new job! new job! new job!

Four months ago I got an email.

It was about a possible new job.

I couldn't think about a new job, even though I was unhappy at my current job.

There was just too much on my plate.

Too much to take care of.
Too many things that needed to be finished yesterday.
Too many things I was bringing home with me to work on.

I wasn't happy.
But I wasn't MISERABLE.
I didn't like where I was, but the hole just to get on top of everything seemed impossible to surmount.

Looking for a new job, or considering a new position seemed like one more thing on the "to do" list.

I didn't respond to the email.

Weeks went by.

Months went by.


And I started getting REALLY unhappy in my current job.

I re-read one of my old blog posts one night.  This one, actually.  And this line--(my own freakin' line, how nuts is that?)--resonated with me:

"Surely no one was ever offered the job of the dreams or found the love of their life by sitting home and staring at their floorboards."

Opportunities don't just fall into your lap...you have to make them happen.

And then I remembered the email that I never responded to.

I felt badly that I hadn't acknowledged it.


I wrote back.


The position had been filled.


But there was another position...
...one that was even MORE of a match for what I'd like to do.


And so I submitted my information.


And waited.


Waited.


Waited.



And then...a response!


"We'd like to call you for a phone screen, are you available?"


Uh...okay!


Phone screen happened.  Just 20 minutes long, but a conversation that totally changed my mind on the position.


Suddenly I REALLY wanted this job.


It was more of a match for me than I originally thought.  It would be an increase.  A step up.  Much closer to home.

(The precise location I didn't know, I just knew it was downtown.)


Within minutes of hanging up from the phone screen, the phone rang again.  "We'd like for you to come in for an in-person interview."


SAY WHAAAA??!

"Can you come in early next week?  We are very interested and looking to make a decision on this position quickly."


OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!


"Oh, and do you know where we are located? We are in the Warehouse at Camden Yards."


DROP.
DEAD.


thunk.


Suddenly this email that I had blown off months ago had turned into my dream job overnight.



NOWIREALLYREALLYREALLYREALLYWANTEDTHISJOB!!!!


The weekend came...


...Sadira and went on a tour of Camden Yards and I couldn't stop staring at the Warehouse.


At the end of the tour we were given a souvenir.


This was it.

It's a keychain.

But it doesn't have the Orioles' logo on it.  It doesn't have the Oriole Bird on it.  It doesn't have a baseball diamond on it.  Hell, it doesn't even have a baseball on it.

It's got the Warehouse on it.

(Of course it does.)

Monday came and went.

And then Tuesday came...

...and I woke up

...got dressed

...and prepared for my interview.

This was my view at lunch.

And my interview lasted FIVE HOURS!  With SEVEN PEOPLE!

I left feeling confident.

I left feeling exhilarated.

I left feeling EXHAUSTED.

And over the course of the next week, I ended up going to not one, not two but THREE baseball games.

Yes, this type of frequency is unusual, but the Orioles were playing inspired baseball!  The season was almost over and they were securing a playoff spot for the first time in 14 years!

And although I was thrilled for my baseball team, every time I went to a game all I could see was...

...the WAREHOUSE.

Glaring at me haughtily like it knew a secret I couldn't be privy to just yet.

See it?

How about now?

And all this time I was waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting for an answer. 

And the few friends who knew I had gone on this interview would ask how it went, and I would be scared to answer.

It was like going out on a first date with a guy that you really really really like.  And YOU feel like it went well, but you're not sure.  And you're waiting to hear back.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

(And you don't want to talk about it, because you're scared of jinxing it.)

(But you want to talk about it, because you're SO EXCITED!)

And all this time my super sucktastic September was going on.  I said to a friend, "I swear, if I end up getting this job, it will end up being worth all the crap I went through this month!"

And still I waited.

So it seemed only appropos that I had to wait until October 1st to get my actual offer. :-)

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!

I started yesterday. :-)

And this is not only good news because it's in the Warehouse (which of course is fabulous).  It's MUCH closer to home (Less than 7 miles away), which is closer to Sadie's school, less gas mileage, don't have to go through the tunnel every day...

...not to mention it's a FANTASTIC move for me professionally.  I was feeling stagnant and uninspired, and now I feel motivated and excited.  I've actually gotten up EARLIER than necessary the past two days in anticipation.

My boss is fantastic.  He actually said today in conversation, "well, you're a lot like me...we seem to be very similar in our philosophies,"  and he's RIGHT.  I was thinking the same thing.  There's just a really great energy there.

And while I have a lot to learn still, I feel motivated and excited.  Inspired and supported.  I feel ridiculous saying this so early, but I really really love my job.  And I don't even know what all it entails just yet.  I just know it's where I'm supposed to be.

And working in this gorgeous building isn't so shabby either. ;-)