10 November 2003

Transition

So, my last day at the Current Job, heretofore to be known as the Old Job (any previous job will need to have a new name I guess) was Friday. It was a strange day of wrap-up meetings and counter offers and emails and good-byes. I cleaned out my desk, gave out a few hugs, had a wonderful lunch with my admin assistant and even got a gift basket from my department. It was a sad day, yes, but after I got home (with a stop at the liquor store for some �yay, I am free of the man� booze) I sighed a huge sigh of relief. Now I have my week off before my New Job, which I am hoping is going to be a great thing.

Before you think, �Bitch. She gets a week off!� I do have a ton of things to do. For one, I am maid of honor in a wedding on November 15, so I have all kinds of panty hose buying and dress trying on and hair coloring crap to take care of. I also need to get a gift, wrap it, finalize the maid of honor speech and get myself ready for a long weekend in North Jersey with my parents. I have facials to take care of, lest I break out before the wedding. The Tard and The Tubby are driving up with me on Thursday and are staying with my parents until Sunday, when I return home, broken and hung over. They love staying at my parents. Mama goes out and buys all kinds of treats and special foods and toys, and Daddy spends tons of time playing with them and giving them kitty loving. Daddy is like Dr. Doolittle. Even skittish Tubby willingly comes to him and turns to mush in his presence.

I have a meeting with an old co-worker, from two jobs ago, tomorrow night. She�s networking because she wants out of her job, and we�re going to dish about the goings on in that crazy place. I also have some serious laundry action to take care of, lest I be stuck going commando to the first day at the New Job. The main thing, though, is that I�ve decided this job change is going to signal all other kinds of change in my life. Here�s my plan.

First, lose forty pounds by May. Now that I will be spending less time in the car, and now that the new place doesn�t have a gourmet cafeteria where I can buy carbohydrate bonanzas for lunch, I can get into a more healthy mode of living. I am stopping off at Target on my way home from my final bridesmaid dress fitting tomorrow and am buying a scale. No more guessing at how much I weigh. I am also picking up some more exercise DVDs and a notebook in which I am writing down not only what I stuffed in my face but what exercise I got each day. I am bound and determined to not just lose weight, but get healthy. Now that my ankle has 90% recovered from breaking in January, I feel much more confident starting to get into gear. Oh, I just realized I�ll need some new running shoes and a workout outfit or two. That might have to wait a few weeks, until I see a real paycheck, but I�ll do it.

Second, clear up my credit and save enough for a 25% down payment on a car by September. My credit? Not so good. Not so bad, but not so good. I�d rate it a D. I want to be debt free (with the exception of the one school loan) and have at least $7K saved by September. For that I have developed a spreadsheet in excel and have set up tons of cool auto-bill pay things and the like. I have a clear plan for my future financial success mapped out. It doesn�t take emergencies into account, though, so I can say I�ll be happy if I am at that financial point a year from today. But I want to set my goals high.

Third? Vacations. I want to take at least two this year. I am determined to get to New Orleans and to either Rome or London this year, even if both are only for long weekends. I also have a sneaking suspicion that I will wind up in Vegas this Spring/Summer. I can do all of that. I�ve not taken a real �pack a suitcase, get on a plane and sleep in a hotel� vacation since 1999. It�s time.

Fourth, stuff I want to buy. My DVD player crapped out, so there�s that. Then I also need some artwork for the walls in here, some additional cd and DVD storage, a nice desk and desk chair (right now I am using a kitchen chair and a card table) and once and for goddamn all buy a bedroom set. I�ve put a deadline of March on all of those things. My living space needs to be more warm and inviting, and generally the winter sales for that stuff are pretty decent.

Finally, I am going to get on board with the local battered women�s shelter and start to donate my time and expertise. When I was living up north with my parents, I started the process of getting involved in helping the women who live there with resume building and job hunting and the like. I need to start doing that again. If not that, those places always need help around the holidays, and I would love to start giving again.

I guess this change in jobs has made me realize how much more I need to focus on myself and my health, both mental and physical, and on life that was passing me by while I was miserable. I�m excited. I am happy I decided to make the change and am ready to start a new life -- of sorts.