Thus Begins the New Chapter!
In my solid tradition of waiting too long to make updates, way too much has happened to fully articulate here. Suffice it to say, this is a weird and wonderful, new and terrifying time in my life. I now have, brace yourselves, a bonafide 9-5 job (or 8 to 4:30, as my case may be). It is all so foreign and strange (and dream like, occasionally), but awesome and inspiring in the most unexpected of ways.
I was really quite nervous to start out, for real for real, full time. I'd always thought I'd start out part time and build up to full-time (or not), but this opportunity presented itself and was pretty hard to deny. Fatefully, I went with my dad to his department's Christmas party this past December. Met with his boss, the head of the department, who absolutely fell in love with me and made it her mission to get me hired at her off-site clinic (she mostly works out of the main, where my dad works, but they also have an off-site specialty clinic in the same department). Basically, she pushed my resume through so that I was the only applicant considered and helped me get the resume through at all, as I did not have the required experience to apply for the position. So I got a job I was hugely underqualified for (on paper, at least) and all the lovely benefits that UNM offers. Really, I had to take the job.
The idea of getting up every morning at the ass crack of dawn was reeeeeeeeally disconcerting to me. Oddly enough, it hasn't been the issue I was expecting it to be. Yeah, it sucks to get up so early every morning but, really, once I'm actually out of bed and putting on my make up, I'm totally awake and ready to head in. MORE than that, Shaun has been amazing about going to bed early with me. I really thought this would be a sticking point. By nature, Shaun is a night owl. But his willingness to go to bed with me early almost nightly has been such a joy and made the transition so much easier. I cannot believe he continues to be so great about this three months later. Pretty much, he's awesome. He also bought me a ridiculously expensive Michael Kors bag and wallet for my birthday, so he's pretty much maxed out his Exceptional and Awesome Boyfriend Points for life and is putting other significant others to shame with all of the supporting he's been doing of me. I keep trying to articulate to him how much it means to me, how much I love and adore him, how appreciative I am, but words really seem to fail me there. It's pretty amazing and makes me all warm inside to think about!
Anyway, I pretty much adore my job. The women that work at this clinic are. fucking. amazing. (Excluding the doctors, the clinic is seriously about 95% female.) They're beautiful warrior goddesses. They are all strong and beautiful and hilarious and inspiring! And for the first time in my life since high school, I actually have friends! Real life friends! Who aren't completely batshit insane! Women who make me gut laugh, women who lift me up when I'm down, women who I enjoy listening to, women I can hang out with on weekends, do something as simple as text with. It is all so incredibly fulfilling in ways I could have never, ever expected. It is literally a joy to walk into work every day knowing that I'm going to see their faces and experience all the trials and tribulations of working in a medical clinic with them. I really feel like I have a life now. And while the loss of free time and coming home every night fairly exhausted isn't always preferrable, it feels good on the whole. And, really, it was time. I so didn't want to end up one of those thirty year old losers who stays home all day and plays video games. It's just not cute.
Oh, and my bosses are fucking fantastic. They care, their doors are always open, they problem solve. Our new office supervisor came in and as soon as he saw that I wasn't terribly happy that I was having to stay late every Friday to cover for a co-worker, he immediately put a plan into action to make it so I didn't have to stay late. AWESOME. Oh! So I got my very first cold while working (which, btw, was horrific), but I was working through it because that's what you do and I don't want to put my co-workers out. Last Friday my unit director came out and started to ask me a question, stopped mid-sentence, and was like "Oh ... you need to go home" and then gave a huge lecture (a warm, caring, not-stern-at-all lecture) about taking care of myself and letting me know it wasn't my responsibility to take care of the facility on my own (that last part will require extra explantion, but later). It turns out one of the MAs I work with was really concerned about how poorly I was feeling and knew I wouldn't ask for the time off, so she went to the director and told her what was going on and that she thought I should be allowed to go home. The director then went to my supervisor and apparently (this I feel bad about) was rather upset with him that he didn't notice I had looked unwell. Just things like that. So thoughtful and caring. Me leaving that Friday was a big deal, because another co-worker had her weekly injections on that day and wasn't due to come back, but Anna didn't care. She felt it was more important that I go home and take care of myself, regardless of the fact that this would leave no one out front to cover the desk. To be able to completely trust and put your faith in your supervisors is a wonderful thing, and to have loving co-workers who look out for you when you can't seem to look out for yourself is something that fills a void I had no idea existed within me. You guys, this work shit is pretty good.
I leave this post with a last image: Shelly, Angela and I walking out of the clinic together at the end of the day. My arm is around Shelly, Angela is playfully pushing me, we are bent over laughing while being complete and utter smart asses to each other. We gab and giggle for a good while before heading off to our respective cars with huge smiles on our faces - this is total contentment.
I was really quite nervous to start out, for real for real, full time. I'd always thought I'd start out part time and build up to full-time (or not), but this opportunity presented itself and was pretty hard to deny. Fatefully, I went with my dad to his department's Christmas party this past December. Met with his boss, the head of the department, who absolutely fell in love with me and made it her mission to get me hired at her off-site clinic (she mostly works out of the main, where my dad works, but they also have an off-site specialty clinic in the same department). Basically, she pushed my resume through so that I was the only applicant considered and helped me get the resume through at all, as I did not have the required experience to apply for the position. So I got a job I was hugely underqualified for (on paper, at least) and all the lovely benefits that UNM offers. Really, I had to take the job.
The idea of getting up every morning at the ass crack of dawn was reeeeeeeeally disconcerting to me. Oddly enough, it hasn't been the issue I was expecting it to be. Yeah, it sucks to get up so early every morning but, really, once I'm actually out of bed and putting on my make up, I'm totally awake and ready to head in. MORE than that, Shaun has been amazing about going to bed early with me. I really thought this would be a sticking point. By nature, Shaun is a night owl. But his willingness to go to bed with me early almost nightly has been such a joy and made the transition so much easier. I cannot believe he continues to be so great about this three months later. Pretty much, he's awesome. He also bought me a ridiculously expensive Michael Kors bag and wallet for my birthday, so he's pretty much maxed out his Exceptional and Awesome Boyfriend Points for life and is putting other significant others to shame with all of the supporting he's been doing of me. I keep trying to articulate to him how much it means to me, how much I love and adore him, how appreciative I am, but words really seem to fail me there. It's pretty amazing and makes me all warm inside to think about!
Anyway, I pretty much adore my job. The women that work at this clinic are. fucking. amazing. (Excluding the doctors, the clinic is seriously about 95% female.) They're beautiful warrior goddesses. They are all strong and beautiful and hilarious and inspiring! And for the first time in my life since high school, I actually have friends! Real life friends! Who aren't completely batshit insane! Women who make me gut laugh, women who lift me up when I'm down, women who I enjoy listening to, women I can hang out with on weekends, do something as simple as text with. It is all so incredibly fulfilling in ways I could have never, ever expected. It is literally a joy to walk into work every day knowing that I'm going to see their faces and experience all the trials and tribulations of working in a medical clinic with them. I really feel like I have a life now. And while the loss of free time and coming home every night fairly exhausted isn't always preferrable, it feels good on the whole. And, really, it was time. I so didn't want to end up one of those thirty year old losers who stays home all day and plays video games. It's just not cute.
Oh, and my bosses are fucking fantastic. They care, their doors are always open, they problem solve. Our new office supervisor came in and as soon as he saw that I wasn't terribly happy that I was having to stay late every Friday to cover for a co-worker, he immediately put a plan into action to make it so I didn't have to stay late. AWESOME. Oh! So I got my very first cold while working (which, btw, was horrific), but I was working through it because that's what you do and I don't want to put my co-workers out. Last Friday my unit director came out and started to ask me a question, stopped mid-sentence, and was like "Oh ... you need to go home" and then gave a huge lecture (a warm, caring, not-stern-at-all lecture) about taking care of myself and letting me know it wasn't my responsibility to take care of the facility on my own (that last part will require extra explantion, but later). It turns out one of the MAs I work with was really concerned about how poorly I was feeling and knew I wouldn't ask for the time off, so she went to the director and told her what was going on and that she thought I should be allowed to go home. The director then went to my supervisor and apparently (this I feel bad about) was rather upset with him that he didn't notice I had looked unwell. Just things like that. So thoughtful and caring. Me leaving that Friday was a big deal, because another co-worker had her weekly injections on that day and wasn't due to come back, but Anna didn't care. She felt it was more important that I go home and take care of myself, regardless of the fact that this would leave no one out front to cover the desk. To be able to completely trust and put your faith in your supervisors is a wonderful thing, and to have loving co-workers who look out for you when you can't seem to look out for yourself is something that fills a void I had no idea existed within me. You guys, this work shit is pretty good.
I leave this post with a last image: Shelly, Angela and I walking out of the clinic together at the end of the day. My arm is around Shelly, Angela is playfully pushing me, we are bent over laughing while being complete and utter smart asses to each other. We gab and giggle for a good while before heading off to our respective cars with huge smiles on our faces - this is total contentment.