Progress
It's amazing what a difference your job makes.
Work environment colors everything. I've had four (and a half? let's count this last transition as a half-new-job) jobs in the last five years and before that I temped at half a dozen different places, and I talk to people about their jobs a lot. I feel pretty well-qualified to make sweeping pronouncement. Your job has immeasureable influence on every other part of your life. A crappy job, a rage-inducing commute, even just a couple nasty co-workers can drain your energy and taint your whole outlook on the world. Sometimes that seems like it would be obvious: you spend eight hours a day somewhere and depend on it for sustenance, it's going to be a big center in your life, it's going to affect you deeply. Sometimes it's hard to believe when you're in it, though. Sometimes you don't know until it changes just how much it touches.
In the last three weeks I have basically started a whole new job. I sit in the same place, I do a number of the same things, but it feels unrecognizable. My whole life is better for it.
My new boss was set to start at the beginning of July, but in practice the old boss wasn't out of her office until the middle of the month. The new boss is the one I interviewed with, and that was the interview that go me excited about the possibility of this job. When I started I understood this was a redesign of the position. The new boss wanted my skill set and my attitude. The old boss was clearly looking for something very different. I like to think we both would have put more effort into that relationship if it hadn't been entirely time-limited. Realistically I probably would have found a different job. It was a long three and a half months, but now I finally have the job I hoped I was signing up for back in March. It's probably too early to say for sure, but I think this is a great fit for me. I think I might love my job.
It's a new feeling, like this might be something I stick with. I like the people and the environment, the institutional culture if you'll forgive the corporate-speak. I'm pretty good at it, but there's still a ton to learn and improve on. My last job had the potential to be that, if the location could have been workable with Tyler's career (it couldn't) and if the contract hadn't been disappearing (it was). I never let myself settle in and want to be there, and I can do that with this job. I can even sort of imagine a career. Like, if we were to move, I would look for something similar. When I start school, I'll be looking for ways to apply it to what I do. It feels like a really good step.
Generally, life has been pretty sweet lately. There has been music and there have been games and there have been friends. This last week or two especially have been really full of smiling faces. We played some D&D with people we haven't seen lately and it was good. Jason is living next door and we're climbing together and making dinners. Last weekend we saw a friend's play. We've been going to an open mic and seeing music people during the week. This week we went out for dinner with entirely new people and it was easy and fun and maybe they will be people we see more of. Friday we watched some Olympics with our ladies. Saturday we caught up with people we usually see once a year, and I'm hoping we'll do that more regularly. Fun and social yay. We are lucky to have such good people.
Somehow I'm still getting a lot of sleep and keeping the apartment livable and reading a good amount. The outdoors saps my will to live, but between gym in the apartment and semi-regular climbing I have been moving around a lot, and I know that helps. I am looking forward to this fall. It feels like things are in balance and running smoothly. Something'll throw it all off kilter soon enough, but it's nice to have some time where things feel good. Not spectacular OMG fireworks and ponies, but sustainably, workably nice. Like we are figuring out what works for us, living a good life well.
Tyler. I don't say enough about how good is to me and for me. I really enjoy being married to him. We're planning a long weekend for our anniversary, it's still a little surprising to me that it's been nearly three years. He surprises me and supports me and makes me happy. He's clever and thoughtful and has done more than his share of the dishes a lot lately without making a thing about it. We get in long discussions about politics and people and the future. (Then we get in long discussions about how to discuss politics without getting angry, but it's not angry at you but still...) We laugh and we rant and we indulge each other. I don't always know how to talk about the things that are good, but being an us with him is so good, it's worth trying and risking cheesiness and smarm. We're learning how to live together and take care of each other and be people together better all the time. We're growing up together and I like how that's going.
I'm enjoying the process.
Work environment colors everything. I've had four (and a half? let's count this last transition as a half-new-job) jobs in the last five years and before that I temped at half a dozen different places, and I talk to people about their jobs a lot. I feel pretty well-qualified to make sweeping pronouncement. Your job has immeasureable influence on every other part of your life. A crappy job, a rage-inducing commute, even just a couple nasty co-workers can drain your energy and taint your whole outlook on the world. Sometimes that seems like it would be obvious: you spend eight hours a day somewhere and depend on it for sustenance, it's going to be a big center in your life, it's going to affect you deeply. Sometimes it's hard to believe when you're in it, though. Sometimes you don't know until it changes just how much it touches.
In the last three weeks I have basically started a whole new job. I sit in the same place, I do a number of the same things, but it feels unrecognizable. My whole life is better for it.
My new boss was set to start at the beginning of July, but in practice the old boss wasn't out of her office until the middle of the month. The new boss is the one I interviewed with, and that was the interview that go me excited about the possibility of this job. When I started I understood this was a redesign of the position. The new boss wanted my skill set and my attitude. The old boss was clearly looking for something very different. I like to think we both would have put more effort into that relationship if it hadn't been entirely time-limited. Realistically I probably would have found a different job. It was a long three and a half months, but now I finally have the job I hoped I was signing up for back in March. It's probably too early to say for sure, but I think this is a great fit for me. I think I might love my job.
It's a new feeling, like this might be something I stick with. I like the people and the environment, the institutional culture if you'll forgive the corporate-speak. I'm pretty good at it, but there's still a ton to learn and improve on. My last job had the potential to be that, if the location could have been workable with Tyler's career (it couldn't) and if the contract hadn't been disappearing (it was). I never let myself settle in and want to be there, and I can do that with this job. I can even sort of imagine a career. Like, if we were to move, I would look for something similar. When I start school, I'll be looking for ways to apply it to what I do. It feels like a really good step.
Generally, life has been pretty sweet lately. There has been music and there have been games and there have been friends. This last week or two especially have been really full of smiling faces. We played some D&D with people we haven't seen lately and it was good. Jason is living next door and we're climbing together and making dinners. Last weekend we saw a friend's play. We've been going to an open mic and seeing music people during the week. This week we went out for dinner with entirely new people and it was easy and fun and maybe they will be people we see more of. Friday we watched some Olympics with our ladies. Saturday we caught up with people we usually see once a year, and I'm hoping we'll do that more regularly. Fun and social yay. We are lucky to have such good people.
Somehow I'm still getting a lot of sleep and keeping the apartment livable and reading a good amount. The outdoors saps my will to live, but between gym in the apartment and semi-regular climbing I have been moving around a lot, and I know that helps. I am looking forward to this fall. It feels like things are in balance and running smoothly. Something'll throw it all off kilter soon enough, but it's nice to have some time where things feel good. Not spectacular OMG fireworks and ponies, but sustainably, workably nice. Like we are figuring out what works for us, living a good life well.
Tyler. I don't say enough about how good is to me and for me. I really enjoy being married to him. We're planning a long weekend for our anniversary, it's still a little surprising to me that it's been nearly three years. He surprises me and supports me and makes me happy. He's clever and thoughtful and has done more than his share of the dishes a lot lately without making a thing about it. We get in long discussions about politics and people and the future. (Then we get in long discussions about how to discuss politics without getting angry, but it's not angry at you but still...) We laugh and we rant and we indulge each other. I don't always know how to talk about the things that are good, but being an us with him is so good, it's worth trying and risking cheesiness and smarm. We're learning how to live together and take care of each other and be people together better all the time. We're growing up together and I like how that's going.
I'm enjoying the process.