Resignation

So tomorrow moring the resignation gets turned in. I'm a bit nervous in doing it - it's always a hard thing to do. Part of me is hoping that they will just walk me to the door - that would be a nice break. But I really doubt that will happen. It's a nice thought, though. And I'm taking Wednesday off - dealing with the car, getting my nails done, sleeping in a bit, meeting Bridgete for drinks/dinner or whatever. But I'm not going to work crazy hours over the next two weeks - I'll put in my 8 hours and that's about it. There's not much more I can be doing there. I have about 10 more procedures to write out, and also work on the September meeting. But I bet he gives it to someone else. Same with the Worldox meeting - there really isn't any reason for me to be there.

Now I need to concentrate on the audit for my new company and figure out what materials I want them to send me. Yippee!

A New Job!

I finally have some good news that's job related (and that would be the first time I can say this all year!). I've been quite unhappy with the way things are going where I work. I am in chrage of HR and the office, and I also supervise 8 staff. But they don't use me for HR, and I have almost no say with my staff. I love doing HR and have been doing it for quite some time and want to keep doing it. But when you're at a company that will have everyone else help with job assessments (for example) but me, then there is a problem.

So I've been looking for something new, working with a recruiter and searching on my own. I've had a few interviews, but nothing to write home about. Then I found a job with an accounting company that is about 7 miles from my home. I really liked the responsibilities that were listed. So I sent my resume. I got a call the next week asking me to come in for an interview, and they sent me the job description. And WOW - I was totally in love with the job description!! It was everything that I wanted to be doing. So I was pretty psyched about the interview.

So I went in for the interview. I met with the managing partner and another one. I felt an instant connection with both of them, liked what they had to tell me, and they seemed to like what I had to tell them. I wanted this job! And then I found out we had a connection - the managing partner (Paul) knew the president (Jim) of one of the companies I used to consult for. They've known each other for 45 years! So Paul asked me what Jim would say about me, and I said that his remarks would be positive. He was my favorite client. So the next day, I sent off my thank you's and got a reply back from Paul. He talked with Jim and Jm had nothing but positive things to say about me. So that was good. I was expecting to hear from them later that week to come back in for another interview.

So Monday I get an e-mail from the other partner (Rob) asking if I could come in this week to meet with some of the other partners. I went in this morning. Rob said that he wanted me to "meet with some of the people I'd be working with." Of course I took that to be very favorable. So I met with two more of the partners (there are 9 in all), and that seemed to go well. Then, as we were finishing up the conversation, Rob told me that he "really liked me" (in terms of the job) and Paul said that he wanted to hire me!! Yippee! I replied back that I would like to work there. So I was expecting a call later today or tomorrow to finalize everything.

So I get into the office, get onto my e-mail and lo and behold, there is an e-mail from Rob with my offer letter! Everything that I wanted - salary increase, free benefits, 4 weeks vacation, starting when I wanted to. How unbelievable was that?!?! And my time off for football games is not going to be a problem. So, I accepted the offer!!

I am turning in my notice on Monday. I would do it tomorrow, but my boss won't be there. So I'm going to figure out what processes I need to document, start cleaning out my office and computer, and figure out what I need to do in the next 2 weeks. They want a month's notice, but I'm not doing that. I'm giving 2 weeks, then will be in MN for a week, then will start the new job the next week.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful opportunity! I'm so excited about work again!

2007 Goals - Update

Since the year is halfway done, it's time for a budget check:

Creative Memories
* Build customer database - haven't really done this
* Strive to have 1 new event a month and 1 regular crop - doing the crop, haven't done the event yet
* Send out monthly e-mail updates - haven't done this as much
* Send out quarterly newsletters - doing
* Weekend Crop - March - DONE
* Memoranzia - April - DONE
* Croptoberfest - October
* Open House – November/December
* Recruit

Family/Friends
* Monthly e-mail updates to family - stopped this when Dad took ill
* Try to keep in better contact with friends
* Write more letters to Grandma and Sarah
* Monthly get-togethers with local friends

Health - Lose weight and tone up
* Develop a work out routine – keep it varied
* Eat healthier, and more consistently – no more skipping meals
* Monthly measurements
* Start doing fun activities – biking, hiking, etc.
* Train for triathlon

House Improvements
* Redo backyard
* Buy shed for backyard - DONE
* Replace front door
* Paint guest bathroom and bedroom
* Go through every room and declultter
* Clean out and organize storage area
* Replace carpet in living room/hall/steps/bedrooms/downstairs
* Replace cabinets in kitchen
* Buy new stove and dishwasher

Photo Albums
* Stay current with yearly album
* Finish Disney album
* Update Holiday album
* Finish College albums
* Work on state quarters album
* Football album – 2006 and 2007
* Organize rest of pictures

Professional Development
* Recertify for CCP – need 5 credits by end of February - DONE

Travel
* Budget in trips to Tech for football - DONE
* Budget in Trips to Tech and other locations for football games - almost done
* Day trips throughout DC area
* Las Vegas in January - postponed
* Maine in June - postponed
* Minnesota in August
* Girls’ scrapbooking weekend??
* Disney trip - DONE

Personal
* Date
* Pay down home equity loan
* Pay off credit cards

Okay - I haven't really done much here - I need to get cracking on this.

Reflections

I'm sitting here waiting for the Verizon FIOS people to show up (waiting for 7 hours so far - this is crap!) and watching St. Elmo's Fire and reflecting back on things. I remember when this movie first came out, back in 1985. I went with my (then) best friend Jackie to see it. We were in California, and this movie really made both of us think about a lot of things. I wish I could remember what they were now, but I can't. And that's probably not important. But I do think back over the past 40 years of my life and wonder where the hell it's going. I look back on it and I realize that I really haven't done anything that I wanted to do. And that's really sad. Well, I've done some things. I graduated from college. 4 times. And I have a decent job (but hopefully that'll change and I'll move to a better job). I've got a lot of friends. But I still haven't done a lot of the things I wanted to do. I'm not married - tried it and it didn't work out. No kids - and don't think that'll ever happen. I haven't done much traveling. I haven't saved up like I should have. I don't have other investments (outside of my 401(k)). I haven't moved out of the area - even though I'm not from here, sometimes I feel like I've lived my whole life where I've grown up.

At one time I made a dream page - it listed a few goals that I wanted to accomplish - finishing grad school, buying a place, and doing some traveling. And I did those. So now maybe it's time to make another dream page, or my dream album. I need some goals to focus on again.

So over the next few days, I need to think about what they are. Some are easy - traveling to Switzerland, Ireland, Australia. Others are harder - when do I want to retire? How much money do I want to have to retire? Where do I want to retire to? But this would good for me to do.

Happy New Year, Part 2

So it's July 1 - time for a new start (again). The first half of 2007 wasn't what I was expecting it to be. I'm surviving, but I've been through a lot this year, and I'm realizing that there are some changes to make. I've had to go through and really consider who some of my friends are, and I learned that there are some people who I thought were my friends who really weren't. And that hurt. But that's a process of growing up.

So there are things I need to change. I am heavier than I have been in quite some time. I need to get off of my butt and hit the gym. Start exercising and working out and watching what I eat. I don't need to be drinking lots of soda and eating lots of junk. I've cut back on the amount of alcohol, but that's not enough. I have so many cute clothes that I can't wear, and I don't want to buy anything new. And I want to find something new to occupy my time. I'm not liking my company, and I haven't in quite some time. I need to find something to give me the excitment again. And at a place where I'm appreciated.

I'm not sure about the dating scene. I'm still feeling a bit apprehensive about letting myself out there and the possibility of getting hurt. But I know I'll have to do that soon. It's been quite some time since I've had anyone in my life (1 1/2 years). And that's lonely.

So it's a time for changes, again. But it can't start as bad as it did last year, can it?

My Goals for July 2 - July 7

Work
Finish SB's box of B/D files
Finish job descriptions for SO, SJ, TJ, IM, KU, DE
Research outings for September meeting
Figure out software training

Personal
Work out - Tuesday
Work out - Wednesday
Work out - Friday
Work on outline for story
Chapter 2 for class - 1/2 done
Chapter 4 for class - 1/2 done
Chapter 5 for class
Chapter 7 for class
Quiz for class
Job sites - ONGOING
Clean house

CM
Send out page challenge notifications
Finish monthly updates
Finish June expenses
Work on football storybook
Finish my football album - 1 game left!
Work on Bill's football album
Up to date in 2007 album
Send in covers for Persona
Framing party
Send in framing party order

My Goals for June 25 - July 1 - Results

Work
Finish 2 files of B/D files - DONE
Finish job descriptions for SO, SJ, TJ, IM, KU, DE
Holiday Party meeting - DONE
Work with SH on WD project - DONE

Personal
Cardio - Wednesday
Work on outline for story
Chapter 2 for class - 1/2 done
Chapter 4 for class - 1/2 done
Chapter 5 for class
Chapter 6 for class - DONE
Job sites - ONGOING
Send out birthday cards - LW - DONE

CM
Send out chronicles - DONE
Send out page challenge notifications
Finish monthly updates
Work on football storybook
Finish my football album - 1 game left!
Work on Bill's football album
Up to date in 2007 album
Send in covers for Persona
Scheduling framing party - DONE
Send in 2 frames