It’s been over two months since I have consistently gone in to the office. And with my last day with the library less than a week old I was not expecting this surprise. I got a job! Yep. I had an interview today, Valentine’s Day, and beat out five other candidates (it would’ve been six but one decided to leave before being interviewed) and landed a new job. I’m not over the moon quite yet as it’s all still so new to me.

I was worried. Here we are living with my brother and all three of us out of a job. However, thanks to working a week this month and the remainder of my vacation time being “cashed out.” I was able to walk away with a little more than half of a regular paycheck. We’ll need that money as two households are now one. We’re also waiting on our house to be closed on which should be by the end of this month.

We’re still not fully unpacked but I’m now more motivated to doing so. With work starting on Tuesday I want to make sure that everything is in order. I want for us to be fully settled in and for me to not have to think about having to finish unpacking. A fortune cookie I received from my niece two days ago stated that I should take the next opportunity that presented itself. I’m generally not a superstitious person but I must admit that when I read my fortunes from the cookies there are parts of me that hope that they end up being true. And I don’t mean the observational fortunes. Those are just lame.

It was truly unexpected. I’d interviewed twice with a staffing agency but the job it was for would’ve been a commute of over an hour each way. I was glad not to have heard anything back from that. I was still chug-chug-chugging away filling out applications. I assure you, submitting over 100 applications online can be exhausting. There were days I felt like applying was a job unto itself. It felt as though I was simply throwing applications into the abyss.

This new job is really like starting over. I am taking a massive pay cut. However, I really am okay with that. I’m looking forward to paying my dues, working my way up the ladder. I’ll be an Administrative Assistant. It’s as entry-level as one can get on the administrative side of things. However, I feel as though there is really room for me to grow my craft. I enjoy working in a support capacity and I think that I can do a great deal of good. And I also believe that there is always so much more for me to learn. I’m a nester so I’m wondering whether or not I should take this job and see what happens or if I should continue to go on interviews. I know that the grass is not always greener on the other side and so it really is something that I think about.

I remember when I started working for the library in 2001. I had no clue that I’d be there for 14 years. I know that the era of people working for one employer for decades is pretty much gone but I’m still that old school. I still believe that good hard work will be rewarded. I know nothing about the industry that I’ll be working in outside of what they have on their website but I was a library novice as well when I started working there.

The first person I contacted was my BFF. My husband called me moments before I got the call and irritated me so I decided I’d tell him when I got home. Since both my BFF and I were job hunting we were playing the game, “who would get a job first.” I won but I don’t think that no longer working with my best friend is winning. I’m still really bummed about that. My mom, the second person I told, reminded me that I no longer have my BFF to lean on. I know what she means by this but to that I say, I earned the ability to call out when I needed to. After 14 years and countless hours and dedication, I honestly feel that there are allowances that each person earns. Yes, I have to start all over again but with my new job only 15 minutes away (right under 10 miles), I think that I’ll be okay. Let’s hope so.

So, in honor of my BFF I share with you tonight’s poem. It’s a break in the sequence but I wrote it on Sunday specifically for him. To be honest he provided me with the first stanza and I asked him if I could turn it into a poem. I was shocked that he so loved the poem I’d penned in less than about five or so minutes, Barry’s Lament.