the 19th.  Unfortunately, my current bosses have asked that I work the holiday on the 18th, so I won't be getting any kind of break between jobs.  I initially gave 2 weeks notice, with my last day being the 15th.  If they would have taken that (as most employers would have), I would have had a nice holiday weekend between jobs......plus, I wouldn't have to deal with a paycheck with one day on it. I guess I should have them deactivate my automatic IRA contribution for that check, it will will eat-up my entire earnings for the day!

Okay, so maybe I was naive to think that things would get easier at work once I resigned....

Every day this week has been a nightmare. Not just the workload (it's time for our quarterly project), but dealing with my boss trying to get me to stay.  So far he has used money, sympathy and guilt. Actually, he has used all of them many times. He has promised to change things, but I know he won't, which is why he is now relying heavily on money and the prospect of more money down the line.  I suppose I should be flattered that he wants me to stay this badly, but come on.  He is only doing it because he doesn't want to go through the process of getting someone new.

I really hope I get a concrete decision soon from the job offer I received (they weren't done checking stuff this morning). I just want to put this all behind me.  I'm exhausted. Forget about sleep.  I've gotten, maybe,  15 hours of sleep this week, total. That's including the 8 hours I got Sunday night.

I look like shit. I feel like shit. I'm sure I'm behaving like shit as well. So, sorry to everyone who has had to deal with me! I don't usually cry this much, I promise....

My new year has been really complicated.  You might be rolling your eyes right now, but it's true.

How, you ask? Well,  New Years Eve I saw I had three emails from a company I was interested in working for: An offer letter, a request for additional information and an explanatory email. What makes it so complicated? A couple of things:

First is that I'd requested to be able to give two weeks notice and the offer letter had my start date as pretty much two weeks from the day I got it, counting the two holidays we have this month, but NOT counting the time it takes for them to run the reference and background checks.

Secondly, because of the above, that meant I had to give notice at my current job yesterday. New. Years. Day. I was sick from it all New Year's Eve. I called them yesterday morning (after picking-up my phone and putting it down again a thousand times) to see if I could stop by their house, but reached voicemail at the two numbers I called. My anxiety was at an all time high.  They saw the missed call and called me a while later and I arranged to stop by yesterday afternoon. They called me again to push the meeting back 30 minutes. It was in that call that they asked what it was about. I felt pressured, so I told them (and started crying). We decided to meet a bit later in the day, but I felt a little better that they knew.

The extra twist, and I let my bosses know this, is that I was resigning without actually officially having the new job, because I respect them enough to give them as much notice as possible. I was risking being unemployed in order to do the right thing by them. They really seemed to appreciate that.

Actually, the whole thing went well. They really understood my reasons and didn't want me to quit, but offered to give me a good reference if I needed one. I am grateful to them for that.

When I get the new job officially, I will be working in downtown. I used to hate working in downtown, but having worked in Brentwood, I realized that downtown was much more central and easier to commute to/from. That includes to/from home and getting to/from doctors appointments, etc. Working at my old job, I scheduled my appointments after work and they average 25 minutes from downtown, whereas it takes over two hours to get to Brentwood after my appointments, which I currently have to schedule in the morning.

My new hours will be great, 6:30-3:00. It's a compromise between my old job and the job I have now.    Not hellaciously early (at my old job, I was getting to work at 5am), but not really late (I get to work at 9am now). Being able to leave the office at 3pm will be great. That's when I used to get off work when I was in downtown. The commute will be so much shorter! Right now, my commute to work is 30-35 minutes if traffic is light. Going to downtown earlier in the day, it will be between 10-15 minutes. Currently, my drive home is at least 1 hour (with average traffic...with heavy traffic it's 1 1/2 - 2 hours). With the new job it will be around 20-30 minutes.

I'm sure the new job won't be perfect, nothing is, but there is a lot of potential for advancement that I don't currently have. Plus, it will save my licenses. You're only allowed to be out of the business 2 years before they expire and that clock, for me, runs out at the start of April. Scary part is, I have to get another license within my first 90 days of starting. Fingers-crossed I can do it!!!  I'm not a good test taker, that's for sure. The new license is not optional, so I will have to do whatever it takes to study and pass the exam.

Please send your good vibes my way that I officially get this job! I do not want to be unemployed!!!!