So long to the holidays…
Well, the holidaze is finally over and it’s time to get back into the normal swing of things. I can’t say I’m not happy about that. Although our holidays were good, they came at a crazy time this year (what else is new?) and it felt like the celebrations were being rushed by my attempt to get settled/acclimated into my new job. Even though I tried to get my shopping out of the way early, I still found myself out until late on the 23rd and even spending most of Christmas eve day out at the stores, trying to finish up everything that needed to be done. But, despite all my worries, it all came together in the end, and ended up being a good holiday for us both (sans Donnie’s New Year’s Day stomach virus. Poor Guy :().
Apparently I was pretty good this year because Santa (by way of Donnie…) got me my very own shiny iPad, so here I am, updating from the train like a tech-savvy individual. Looks are deceiving though– I’m still getting used to how this nifty thing works (and autocorrect, which I’m sure is happily bastardizing this post…), but I’ve managed to master Facebook and Scrabble, so all is not lost.
Things have been going well for us–even in our job insanity, we’ve managed to find time to spend with friends. I had lunch with Chris last week (SEE CHRIS, YOU GOT MENTIONED) and got to see a lot of the crew for the tacky ornament party, too. Another special treat was having a little reunion with my two old elementary/middle school friends, and then running into an old high school friend to boot! And what better way to ring in the new year than to celebrate the new marriage of my dear friend Quavine to her beloved, Matt? We rocked South Street, sans Mummers garb!
So, now that the celebrations have been celebrated and the Christmas decorations days out in storage are numbered, the next on the “shit to figure out” list is housing. We decided to put a hold on house hunting until we can figure out where the best place to settle would be. For now, the plan is to extend our lease by a couple months and then find a new place to rent. The possibilities are endless as to where… We’ve been debating on several options, from several S. Jersey towns to Philly, with public transportation and location in proximity to jobs/my parents the biggest considerations. It’s always exciting to know that we have options, but it can also be daunting. Once the holiday excitement settles a little more, we’ll probably delve more fully into all that.
Work is still going really well. In fact, I’ve never been happier in a job. I feel like this is retribution for all the bad days and bad jobs that left me feeling defeated, dejected, and depressed. I was beginning to get to a place where I thought it was not possible to actually find a job that I really loved, that I would have to settle with the reality of “the real world” and accept that people were not meant to like there work or to feel satisfied or content in their situation. This isn’t to say that I didn’t have good opportunities along the way–I definitely did, and am grateful for all of them–but I just never felt fully content in the jobs I pursued before.
I know it’s still early in the game, but the culture in my office is so different than any I’ve ever experienced before and all of my coworkers have shared similar feelings. One of them told me that in the 4 years he’s been with the company, he’s averaged about one “bad” day a year… And none of those days made him wish for another job. I’ve already had to stay late a few times to get work done, but I’ve never done it begrudgingly. In fact, I like being there. Instead of hitting the 3 p.m. “OhMyGodIt’sOnlyTHREE” wall, I think, “Damn–it’s already 3?!” Every time.
Of course I’ve been having my share of awkward moments. Being the new kid can suck, even if everyone around me is so accommodating. In fact, I think it makes it even worse in some ways because I know these are “my kind of people,” and I have to stop myself from going overboard in showing them I’m their kind of people, too. I’ve been astounded at my abilities to be socially retarded in the past month, but for the most part, I think I’m the only one really noting this new-found (or newly revisited) talent of mine. If anything, a lot of my coworkers have really gone out of their way to make me feel like I belong, which is quite nice and quite appreciated…
Anyway, I don’t want to explode into this job lovefest to sound like a braggart– if anything, I just really hope that if someone out there is reading this who has felt the way I used to about having to settle, you realize you don’t have to. I wish I had advice on how to find the dream job–I don’t, because frankly, it found me by dumb luck. All I know is I owe our HR madam a big bottle of the finest spirits for taking a chance on my LinkedIn profile and should pray to God that this isn’t some extended prank or a mafia front that’s going to go under soon.
So, that’s the big stuff going on. I really have no excuse not to update more frequently, considering I have a good hour each way to do so, but I’m not going to make any promises, at least not until the allure of my online word play games wanes.
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and great start to the new year, dear reader! ‘Til next time!
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