So, what was the big news? Well, after much thought, consideration, worry and long discussions with the hubby, I decided to quit my job. I was going to wait until Friday to put in my resignation – so that I’d give exactly 2 weeks notice – but couldn’t wait and gave notice today.

What’s so odd about that? Well, I’m a wee bit of a worry wart, overly organized and usually have a nice firm head on my shoulders. However, after 9 years with the same company, I’ve quit my job with no parachute (alternate employment) and no real idea what I’ll be doing in a few weeks. Guess I had better start pounding the pavement and find a new job quickly!

I’m sure it was the right thing to do. Despite the worries associated with shortly being unemployed, I’m still sleeping better.

Anyone want to hire an instructional designer?

I can’t believe how terrifying it is to leave something you’ve known for years. At the same time, it’s exciting and I’m actually getting sleep for more than a few hours at a time! I haven’t slept through the night in years, so this is a big dot deal for me.

I left India on Saturday evening (IST) and landed home on Tuesday at 11pm (MT). Yesterday, I slept all day and today I’m back at work.

Man, I need a vacation!

Each year at work we hold a diversity dinner. It’s a twist on the traditional turkey and potatoes meal that many companies offer their employees. At ours, we include dishes common in other cultures such as lasagna, pirogi, or samosa. While our Christmas party is a ticketed evening event that not everyone chooses to attend, the diversity dinner is a free meal that is catered in our lunchroom.

The meal may be catered, but the setup and clean up is completed by employee volunteers. Some stayed late or worked through lunch to get the decorations in order. Some came into work crazy early to help setup. Others stayed for hours after their shifts ended in order to help clean up the mess. Feeding 400 people over two three hour shifts makes for messy dishes, tables and floors.

I was originally scheduled to work the clean up shift at the end of the day alone. It’s a shift I’m used to volunteering to cover and working alone – since many people want to get home to their families in the evening and prefer to work earlier in the day – but for a meal this large, it’s a shift I was dreading. It takes about an hour to clean up after a free coffee and donuts session. I knew it would take many more hours to finish up after a full blown meal.

This is where my wonderful co-workers rode to the rescue. Boo slept in and instead of beginning her work day at 0 dark 30 arrived later in the afternoon so she could help me with cleaning duties. She’s the best pot washer I know! Mike helped move tables and carry the heavy boxes while Trevor helped clean up, carry and un-decorate. With their help, we’d finished washing, cleaning and putting away in only 2 hours. Without them I’d likely still be up to my elbows in dish water.

The best thing about the meal? We ordered enough food to feed all 500+ employees but not everyone worked today. Anyone with the day off was informed and invited to partake but not everyone wants to come to work on their day off. All of the extra food that was prepared by the caterers, but not served, was delivered by the catering company to a local homeless shelter/soup kitchen. At this moment, I’m really proud of the company I work for and their commitment to making a difference in the community in which we work and live.

Technorati Tags: diversity, meals, cleaning, dishes

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is the traditional gift giving. Sure, it’s great to give and receive gifts from family and friends, but what I really love is our sponsor a family program we participate in at work. Families in need self-identify and we put together care packages with food and gifts based on the size of the family and the ages of any children in the family.

It’s always fun to see what people bring in to fill the baskets with. There’s a standard list of food that is always included, but it’s the little extras each person brings in to add to the baskets that make me smile. You can learn a lot about the people you work with by what they bring to share with others. Who’s a vegetarian, who’s got an addiction to which type of crackers or cookies, who’s a chocoholic, who never grew out of children’s luncheon snacks and who prefers desert over the main meal…

To raise funds for Christmas presents for the children in the family we hold coin collecting contests (bragging rights go to the department that raises the most money), bake sales, book exchanges (donations welcome), and raffle off gift baskets containing items donated by the salaried staff. Extra funds are used to buy presents and items to donate to local children’s charities. Extra food items are sent to the local food bank.

I’ve been participating in the program for 8 years (have I really been working at the same place for that long?) and it’s one of the reasons I haven’t yet been motivated to move to a different company. You can measure a company and its people by the type of work it does in the community and the type of things that it gives back to its employees. The Christmas program supporting internal employees is one of the best examples of sharing with others that I’ve ever experienced.

Another favorite Christmas tradition we have in our small family is charitable donations in place of Christmas presents. The hubby and I started doing this a few years ago when my dad complained that he didn’t need anything to add to the clutter at home. Rather than not sending a gift, we decided to make a donation to charity on behalf of our friends and family members. It was a hit with dad, since he got a tax-receipt for the donation (Scots are notoriously frugal – I wonder why it never rubbed off on me). We pick a charity that has meaning for the recipient – diabetes research, cancer research, etc. It seemed to go over well, so we’ve continued it for the past few years. Mom has pointed out that there is a downside to donations – there’s nothing to unwrap from open under the tree.

This year, I think this year we’ll find something small to send along with the donation…we’ll see what the budget allows.

Technorati Tags: Christmas, gift giving, sharing, donations, charity