Yesterday late afternoon I received my job offer so today I tendered my formal resignation from my job. It was a formality since I’d already received my formal lay-off notice from my current job. I gave two weeks and a few days notice and as much as I will miss all my former co-workers I know this is the right decision for me. I’m still walking around on cloud nine from the news yesterday.

Sure, the gov’t might not pay the best compared to some of the other jobs I applied for but I think it’s a really good fit for my interest and skills. I think I’m going to enjoy myself in the new position.

Highlight of my day? Response to my resignation letter = Oh crap!

It’s a little late for anyone at my previous employer to be having second thoughts don’t you think?

UPPERDATE: apparently the respose was actually “holy crap”. I mis-spoke.

I got the job!

Talk about a load off the mind and a huge relief. Things are looking brighter by the moment.

Can’t wait to begin. I can lock the truck in the garage and take the LRT to work in a few short weeks.

Now all I need to make the evening complete is news that my co-workers have also found work in the field.

Remember those 4 jobs I mentioned needing to apply for yesterday? Got a call about one of them this morning. The HR manager told me I had the perfect resume. The position was advertized as being permanent but is apparently tied to budget funding which made me nervous. The current budget for their program expires in May. About the time my existing position ends. I think I am justified in feeling a bit leery of possibly entering into a situation similar to the one I’m leaving.

The HR rep asked if I’d be willing to consider the position if their funding was obtained for the next few years. At that point she said she’d be able to guarantee the position would be permanent instead of a short 2 month contract. She said she’d know the status of the funding application by the end of the month and will be calling me at the end of March to arrange an interview if/when that occurs.

Then, a few hours later, I got a call that made me really excited and happy. It’s the call I’ve been waiting for all week. Don’t want to say any more until I’ve got the full details but things could really be looking up. I should know more sometime next week. Until then I’m knocking on every piece of wood I can find.

A bit of (negative) excitement on the family front this week. My sister ended up in hospital earlier this week with really high sugars and severe back pain. After some panic and many medical tests it’s turned out okay. The pain appears to be from a pulled muscle and will eventually heal. As for her sugars, she needs to take some responsibility for her own health in order to avoid a recurrance. She’s been diabetic for about 8 years now so you’d think she’d know better than to skip her meds an abandon her diet. Hopefully she’ll start taking things more seriously now since diabetes can have severe health consequences when let to spiral out of control.

I know. Not a very sympathetic attitude on my part. I’ll get around to changing my behaviour and attitudes surrounding this type of situation if/when she does.

Thank goodness for my best friend and her family. Leaving her when we moved to Edm was a huge loss for Drew and I. Over the years we’d become very close to her family. They’ve always been wonderful us and our family. My sister who remained in the city when we left has reaped the benefits of our friendship over the years. They managed everything while she was in hospital this week and took her in to their home for a few days when she was released. I hope she appreciates how wonderful they are and how lucky she is to know them. I know I do.

Yeah I know. I missed a day. Life intervenes on occasion.

Spent yesterday in a training class for a piece of software that I’ve been using for months. Didn’t learn anything new but certainly ended the day feeling dismissed, patronized, and condescended to by the Trainer. Checked with some other co-workers and found they felt the same way after the session. There was a clear bias (although, he categorization of people was unsupported by facts and based on his own unchecked assumptions) between the favoured group and the “others” and us “others” certainly noticed it.

Big storm blew through Edm last night and now I get to dig out. Oh joy. Where’s a snow shoveling fairy when you need one?

There’s an abandoned shopping cart on the sidewalk in front of my house. I am not amused. It makes shoveling difficult and looks like an eyesore. I have no idea who left it here. I didn’t check earlier but I’m going to see if the store name is listed on it so I can call tem to come retrieve their cart. I have no idea what I’m going to do if it doesn’t have any identifying marks on it or if the store refuses to come get it. All I know is that it can’t stay here.

Got multiple papers due Friday evening so it’s time to buckle down and write like a madwoman. Don’t expect to see or hear from me over the next few days.

I received a call for an interview this morning and am collecting the necessary written references. The position is with the provincial government and looks pretty interesting.

Always the fashion diva – Ok, you can stop laughing now.  I mean it. Fine.  Get it out of your system.  Done? Are you sure? *sigh* Go ahead. Laugh it up for a few more minutes. Can we get back to my story now? – I’m waffling on what to wear to the upcoming interview. I’m not certain I want to wear the severe classic black suit I wore the last time round. Perhaps I’ll take a look around the mall(s) this weekend to see if I can find a nice brown suit instead.

Last time I was job hunting I did very poorly on interviews where I really wanted the job and seemed to breeze through interviews for positions I wasn’t interested in. Apparently all I need to do is convince myself that I’m NOT interested in this job and I should muddle through the interview in fine form.

I also received a call that my new glasses are ready and I can pick them up this evening. Oh, did I forget to mention I’m getting new glasses?  I got tired of not being able to see and finally broke down and got my eyes tested last week.  I hadn’t been paying too much attention to the degradation of my eye sight. Sure, in the back of my mind I knew it was getting harder and harder to see when I wasn’t wearing my glasses. So I started wearing them full-time whenever I wasn’t at a computer or reading a book. According to my optometrist I’m supposed to wear them all the time anywho.  And I’ve always had the “must wear corrective lenses” restriction on my driver’s license.

When the call came in I was pretty surprised. I wasn’t expecting them to be ready for at least another week. Downside of having a very weird prescription that gets sent to a lab in Montreal to be filled is that you often wait multiple weeks before your new glasses are available to you.

Soon This evening I will be able to see properly. I still can’t believe I dropped a whole point level over the past 2+ years. Everyone keeps telling me that your eyes don’t change that much at my age.  Granted it does explain why I can’t watch my 52in TV in the basement, walk down a hallway un-escourted by my seeing eye co-worker, or do anything that involves avoiding walking into walls without my current glasses.  It also explains why I’ve been having so much difficulty seeing properly when I’m actually wearing my existing pair.

Friday I visit the Dr. to discover the results of the tests I had a few weeks back. I’m hoping it’s all good news.

Keep your eyes, fingers and toes crossed. I can use all the luck people are willing to spare.