Life update

I seem to go in spurts with posting lately. I'm really not super busy, so I don't know what my problem is. I'd like to say that I'll try harder, but I probably won't. Sorry. I want to, but I'm not going to make promises I may or may not keep. I think it's the new job...my morning routine is different now that I work noon - 9 pm. And I'm not home all day like I was in my last job...where some of my posts would happen during my work hours (kind of like this one now...it's a slow night).

So what's been going on lately? Quite a bit, actually. Or at least that's what it feels like to me.

Work is great, as always. It's so nice to work for an organization that truly cares about its employees. Annual reviews are coming up. They do them all at one time, regardless of when you were hired. It's kind of nice that way. And I'm sure it's easier for HR than to keep track of over 500 employee's hire dates (I honestly have no idea how many employees there are...that's just a guess that includes full and part time faculty).

Mr S got a promotion/position change. His current job position, and all the other people that hold the same title as him (about 150-300 in our area alone), will be losing their jobs in September thanks to corporate restructuring. Last month Mr S put in for another position with in the company and was chosen! His first official day is in two weeks. He'll be a part of public affairs, so he'll get to go out into the community and promote some. It will be a change from what he's used to, but also provides a lot of growth and advancement potential within the company.

In March we moved into a smaller apartment to work on saving money and getting out of debt. Our goal is to be in a place to start the house hunt in either December or January.

I started back taking classes online through my current employer. I'm working to my bachelors in Marketing and, if all goes according to plan, should graduate December, 2016! It seems like a long ways off, but I'm still very excited about it all.

My weight loss journey/struggle continues. I fell off the wagon this year and I've gained back 10 of the 15 I lost. But I got back on track yesterday and I am determined to keep at it!

So there is the latest update.

I hope all is well with everyone!

Hugs...

Life Updates...Long Overdue

As you may, or may not, have noticed, I've been a little MIA here lately. There's been a lot going on since I was let go in July. Actually, there's really only been two things going on, but they seem to be pretty time consuming.

First things first - I HAVE A NEW JOB!!!

As someone who has worked more than half her life, not having a job (even for a month and a half) was very emotionally draining on me. Granted, we could survive without my paycheck, but barely. And, again, there's that whole thing about me having a job for the better part of half my life. I started working for my dad when I was 13 making $3-5 an hour helping him with his deliveries as a route salesman in Alabama. When I was 15 I got a "real" job with a local dollar store where I worked through my senior year in high school. When I started community college I was in the work study program on the days I had class, and was working at K-Mart the days I didn't. When I moved out, I got a job in housekeeping at a beach hotel. I've even done a 2-month stint in the fast food industry. My last job I was at for a little over 10 years. All this work history doesn't include all the babysitting I did ages 10-18 for various families in town we live in.  (FYI...never let a 10 year old baby sit your child, unless they have younger brothers and sisters or they're parents are home with them or in close proximity. I had NO IDEA what I was doing!!) I have worked a lot in my life. If I had to put them in order of worst to best (based on what my experiences were) it would be:
1.  Food Service (AKA - Fast food)
2.  Housekeeping (Cleaning my own mess, no biggie; cleaning another's, DISGUSTING)
3.  Babysitting
4.  Retail, especially dollar-type stores
5.  Anything that requires travel (the scenery and perks are great, but the hassle of security and such, as well as being gone from my husband every other week finally took it's toll)
6.  Office work of any kind

I love office work! Which is what my new job is! I am the receptionist for the Temecula Office of California Baptist University Online and Professional Studies. The office I work out of is a half mile from the apartment, so I could walk to work if I wanted (which I have done a few times now - it takes 15 minutes). It's also located at the mall (which could be very detrimental to my wallet and healthy eating). Right now I am one of two full time workers at this location. The other is one of the admissions advisers who handles the area we're located in and down to San Diego for enrollments. We also have three student workers that rotate throughout the week. Because we are located at the mall, we keep mall hours:  1pm - 9pm. My hours are 12 pm to 9 pm. My coworker usually comes in earlier as she meets with students and prospects throughout the day. I close with a student worker.

I love that I have stayed in the Online Education industry as that's what I'm most familiar with (my previous job was with an online university). It's very different because of various things (accreditation, degrees offered, the campus and/or hybrid options, etc), but I am loving learning these new things. And I really enjoy that I'm not traveling anymore. It's nice to be home every week with my husband for a change.

The other new change in my life is I am officially a college student, again!

While I was unemployed I decided I would start back to school as I didn't know how long I'd have all that free time on my hands. So I started the process with American Military University (no, you don't have to be military or former military to enroll with them) to enroll in a Bachelors program for Marketing. I started my second class today, Intro to Business.

I am so excited about this new chapter in my life too! I mean, I work in the education industry and I don't have my degree yet? How stupid can I be?! But I'm glad I waited...had I gone through my last employer it would not have been an accredited degree. Nor would it have been something I wanted...BS in Psychology. I could have done Marketing with them, and I was going to...but then I got let go and I moved on quickly. (I wanted no ties after the way the treated me.)

So that is the latest in my life. I'm still doing Weight Watchers...and I'm still holding steady at the 15 pounds lost mark. I have started a boot camp class in the mornings, twice a week. I'm hoping that will help kick-start the plateau I seem to be at. I've been doing it for two weeks and there hasn't been much change, but I had a few other things happen this last week that may have derailed it. So this week is the week to see my move beyond 15 lost to 17 lost (or more). I'm ready to do this!

Thank you for your patience with me. Now that I'm officially on my new work schedule and my class has started, I'm hoping to get a regular schedule going so that I can get back to blogging more. Until then...

Cheers, dolls!