Finishing up where I left off

I promised you that I would finish up where I left off and bring you up to speed. It has been a bit of a mixed month for many reasons, so let me explain.
As you probably know, I lost my job for the second time in a year. After taking a year to find work, the company I joined went out of business 2 months after I started there for illegal activities. I am not sure it was my calling in life and I am happy I did not get caught up in all the investigations so I suppose I should consider myself lucky. Not working for very long and not knowing what to do, I was informed by unemployment to file under my old claim - so I did. The problem with that is that I was already on unemployment for a year, in emergency extended benefits status and they had no idea how long that would last or if a new claim would even be approved. I took my chances and did as they told me to do. Well some time at the end of July/ beginning of August, the funds ran out. They had to wait for Congress to pass extensions and until that happened, any money I was already entitled to under my old extension had been suspended. They advised me to continue to file although I was not getting paid and were going to attempt to file me a new claim since I worked briefly in the second quarter.

I’m not sure if I had mentioned this to you in previous entries, but I basically had no income at all for a few weeks to a month. It was not pretty and it is most likely what prompted me to get so upset about comments made by people or not wanting go places on vacation with no funds to pay for them and not knowing what the future would hold. I went into all out panic mode and started applying for anything- temp work, part time jobs, I was considering contract work. It was a very crazy, stressful period for me. At a time when I had hoped to start fresh in a new direction, there I was looking for anything, and I mean anything just to have some money coming in to pay bills.

Now that some time has passed, I can tell you that it took a while but I got paid for the time I missed, minus one week (I think) and the unemployment situation has been rectified. Of course it was never my plan to be on unemployment for this long and while there are people that scam the system, I am not one of them. It is also not my plan to continue to make unemployment my safety net so the search continued. About 2 or three weeks ago today actually, I saw a job listing for the type of job I was hoping to secure and it was in a nearby town so the commute would be so nice. I wrote a kick ass cover letter, submitted my resume, looked up the sky, said a little prayer, and begged a bit and two hours later I got a call to come in for an interview. It was not my dream job, dream company and certainly not the best benefits or pay, but it was a foot in the door and a big step in the right direction. I was secretly hoping, but not putting all my eggs in one basket as these things tend to not end up the way I want them to.

At the end of the 1st interview I was told they had others in the process, I was only the second interview and that I could expect a call back in about a week to let me know if I was in the running for a 2nd interview. Well they must have loved me because I have been in the staffing industry long enough to know that usually do not move that quickly unless you are a superstar. Three days later I had gotten a call back to come in for a second interview to meet with the Director and the rest of the team.

I assumed the 2nd interview went well but the director told me to follow up with him in 3-4 days and he would be closer to a decision or at least let me know where things stood. I had not even been home two hours, I had not even started my thank you note and I got a call from the recruiter wanting to know if I could come in for my 3rd interview to tour the facilities and get my paperwork to have my drug screen done. Talk about moving quickly. I know from my years in the industry that unless they are serious and you are a top contender, you do not get to the background and drug phase if you are not going to be extended an offer pending the results as that typically costs companies money.

So two days later I went in again, had a great meeting with the Director, we talked money and I tried to negotiate for a better deal. I felt we were at that stage so I let him know that if he was at the reference checking stage, one of my references would be away the following week taking her daughter to college and therefore they may only be able to get a hold of her in the next two days. Well let me just say that before I could even get home and notify my references that there was a chance they could be contacted, they had already called a few of them. I was 99% sure I had the job but I was not going to get excited until the offer was in hand.

I went away for the weekend with my boyfriend- the Annapolis trip that I had complained of two blog entries ago. We had a great time. While he did pay for almost everything, I paid for a few small things here or there or where he would let me. He really is so wonderful to me and we get along so well. As he would say- you never know where the future will take you, but I am hopeful and we will see where things leads. For right now, he owes me a few brush up dance lessons and a date to my brother’s wedding where he can twirl me around and hopefully meet the normal side or my family.

In Annapolis, we toured the Naval Academy, went on a sunset sail around the Bay and cracked blue claw crabs with mallets. We had a good time and while it was brief, I think we both needed the time away from everyday life. Yesterday was my first day back and not knowing how things would transpire, I began looking for work and following up on other job leads I had. Towards 4pm, I got a call from the Director who extended me the offer I had been hoping for and he did go up slightly in salary. I almost let it go just to be working again, but I was advised that if they liked me that much, it could not hurt to ask and they would not throw me out of the running for trying to get a higher salary. I am still taking a 30K or so pay cut from my last job, but it is a giant step up from my unemployment income. The benefits are so so but most importantly, I think it is an opportunity for me to learn and expand my horizons in the field I was truly hoping to be in. The commute is awesome and after learning this morning that a friend of mine that lost her job just got evicted from her apartment along with her two kids, I am truly blessed to even be starting a new job. Well almost starting. We had discussed a possible start date as soon as tomorrow but he told me to think about it over night. I called this morning to accept but got voicemail so I am kind of on pins and needles walking around with the phone glued to my side until it is official and I have a start date and instructions of what to do, where to report and who to ask for on my first day. Other than that, my biggest problem right now is what to wear my first day. I normally like to wear a suit and while I have lots of business attire, I only have three actual suits- all of which I wore to the interviews so I may have to tear through the closet and improvise some.

I think I am just about caught up minus a few things. As I’m sure you know, I booked a trip to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving with my boyfriend and to be with my family for the holiday. My boyfriend offered to pay but I felt bad. Initially the trip was to be for Hawaii and while Vegas and Hawaii are two different animals, Hawaii is more expensive and not knowing my job situation or his as his company may be merging or selling off his division, we opted to stay with my sister so we could get away but it would cost less. He of course offered to pay, but initially I laid the trip out on my credit card. Last week he gave me the money for the entire trip. I felt bad so I made him at least deduct my plane fare with the intention of figuring out the other portion of the trip as we got closer and saw what the work situation was. Even though it will be a family trip, we plan to rent a car and stay in a hotel two nights to have some freedom and make it more vacation like. The point I bring all this up is that I want to say Thank You to my boyfriend for being so wonderful. He is probably one of the few if only people that reads this from time to time. I also want to say Thank You for making good on your financial promises. Not that I had any reason to not trust him, but I have been burnt in the past very badly financially by people and so I am always nervous about laying money out for people- family included. A friend of mine is engaged and shouldn’t be as far as I am concerned but every time I talk to her, she complains about how she lent him money, he owes her thousands and never even makes an attempt to pay her back. I certainly did not want to fall into that boat and I am glad I did not have to. Even if you lend someone money and they can not afford to pay it back all at once, as long as they make an attempt- a few dollars here and there as they can afford- it goes a long way with me. Anyway, I am glad I do not have that problem and am grateful after all these years to be with someone that is financially responsible.

While I am saying Thank You’s, I just want to thank him for being patient with me and for sticking with me during some of the most troubling and unstable months in my life. I now owe him for everything he has done for me and for all that he has put up with over the few months we have been together. A big Thank You to my mother who probably will never read this as she can barely turn on the computer, but nonetheless, she has basically been supporting me at a time in my life when that should not have been her responsibility. Of course, it has been a rough few years so I was here for her at a time she needed me and the living situation while interesting, stressful and not ideal has for the time being been mutually beneficial to the both of us.

And a big UN- Thank You goes out to my lawyer. I assumed I would be almost done with my divorce by now and so I called the courts to see where things stood. Much to my dismay, I learned that I should probably check with my lawyer because she never filed the paperwork with the courts. I was told back in the end of June or early July that it had been signed by both parties and was on the lawyer’s desk for review and to be filed shortly. Well 2 months later I have come to learn she never did so. I got a song and a dance about how there were others ahead of me, then she was in trial and then she was on vacation and now there are still a few more cases before mine. Well it is not a damn trial she has to prepare for. She just had to make sure it is signed in all the right places and submit it so it can go on some judge’s calendar. Personally, I think I was fed a line of crap by her assistant and that the paperwork got misplaced for the past two months. I wish I was officially divorced, but I guess I will just have to wait a few more months until that is the case. I was so hoping to start a new job with a new name and not have to have questions asked later when I needed to change things, but I guess some things just need more time. It is what it is and I have waited this long so what is a few more months. I am told I will feel differently when it is official. I really don’t think so. I just think I will be happy that I no longer have to keep tabs on his whereabouts in case something slips through the cracks and I will no longer have to play nice in the sandbox to keep the peace so he signs documents. Once it is official- delete, block, delete and have a good life and stay out of mine!

And with that last piece of trivial, I think I have completed my update for the time being. I am pretty certain I will be starting a new job tomorrow so this may be my last entry for a bit until I can find some time or there is something worthy of mentioning. I just wish the guy would call back already to make it official so I don’t have to be on pins and needles all day and I can plan my day accordingly.

Wish me luck and say a prayer for me that this job it is good for me, I kick butt and take names and that the company is stable and does not go out of business in the next two months like the last one did.

Until I write again…..