the final coundown

As many of you know...I resigned from my job at the end of February and Friday is my last day. I have been here for over 8 years, so it wasn't a decision that came easy or quickly. But with a hour commute one way and the cost of gas (and projected to be $5 by summer), I finally hit my breaking point. I always joked I'd have to get a part time job to afford my real job...and between daycare and a possible $5/gallon, that might have become reality! And it killed me to know that I was spending 2 hours in my car each day, while my baby boy sat at a daycare center when he could be with me.

At first, we've toyed with the idea of selling our house because I had a really good job and was well respected & demanded at work (hopefully meaning in a time of a layoff, I wouldn't be the first to go). And we waited for the economy to turn...first it was 2011, then 2012 was the year...honestly at this point, we aren't holding our breath and have decided to stay put. While I'm not in love with our house...I do LOVE where we live and the location. We have an acre on a cul-de-sac. We see things expanding further and further north each year...in 10-15 years, we could own an acre in the middle of a booming suburb, which is hard to come by and worth some $$ (assuming things get back to where they once were). We have awesome neighbors, with a nosy retired man who watches our house like a hawk. He's approached Joe's family asking who they were, when they've stopped by the house to bring in/out the garbage while we were on vacation or out of town. We live in a good school district, both in academics and athletics, which makes BOTH mom & dad happy :) And I've come to love the area in general...if you go 5-10 minutes south or west, we have 2 large shopping areas with a Super Target and lots of shopping and eating choices. If you go 5 minutes north, you are in the country. As hard as I try to be the "big city girl", my country roots still seep through from time to time. The thought of having neighbors right next to us kinda makes me claustrophobic...Joe sure is wearing off on me :) This has become home...MY home...what I think of when someone says home.

So once we decided to stay where we are, the only other variable was my job. I knew once I was back to work, I'd have to start thinking about looking. But over my maternity leave, I was watching the evening news and saw a story about how the defense budgets were being cut in half in 2012...and that really freaked me out. So I hopped on the computer that week and just applied to a few companies located in the north metro, I wasn't really looking and was just putting some feelers out there to see what the market was like. Well, Target called me not too long after and I had a phone interview with one of their recruiters. We really hit it off and she was excited to go to the hiring manager with my information and background. Unfortunately, Target hires from within first and there was a qualified candidate internal that got the position instead. However, she was determined in finding something for me and referred me to a second position. Again, there was internal interest and they weren't going to look outside to fill that position either. A few weeks later, I got another call about an Accounts Payable Analyst position and she asked if I was interested. Of course I said yes and she said great, a staffing specialist would be calling me in the next few days to schedule an in person interview. So on Valentines Day, I went in for a 2.5 hour interview...it's been a while since I've interviewed and I realized during it that I was still pretty rusty (although I felt prepared before I went in) and walked out not so confident but chalked it up to a great learning experience and good practice for next time. The next day, I got a call from the recruiter asking how I thought it went. I told her I was pretty nervous and felt a little rusty but overall, thought it went fairly well (just a tiny white lie, I wasn't going to tell her I thought I bombed it LOL). She was glad to hear it...she told me the initial buzz was good but she would know more tomorrow. She also asked if there were any concerns I had that would hinder an acceptance of a job offer. I told her no and then tried REALLY hard not to get too excited. Thursday rolled around and I got a phone call that morning with the job offer (pending background/drug screenings of course). I accepted on the spot and went to a Target clinic that afternoon to take the drug test. By the following Tuesday, I received word everything came back good (not surprised, I knew it would) and I then gave my notice at work.

And I guess the rest is history. I'm VERY excited for the shorter commute and hopefully a few more bucks in our checkbook. I am nervous about what is to come, leaving the familiar is really hard but I'm optimistic for the future and what is possible with Target. The defensive industry has taken some nose dives over the past few years and what was once a stable, growing industry is on much shakier grounds these days. I hope and pray for all my friends & co-workers it improves soon.

And I've always believed that everything happens for a reason...shortly after I accepted my new job, we found out Mason's daycare teacher, who is the reason we chose the center we did, had accepted a job offer as an assistant director at a different daycare that was just opening. such great news for her but so sad for us. But get this...it would be at a daycare less than ONE mile from my new building. Can you say fate? So we are going to enroll him in that daycare and I can't wait to be that close to my baby...knowing I can be there in less than 5 minutes if something is wrong and that he will be with teachers Ms Stephanie is hand picking personally...I will be at complete peace during the day. I know we really struggled with finding him a daycare and feeling at ease...so finally having something like this come to fruition is more than I could ever have hoped and dreamed for. It started out rocky but I will FINALLY feel good about this decision, which I never thought was even possible before. I really feel like everything is finally coming together like it's supposed to...yes, it wasn't easy but we had to take the path we did to get to where we needed to be in the end (story of my life! :)

So as this week comes to a close, there will be a lot of sadness as I turn in my computer, my badge/keys and say goodbye to people that have become really great friends...this place is all I've ever known and it's really scary to leave. It's really been my "home" for the past 8 years...and I went through so many life changes while I was here...bought a house, went back to school, got married, had a baby...I started as some young college kid trying to find her place in the world and I'm now leaving as a woman knowing exactly where I belong. It's crazy to reflect back on who I was on that first day...so innocent and so much to learn. And I also have so much hope for what is to come, it's hard to not be excited :) Friday will be so very bittersweet...