What a few days it has been! The week has been a busy one, so the blog posts have suffered, I apologise – yet again…
I got the job! Received and accepted the offer early in the week. I am so happy. My new job is local, an 8 minute drive from my house. I will regain 4 hours a day from my commute. I can join local clubs and classes, finally get a social life and make new friends.
I handed in my notice on Tuesday. I wasn’t nervous about it. I’ve always had a good relationship with my manager, I’ve never felt uneasy about approaching him with office problems or process improvement ideas. And, he was aware that I was struggling with the commute and would likely look for work closer to home.
He was happy for me, but did say devastated to lose me. And the timing wasn’t great, as my two weeks annual leave was about to start, and he’s also about to start himself – he’s going to get married so alot on his mind, and then I spring this on him.
But I have to do what’s best for me.
The day I leave will be 6 weeks shy of being 6 years there. A long time there. I have had a good experience there: had alot of progression opportunities, I had great mentorship from my manager, and other colleagues, I was able to improve my education, worked on internal process improvements, and liaised with external stakeholders. For me, my time with the organisation has been positive.
And I stated as such in my resignation notice to the CEO. Throughout the remainder of the week, the news trickled across the teams, as it often does. A few colleagues and team managers reached out to me, expressed they’re sad to see me go but delighted for me also.
Since I submitted my notice, I’ve been looking forward. Considering the new things I can do, the hobbies I’ve wanted to get into but couldn’t commit to because of my commute. I feel I will be more energised without the commute, so am ready to take on new things.
Theatre – I want to get into performing, auditioning either for the local theatre, or singing group, whoever has auditions first I guess. Now, I’m no Beyonce. But I do enjoy Car Karaoke – hitting high notes is not guaranteed, words and conditions apply*. But I don’t need to be centre-stage. I just want to have fun.
Gym – I need to get back into focusing on my fitness. Pre/Mid-Covid, I was on my fitness game, hitting the gym 3 to 4 times a week, sticking to the calories, cooking delicious low-carb meals. I want that again. There’s a hotel right beside my house that has a gym/pool facility – I miss swimming. There’s also some lakes nearby that I’m planning to swim in. But not without the proper gear – I want those swim shoes to protect my feet, and a wetsuit of sorts (not the heavy thick ones) for better cold/sun protection. But I also still wanna look cute! Priorities.
Spanish classes – My partner’s first language is espanol. I understand un poco (a little), but after 4 years together, I think it’s high time I knuckled down and started learning. Now, I know there’s mobile apps for learning languages, but owls can only teach you so much, and at some point, the need to say I want apples is outgrown. So getting official lessons, for conversational Spanish, reading Spanish and writing Spanish. I’m better at understanding than creating – so with my MIL here at the moment, when they’re talking to each other (at the speed of light), I can understand the general conversation, picking up words here-and-there. But I cannot engage beyond words. I’m struggling to make sentences. And I want to be able to.
Weekends – I want my weekends back. Before I was commuting, my partner and I would go somewhere most weekends, spend time together outside of the house, exploring places locally and further away. I want that again. Since the commuting started, I just didn’t have the energy for all that when the weekends came around. And sadly, it definitely affected our relationship. We bonded over these trips when we first started dating. And I feel to blame for losing that. We are a strong couple, we have fought and survived many, many obstacles in our time together. So it’s a priority for me to get back the thing we bonded over.
Now, I’m just about to start the new job. So I’m not about to dive head-first into all these things. I do need to settle in the new position. However, with the summer months, I will dabble in a few of them. I guess I want to challenge myself a little, with the goal of health improvement and making friends. But I don’t want to over-challenge myself.
But I’m excited for this next chapter. And I will bring you along with me, if you’re interested.
Today is June 14th, first day of my Annual Leave, and count down to my last day in work before the new job. Let’s see what happens.
RAMWrites 