A post about unexpected opportunities

I must be honest, I have been "looking" for a new job for awhile.  It became habit to browse the want ads, every day, to see what was out there and what might be available on "my side" of the hill.  So, when my friend texted me saying, "there's a job opening in my family's company and I think you need to apply", I shouldn't have been surprised.  But I was.

We met, I asked questions, I listened and at the end of the conversation I thought, "Okay, I'll apply but I'm not sure if this job is for me."  A day later an interview was set up.  On a Friday afternoon, I sat down and interviewed for a Customer Care Manager position.  I was glad I had silenced my phone because my friend texted me before I left the building..."call me when the interview is done!".  I called him and said "I can SO do this job!"

I suffered through the weekend and most of Monday in anticipation and then, Monday afternoon, my phone buzzed with a new email...I GOT THE JOB!

Things have been a whirlwind since then.  I gave notice at my over the hill job and have been trying to clean things up as much as possible for whomever might be hired next.  I've been training my current boss on my job duties (yes, there is some irony there) and I've been saying goodbye.

At least once a day I sit and let the tears fall as someone whom I have come to really like and appreciate emails and says goodbye.  The one that got me yesterday was titled "I am sad"...gah!  My eyeballs keep leaking.  I haven't resorted to taping Kleenex under my eyes (ht, MR), but I promise, if I do, photo's will be taken.

A week from Monday, I will jump into an unexpected opportunity.  I'm excited!!!

A post about new-old beginnings and blogs

On my 40th birthday, a friend gave me this wall hanging.

I liked it then but I wasn't ready for it.  Today it has new meaning.  I wasn't ready to grow, reach, heal, to be soulful or vulnerable, to say yes to change, joy and beginnings then, but I am ready now. 

This blog has been in existence for a few years, though I haven't blogged regularly here and only a select few knew it existed.  When I was thinking about transitioning to some place new, I took another look here and thought this, this is the place I want to "be". 

So welcome to my new-to-most-of-you home. 

Two things to note:

Comment moderation has been turned on.  If you want to comment, it won't show up until I approve the comment.  And I reserve the right to publish or not publish comments.

I'll blog just as infrequently as in the past and be the me that has evolved over the last few years.  I have lost some filters but I am always aware of the audience that could potentially read these posts.  If I get political and you don't agree, feel free to skip that blog post.  If I swear, well, that is the real me.

See you somewhere down the road...  

A post about change

Yesterday I went to the Post Office.  I parked my car and got out and there on the ground was a dime.  I normally would leave pennies on the ground but a dime seemed significant.  I picked it up and pocketed it.  Someday soon it will go into the soda machine at work.  This is not a post about that kind of change.

This is a post about change that happens in life.  Tonight, I stood at the sink in my purposely darkened house looking out over the neighborhood where I grew up thinking about how the neighborhood has changed.  It's Halloween. When I was a kid this neighborhood my Mom would throw a Halloween party and our friends would come over for nachos and beer...the beer was for the Dad's who would take all of us kids around the neighborhood and drive us over into other neighborhoods and over to Grandma and Boompa's and Grandma Catherine's house.  The lady across the street gave out dimes.  The people in the house down the hill gave out full size candy bars. We would walk up and down the hills, passing by all the other kids in the neighborhood and having a great time.  Tonight, as I looked out over the neighborhood I noticed that most of the homes were dark.  There aren't that many kids in the neighborhood anymore.  This change isn't good or bad, it's just different.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend got married.  I was blessed to be the officiant at the ceremony and spent some time thinking about how her life has changed in two seemingly short but kinda long years.  Some of the changes were unexpected, many of them were difficult but as I stood there looking at her on her wedding day, I knew this change was good.

I spent some time reflecting, this last weekend, over the last year of my life.  I've said goodbye to some friends, hello to new friends.  Goodbye to an old job, hello to a new job.  I've done a lot of soul searching and still feel lost.  I've felt myself slipping further and further away from what is called "Christianity" today and further away from the churches around me.  There are some changes that have been good...some changes that have been tough...some changes that were just different.

Through it all, I know that change means growth.  Change can mean the death of one thing so that something new can grow.  Change means what I've taken for granted becomes apparent and the things I fear become vividly clear.  Change means there will be times to mourn and times to rejoice.  I can fight it or embrace it or ignore it but one way or another change will happen. 

I'm looking out over the neighborhood tonight seeing a whole lotta change.

A post where I don't think about breathing

It's been a week and a half since my doctors visit and a week and a half since I've been on an inhaler daily.  Can I just say wow.  Wow, wow, wow.  I realized just a few minutes ago that my chest hasn't been tight all day long.

I'm so used to waking up in the middle of the night trying to catch my breath or listening to the sound of my chest rattling or the incessant wheezing.  This was definitely a good move.  I've been up and down the stairs at home all day and not once have I been out of breath.  Hallelujah.

So, not thinking about breathing has me thinking about a lot of different things.  The number one thought has been about the future.  I feel like there should be an echo there.  The future...future...future...future.  I'm more and more convinced the job I currently hold is not the job I want to stay in the rest of my life.  I know, without a doubt, there is more church work for me in the future.  I know, as easily as I breathe these days, that I was made to be a part of the church and most likely employed by a church.  What that role might be, I still have no idea, though other people are quick to tell me what role they envision me in...yeah, I don't see it but I could still have blinders on.

I do know that God is moving and working in my life, despite me.  I do know I made the right choice a year ago to leave my comfort zone and leap off the cliff, so to speak.  That is enough for now.