Isn’t it funny how you can go a week or more and not journal but have a ton to say? I mean, I enjoy journaling and posting here and getting comments and everything but I’ve not been journaling/blogging for about a week. Hummm…. I guess it could be because I’ve been busy with things. I know that’s an excuse for everyone. I have been working, which I’m loving. I love my job and the people I work with. it’s so nice to work with people that have a common goal and interest. It’s great too that I’m working on the projects I’m working on. I mean I’m helping make some decisions for the future of the training organization. How cool is that! I’m doing the typical, create training courses for online delivery but I’m also in charge of determining and giving recommendations for authoring tools we’ll use for now and in the future. I’m working on moving some of our content, like manuals to wiki’s, which is super cool. I could give you the link and password but then I’d have to kill ya… HAHA… I’m working on developing some Instructional Design Standards and templates for us to use which is cool too. It’ s just so nice to have such growth opportunities. it’s the stuff I’ve always wanted to be doing but haven’t had the opportunity in my last job for a variety of reasons.

This weekend Eric’s parents were here which was so nice. I love it when they come, or my mother comes because we always have a great time and it’s not a high maintenance, gotta make sure they have something to do, sort of thing. Of course we had great food and exceptional company while they were here but I think the best part was playing Pinochle for a couple of hours. Of course this time the guys beat us but usually Juile and I are the winners. Oh I also need to say THANKS a TON to BOB for getting the cable up in the garage with the curtains. If not for Bob and Eric, I don’t know when it would have gotten done..

I can’t believe today is the end of day three of my new job. I really wanted to post about my first day but honestly didn’t get a chance to post about anything until tonight. Let me just say…. I LOVE MY JOB!!!! I love the fact that I get to work from home doing the things I love. I love designing online training and the creative process of it all and I’ve finally found a job where I can do that. It’s so nice to have a few hours of meetings every day and then spend the day designing and organizing an online course.

I think the most interesting part of this week so far was the concept of reporting for my first day of work. I do have to admit that it was a little different calling in to talk to my manager rather than meeting someone in person. I really, really like my manager and I’m VERY excited about the projects I’m working on. One of the first projects I’m working on is overhauling a few courses that are part of the New Hire course work for new employees. I’m really excited because I’ve basically been given no limits on the project, meaning I don’t have a lot of rules to conform to regarding a template or anything. I’m excited about having the ability to really create a wonderful product that WOWs my manager but more importantly gets the right content across to the user. I’m excited too because the company I work for uses Captivate and I’ll get the opportunity to really build my skills with Captivate and use Captivate 2.0. I can’t wait.

So things are going well, very VERY excited about things and my manager. Oh, I guess I forgot to tell you about one of the other perks I get besides the fact that I have a job with good pay. I also get an IATAN card. What’s that? Well, it’s a special card given to travel agents and those that work for travel agents. It’s pretty cool because it means SAVINGS galore. I’ll get things like; 50-75% on Hotel Stays, Up to 55% Discounts on Airfare, Free First Class Upgrades, Deeply Discounted Rental Cars, Half-Priced Theme Park Admission, Cruises for $35/Day, Free Show Tickets, Free Meals and Much, Much More! Another thing that I get is two free round trip airline tickets each year anywhere in the US, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. I guess there are more perks too but I’ll find out about them on Monday when I attend the HR conference.

Tomorrow and Friday I get to head down to our offices in Portland and learn more about what the travel agents do behind the scenes when people book a flight or trip. I’ll also meet with the fulfillment group too to see how they do their job. I think it will be an interesting and educational time and fun too. I have not a clue about the travel business but I think after this week, I’ll know a little more.

More later…..

I realized today that I haven’t posted in a while so what the heck.. here goes.

I don’t know how many of you know but I did get a job offer last week and took it. I start next Monday the 19th of February. I’m pretty excited about it and look forward to the challenges ahead. That said, I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about life and things like that too. I think I’m realizing that the vacation is over, which is FINE with me because I was just about to go bonkers. It sort of reminded me of the times when I was teaching in Connell and and I were roomies. I remember those summers and at times lived for them but by the time August rolled around, I was ready to get back at it. I mean I had taken the summer to have a little fun, work on my curriculum and classes for the next year but gosh, after a few months I wanted to go back to teach, where were the kids, I was ready. That’s sort of how I feel right now. It’s a rush to know what’s coming, to know I’m going to have good days and bad days and be stretched in many ways but I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited, I’m ready for the challenge. WOO HOO!

I’m really excited that I get to work from home but I’m also nervous about that too. I’m NOT an introvert, we all know this. I like people, I’m a social being so working from home could present some challenges but I’m also sort of looking forward to it. I realized recently that most, if not all my friend work at Intel or are spouses or SOs of people that work at Intel. Intel is bad… So I think I’m going to challenge myself to get out more. I’m thinking of joining a book club and I’m hoping to get out and scrapbook once or twice a month at the local scrapbook store and we’re definitely going to entertain more. So maybe with those plans things won’t be so bad, again it’s a growth opportunity.

I realized something today that I hadn’t thought about since I was in graduate school. I realized that when you don’t have a lot of time, you’re more efficient with the time you have. What am I trying to say? Well today I had about 6 things on my list of things to do because I need to get them all done now that I’ve got a week until I go back to work. Well I think I got them all done by two this afternoon and had the rest of the afternoon to catch up on emails and things. In the past I would have dinked around the house and maybe done one or two things. I guess it just goes to show you that it’s good to have a purpose, in my case a job, meaning, to get you motivated.

I don’t think I’ve posted about the health and exercise front lately. Things are going well, I’ve lost about 7 pounds in the last 3-4 weeks which is my goal, just a little at a time because then I’m more likely to keep it off. I’m hitting the gym and taking Baylee for walks in the morning and evening too. I do well on the eating front but fall off every couple of days but ya gotta live. Really, I’m just really happy where I’m at and how I’m doing. I hope to hit my goal by the 4th of July and by the looks of things I’m on my way. I need to find a 5K race here in April or something so I have a running goal but first, I need to get rid of this annoying cough I’ve had since the first of November. Ya ya, I know gotta go back to the Dr.

Well I’ve got a job. Actually I have two companies fighting for me. The first company, XYZ Travel, called this morning and offered me a full time job that’s also a work from home position. Score! I had interviewed with the company the last couple of weeks and was hoping I would get the job. Well, they offered me a job so I took it. I’ve been hoping for the job and was excited when I got the offer. After that I contacted another company, ABC, that was going to hire me on a contract basis, again work from home, to see if we could work out something where I could work some nights and weekends for them to catch up with everything. Well, the ABC manager called me about an hour after I sent her the email and told me she’d just talked to the COO about me and was prepared to offer me $10,500 than the offer XYZ had made me. We talked about benefits and things but I told her I’d need to get back to her. I contacted the manager at XYZ to let her know I had a better offer that I’d have to consider. She asked me what was the amount I was looking for because she really wanted me. I told her and she let me know she’s calling me back in the morning to see let me know if she can meet my base salary. So tonight Eric and I need to sit down, weigh the options and decide. Too exciting to have people fighting over me.

In other news, my new laptop is in which means ANOTHER trip to the Apple store to swap computers and hope the new one doesn’t have any issues.

After long last I got a job! WOO HOO and it’s 100% from home with is too awesome for words. As of February 19th I will be employed with BCD Travel devloping online training for them. I am so excited and can’t wait to get my hands dirty again. Thanks to everyone for their support and help.