5.20.2009

bittersweet goodbyes

kyleigh, upon learning i am getting a new job:


"but you are going to miss your FRIENDS mom!"


young but wise, that one. young but wise.

5.19.2009

search and ye shall find

how sad is it that i turn up on the first page of results when someone types this:


employment law "pay decrease" minnesota




all i can say is: sigh.

2.5 days and counting...

in true company t fashion, there has been some confusion regarding who will be taking over my responsibilities when i leave. i was told one thing, and other people were told something else. gah!

yesterday i sat through an absolutely excruciating meeting with a very high strung girl from another company who is going to be helping out with my stuff while i am gone. the problem is, i was told she will be "helping out" and she was told she will be "taking over". i asked my manager to clarify last week and was given the "helping out" response. but she is gone this week on furlough and is unable to re-clarify. so i am stuck with ms. high strung and her: WHY? BUT WHY? I DON'T UNDERSTAND? BUT HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? WHERE DOES THAT GO? WHY? WHY? HOW COME? about every little thing. and i am not exaggerating. during our meeting i was dreaming up reasons to get the hell away, like faking a bathroom emergency. it would have been worth any embarrassment. trust me.

of course questions are good when you are learning something new. i'm okay with that. but this girl focuses in on the wrong things and totally freaks out. kind of gets angry, really. i am normally a pretty calm person, but i came very close to flipping my lid completely yesterday afternoon. to top it off, this girl has the most whiny, breathless voice i have ever heard from an adult human being. this is not an exaggeration either...everyone who meets her comments on how her voice is kind of like fingernails on a chalkboard. she almost gave me a panic attack. i've never had one before, but meeting with her was the closest i've ever come to one, i'm sure of it.

i was looking forward to a last week of packing, organizing and goodbyes. and now? well, now i'm dreaming up ways to escape even sooner. swine flu, anyone?

5.18.2009

3.5 days and counting...

only 3.5 days left for me at company t! and of course, i am getting requests up the wazoo when all i really want to do is tidy and pack. it's funny how some people decide to bombard you at the last minute. ; )

i am soooo looking forward to having my week off in between jobs. it will probably be the last real time off i get for a while. i guess my starting a new job over the summer is kind of bad timing! it will suck not to really have any days off when the weather is nice. oh well, it's the price i have to pay.

employees at our parent company were told on friday that they are getting a temporary pay decrease for june and july that is equivalent to a week off unpaid. they can take 5 days off during june and july in return. it just adds fuel to the fire for me and makes me even more glad i am leaving. as i was cleaning out my emails i found more than 50 notices of plant closings and layoffs within our corporation from the last year and a half. probably kind of morbid for me to have saved them, but again...more fuel for the fire!

i know things are rough pretty much everywhere, but i stopped respecting the leadership at company t a long time ago, and it feels really good to know i will soon be free of it all. i just wish i could take all of my friends along with me!

vacation!

four days from now the bf and i will be heading to the airport, ready for a little weekend vacation here:


i can't wait! what a way to kick off my departure from company t!!!

5.15.2009

california dreamin'...(or maybe hawaiian dreamin'?)

fingers crossed!

today my brother-in-law is interviewing for a job with my new employer. they still have two positions to fill for another catalog and i think he would be perfect for the job. keep your fingers crossed for him!

i don't know if i ever ran down the list of hoops i had to go through in order to get this position...but here is a (long, long) list.

1. contacted by recruiter on linkedin
2. phone interview with recruiter
3. interview in minneapolis with recruiter
4. complete assessment tests and 6 interview questions (excel and word)
5. interview in edina with my soon to be manager
6. interviews in owatonna:
a. other manager
b. creative dept (2 people)
c. procurement dept (2 people)
d. category managers (2 people)
7. assessment tests on computer (same day as owatonna interviews)
8. psychological evaluation / assessment testing in downtown minneapolis
9. interview with president of the company in edina.

and these were only the physical things i had to do. there was also calling of my references, background checks and more!

so yeah....there is no doubt that i earned this one. it was a pain in the arse during the process, but it sure feels good now!

5.13.2009

a welcome "basket"

okay, so i am posting this all over the place, but i'm so excited!!! i came home to this today:



definitely makes me feel that all the hoops i had to jump through to get this job were very well worth it. what company does this??? none i have worked for, that's for sure! what a great way to make a new employee feel welcome. i am impressed and even more excited to start my new position june 1st!!

5.12.2009

I got a new job!! Starting June 1st, I will be working as a Category Manager on this line: Play with a Purpose

My last day of my current job is Thursday, May 21. On May 22 the bf and I fly to Chicago for a little weekend getaway. The following week I have off, and then will start the new job on Monday, June 1st.

We have started to get our townhouse ready to try and sell it. Putting up shelving in the garage, sheet rock and shelving in the laundry room, painting and redoing the downstairs bathroom. We want to move to a bigger house that is closer to the kids' school. It won't be any closer to my new job (45 minutes away) but it would still save driving time since I wouldn't have to travel 15 minutes every morning just to get the kids dropped off.

I'm not sure how well the selling will go, there are a lot of homes exactly like ours and the value has gone down. But ours will have some special "perks" that the others don't. Hopefully it won't take more than 6 months to sell, but even if it takes that long or longer, we'll make it work somehow!!!

5.06.2009

cinco de mayo from a 7 year old's perspective

last night my kids were talking about cinco de mayo at the dinner table. i listened in as my 7 year old described the holiday to her younger brother. pretty cute and not too far off, either!

"cinco de mayo is celebrated in mexico because the mexicans fought the french. i think it was because the french said that mexico owed them some money. and the french were busy building the statue of liberty. and then the mexicans and the french fought a battle in mexico because the french wanted money. and the mexicans won. so that is why they celebrate cinco de mayo."

not too shabby! the statue of liberty part was funny, and it was pretty cute listening to her lecturing tone while she was explaining this to her brother. : )

5.04.2009

toothless wonder!

my baby boy lost his two front teeth yesterday! they were both loose, but not quite ready to come out...until the boys started wrestling around yesterday afternoon and one of them rolled over poor kolby's head! he came upstairs bleeding and crying with teeth even more loose than they were before. it took some work on the part of the bf and some bravery on the part of my poor boy, but both teeth came out. after the initial shock, my boy was so proud of those two teeth!









kolby was even more excited this morning when he looked under his pillow and found a prize from the tooth fairy. he woke me up this morning by standing in front of me holding his loot. it's so fun to see the kids get so excited!