work

I have blogged exactly 3 times since September 2011.  Not coincidentally, September 2011 is when I started a second job.  Turns out what little free time I had before to think (minorly) creatively has been consumed.  Life is busy, but most of the time it's fun.  I'm doing a lot.  I don't know a lot of people my age who feel the need to have 4 jobs.  But I do.

I got to thinking the other day as I was perusing my resume (never hurts to keep that baby up to date, am I right?), that it turns out I have never fully quit a job. I just keep doing a little piece of it.  Except for when I worked at Lisa's Cleaning.  I totally quit that.  A recap of the last 10 years of my employment, and how somehow out of the 5 jobs I've had, I'm still doing 4 of them....

1.  June 2002-July 2006 - Campus Ministry.  Left staff after 4 years, and then in relocating, realized that I still had opportunity and passion for campus ministry.  Returned less than a year later as associate staff, and still doing that (mostly in the form of leading a justice focused study group @ the local college, and participating in a hotdog handout ministry to students late at night on the party street).

2. August 2006-March 2007.  Lisa's Cleaning.  Once I had the opportunity to get out of there I did.  (I wanted to put a link to a hilarious tale I wrote about the "rules" at Lisa's, but it must be on another website, b/c it is not in the blogger... I will have to track that down and share for anyone who might have missed it 6 years ago)

3.  March 2007-January 2010 - Church.  Was the church's office admin person, and took on the responsibilities of the wedding coordinator while there.  When I left full time staff there in 2010, was asked to stay on as wedding coordinator, and I did.  Still doing it.  Still loving it.

4.  January 2010-current - purchasing asst turned buyer at printing company.  I'm still doing that 8-5 M-F.

5. September 2011-current - last september took on PT role as baker/barista at local cupcake/coffee shop.  It's SUPER hard work that at the end of every shift I find myself saying "I might be too old for this," but it's fun, creative, social, and at times, hilarious.  I have some of my own personal cake wrecks, that maybe someday I'll share or submit.  For now they're on my phone for my own personal viewing pleasure.

I like the work I do a lot, and maybe someday I can streamline it all.  But for now I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, and thinking up great things to write about in my head, and then never actually doing it....

Math for Commuters: 101

I realize that I haven’t written in quite some time. in fact, the last time was to announce that I had a new job. Well, since that time, said job has sort of sucked up all of my time. It’s not that I don’t like it- I do. It’s challenging and I’m learning a lot, but it’s also time consuming. I’m working slightly longer days than I was at the church, plus I am commuting to Maryland. I’ve come to realize that I don’t mind the actual drive. The 30-60 minutes (depending on traffic) is kind of nice to have to myself, to sip some coffee, to listen to music or a podcast. However, the challenging part is simply the lost time. I lived 3 miles from my last job. I could get there in 7 minutes. So, if I needed to be there at 8, I would get in my car at 7:53. Then I worked til 4:30 and I was home by 4:40. Not bad. Not to mention Fridays I only worked til 2:30. It was not a bad schedule at all. To have that schedule I gave up lunch time- but I didn’t mind at all. I was busy and there were lots of people to interact with, so my days went by pretty quickly. And I was gone from my house for aprox. 8 hours and 47 minutes 4 days a week and 6 hours and 47 minutes the 5^th day totaling 41.9 hours/week. I’d come home and have time to organize my life/eat/rest before evening activities at 6 or 6:30.

The new schedule just takes a little more time. I shoot to be on the road at 7:15 (which sometimes gets me to work before 8, and sometimes it doesn’t. traffic). Then I work until 5. Then it takes about an hour to get home, not returning til 6. However- if I have an evening activity (gym, bible study, choir, etc) I have to go straight there. Now, at best I am gone from my house for 10 hours and 45 minutes 5 days a week. That is a cumulative week difference of aprox. 11.85 hours per week. That’s almost another work day and a half!! Although most nights I go directly to another activity. For example- tonight I went to the gym and met some friends. Got home at 9. That’s a 14 hour day.

All this to say, some things have suffered. When you lose nearly 12 hours out of your average week, some things are just going to. Among them- hanging out with friends, returning emails, reading for fun (my book stack continues to grow and my magazines haven’t been opened since the December issues), and creative outlets (ex: blog).

It’s been 11 weeks since I started this new job. And I do like it. And I feel like I’m STARTING to get into a rhythm of my life. But it is a challenge. I am open to anyone willing to organize/streamline my life. Keep me posted.

And in the meantime, I hope to return to some of those things that I have had to leave behind these last 3 months. I’ll get there. Maybe.

Vocational Update

While I typically shy away from including work information on my blog, I thought I'd just throw a quick update out into cyberspace for those who might be wondering what is going on....

I've spent the last 3 years working as the admin asst. at my church, and in November I was informed that they were cutting my position to part time. I had until the end of January until my position was cut. So I started looking for new jobs because while I was invited to stay, I obviously could not work only part time.... I finished at my church the last day of January, not knowing what I'd be doing next.

I sent out lots of applications to lots of different things, and was having a hard time finding something, when someone I used to work with told me about a job at her husband's company. I interviewed there and a few other places, and received two job offers! It was a true blessing in a very frustrating time.

I felt like the best option was the office job w/ the guy I knew from church, and last week I accepted it and I started today! I am the purchasing assistant at a printing company. I work at the corporate offices in northern Maryland, there are 6 plants around the eastern region of the country. I have about a 30-40 minute commute. Not too bad. It's very office-y. I feel like I might be Pam Beasley.

It is a job that I think will utilize my skills well, and challenge me to grow in knowledge and skills. I think it will be a good fit!

So, that's the quick update. Lots of other stuff going on too... posts to come. Thanks for your support/encouragement these last few months... it's been a difficult time, but I think things are looking up.

a new job!

Well, friends, it happened. I am no longer employed by Lisa's Cleaning Service!! As you may know, I have been on the search for a full time job since I left the CCO in July of last year. I had grown angry and frustrated with my current situation, and was feeling pretty hopeless. I had been keeping track of jobs applied for and was well into the 40s. I applied for a job @ my home church (Asbury UMC, York) a few weeks ago and didn't get it.

THEN: Last wednesday around 5 I got a call from the church saying that they'd like to meet with me. Long story short, we met @ 8:00 that night after my small group, they offered me the job, I took it, went it to Lisa's thursday morning and worked, met w/ Lisa @ noon, offered my 2 weeks notice, she said that that day could be my last, and I started @ the church on Friday!!!!

It is a full time administrative position, preparing all the documents (bulletin, newsletter, promotional), and other administrative things that happen at a church. They are very supportive of me and I am excited and thankful that God opened the doors that he did.

Thanks for being my friends through this frustrating time in my life... I apoligize if all that I have done is whine about life @ lisa's cleaning. I am thankful for the work that they provided me when I needed it, and am thankful for the path that I am on now.

On another big note, I turned in my literature review for my research class on Friday, it had been consuming all of my spare time the last few weeks. I have 3 more assignments for this semester, and then will only have 3 more classes to go before I am a Master.

Just thought that you'd be glad to hear this cheerful news!!!

on cleaning houses

It's a job, it's not a career. That is something that I have to remind myself. I have been at my "temporary" job for almost 3 months. I'm starting to not feel like "the new girl" anymore. (Luckily, we've gotten 2 new girls, so at least they don't call me that anymore).

So, what I am doing: I work for this company (Lisa's Cleaning Service, LLC), and we clean up and prepare new homes from the construction phase to being ready for the homeowner walk-through. May I just say- if these people paying $500,000+ for new houses knew what they looked like before we clean them up.... (maybe I will take some before/after photos for your benefit).

It is a physically demanding job, I am sore and tired a lot. It is also very emotionally demanding. Most of the women that I work with are 40+ and think of me as just some kid. Most of them have only a HS level of education (and a few don't even have that), which is an adjustment after working with all college/graduate students for 4 years. I had forgotten that not everyone is educated to the same level as the people I had come to know as my peers.

Why am I doing this? Well, I ask myself everyday. The most obvious answer is $$. I need a steady income to stay on top of the bills I have to pay.... I also needed something to do, I was going crazy not working for 2 months.

But what am I getting out of it?? God is really teaching me a lot. I am learning about patience- for my life, His plan, and the people He loves. I am learning about loving others unconditionally. I am learning about judgement and pride- both things I was quick to come to without even realizing it. And I am learning about grace. What it means to live in it and extend it to those around me.

I don't know what my future holds- i still want to be working in higher ed, or recreation, I want to live on my own, I want my old life back sometimes... but I have to remember that God has me in this time for a reason, and when I transition to the next thing I hope that I will be a changed person, and even more thankful for the things he has placed in my life.