The Long and Winding Road

Somehow every bit of my life can be summed up by a Beatles song.  Seriously, it is true. Hey Jude could have just as easily been Hey Laura.  My marriage is All You Need is Love. When my triplet nieces were born, I use to sing out of tune (See there, With a little help from my friends!) Yesterday. The kids loved it, until they didn't.  I will never forget the day when the triplets and I were playing with their Elmo doll and there I was singing away when one of them said "Shhh, Lala, Shhhhh!"   Broke my heart.  The triplets are 12 now and my nephew is in high school but they still call me Lala.

Anyway,  this blog is a sad but exciting blog.  You see, today closes a chapter of my life that started almost 14 years ago.  For the last year, I have been keeping a secret from almost all of you,  my dear friends.  The company that I have been working for is in liquidation and today is my last day at work.

For months I been searching for a new job.  I have 18 years of experience in my industry and this job search was the completely miserable.  Apparently, experience means little or nothing if you can't pass assessment exams and I have what is known as Test Anxiety.   So bad in fact that when I was in high school, I would ace the SAT and ACT practice tests but when it came to doing the actual test, I bombed both.   It takes real skill to be this bad at testing and I am.  Sadly, most of the job assessments I failed didn't even seem hard.  I even failed a personality test.  HOW do you fail a personality test anyway?  I apparently, have none.   My nerves were shot and my confidence was in the crapper after all the interviews, assessments, and stress.  I cried sometimes and wanted to cry a lot more.

Cinnamon-Not just a boss, a friend!

So for months I have been hunting and searching for a new job, terrified that the one I had would disappear and we would lose our house.  My husband has been incredibly supportive through this job hunt.  He told me I was smart and to ignore the assessments.  He told me to keep fighting.

Finally, 2 weeks ago the opportunity of a lifetime showed up.   I went to an interview and was hired on the spot with a brand new and I mean brand new company with only about a year of history but built by owners with proven track records.   The job starts tomorrow!   I am going to be so incredibly busy helping this new company grow and develop.

2010 watching Rangers World Series with Trish, Cinnamon, and Michelle

Lots of going away lunches lately!  Mary and Robert

Last Christmas 

Some of my blog friends may have noticed for the last few weeks I have been able to post a lot of blogs, comment on a lot of blogs, and redo basically my entire blog.  I even went back and edited some old blogs that had pictures that once were there but are now gone.  I have had a lot of free time on my hands at work.  That time is about to end but I am really thrilled.  It has been a struggle to pass the time when there is so little to do and my hands are tied.   Still, I have been in it together with some amazing people who I love.

Jerod and Rachel

L-R Mario, Mark, Janie, Jamal, Mary, & Russel one of my all time favorite teams of many!

All that being said, I am going to miss my old company.  I have been here nearly 14 years and through that time, I have made some incredible friends, not just co-workers.  I have been blessed to have some of the most incredible people work for me and I have had an amazing boss.   I know this word is thrown around a lot but we truly have become a family.

So to all of my team members, former team members, co-managers, and my boss, thank  you for 14 years of memories and fun.   I learned so much from each and every one of you.  I appreciate the role you have played in my life.  I will miss this place.