A New Chapter

On October 28th, after about a month of waiting, I received a phone call that was about 4 years overdue. I had interviewed with a label printing company, twice, and was fairly certain up until that point that I did not get the job. But much to my surprise, I was offered the position on that Friday morning. After a brief celebration with my dog, I embarked on the longest drive to work ever. The second I walked in the door, I b-lined right for my bosses office to say those 7 little words I had been dying to say, "Kathy, I have to give my notice." And just like that, my life (or at least 40 hours a week of it) changed.

At first I was extremely excited. I sat in my cubicle with a stupid smile plastered on my face for what probably turned out to be an inappropriate amount of time. The news traveled around fast and many people stopped by to see if it were true. Yes, yes I had escaped. I heard a lot of I'm-so-happy-for-you's and take-me-with-you's... and some you-can't-leave-us, one person in particular called me a traitor a few hundred times. But it didn't totally hit me until the last few days that maybe I would actually miss The Telegraph. It suddenly occurred to me that I felt at home there. I had spent the past almost 6 years in the same place, with the same people, doing the same things, and now I had no idea what to expect. I knew before I even interviewed anywhere that once I left the safe confines of The Teege I would be giving up a significant amount of freedom. I basically did whatever I wanted there. I had the most awesome boss who was not super strict about hours and didn't care what I did as long as I made the deadlines. But at a new job, who knows. 

My last day was bittersweet. My department had a going away party with cake and a card, and the sales ladies I worked with directly bought me a gift card and a card of their own, two of them gave me separate presents. I had no idea it would be so emotional to leave. I literally had to choke back tears as I said my last goodbyes. While saying goodbye to my boss I almost broke down and had to say, "Okay, I really need to go before I get overly emotional." Then I sat in my car, took one last look as an employee and said goodbye to that chapter of my life... Which was immediately followed by a 15 minute cry-sesh. 

So now I'm with a new, fancy label printing company. I've been there for about 3 weeks. There have already been several on-the-verge-of-tears phone calls to my boyfriend complaining about how I can't grasp anything and how I never should have left The TG. But I've never been very good with change, so deep down in my subconscious I knew I was just adjusting. The position turned out to be much more involved than I thought, there's a crazy amount of information to take in and remember, but I am slowly understanding everything... and wanting to shoot myself in the face less.

It's unfortunate that money is such a deal breaker. I came to the conclusion in my final weeks that had it not been for the fact that I was grossly underpaid and had the worst insurance known to mankind, I probably would have stayed at The Telegraph for as long as time would allow... Which at this rate wouldn't have been very long, but that's besides the point. I may have been bored out of my god damn mind 90% of the time, but the freedom, that alone was enough to keep me from hanging myself in my cube. So I guess what I'm trying to say here is, I actually miss it. Still. Even after all the bitching and moaning about wanting to leave, here I am silently (or maybe not so silently now) wishing to be sitting in that awful, blue box I affectionately referred to as "hell." 

Instead of rolling in about 10, I promptly arrive at 8:30 am, still half asleep and pissed off by the work commute from hell, complete with 80 thousand spiteful stoplights that love to change at the exact same time just so you have to stop at every... single... one for the next 50 miles. And instead of an honor code time card, I actually have to to punch in and out. And the absolute worst part, instead of knowing everyone and feeling completely comfortable, I suddenly regress into having the social skills of my 15 year old self, and am some sort of awful mix of shy and awkward. I know all this will eventually go away, but this whole in between period... it needs to go by a bit faster. 

There are pretty significant perks to the new place though. My paycheck actually made me smile and the day FLIES by. At The TG 7 hours could have been 3 days for all I knew, they both felt the same. Actually having decent health insurance again will also be nice come January. So I guess it's still early to judge whether or not I can actually feel THAT way over a company again (like this is some sort of messed up relationship). I suppose only time will tell!