Last Day

Today is my last day at my job before I'm taking ten days off to move and enjoy life a little bit. I'm really sad. This has been the best job I have ever had, and I wish the school would have realized earlier that when you give 1.5% raises every year (and no bonus/performance based raises ever since it's a public sector job) but cost of living goes up 6%... you're going to lose people. But alas in order for changes to actually come through, people have to rock the boat, so they're losing me just like they lost a few other people this year and hopefully that will be for the best in the long run. Doesn't mean it wasn't an amazing job, just meant that I'd eventually have to live in a box.

The like... one time I drove over the hill on the weekend

When I applied for this job, I knew nothing about the field of institutional research. I just wanted a job. I quit my previous job because I struggled with the people I worked with and when I interviewed at this job, everyone seemed nice enough. Unemployment made me real desperate and I figured I'd take it and see what happened. It sounded interesting anyway.

In the last year and a half I've made so many good friends at this job, have rarely had a stressful day, and have not cried once due to work (except yesterday on the way to work because I'm sad to leave). Every day is full of laughter and I genuinely looked forward to going to work nearly every day, even in the summer when I'd really honestly rather be riding my horses all day. And that's not even because of the work itself, which I do truly enjoy doing.

This new job is in the same field and is essentially the same work, but new people. And while everyone I met at my two interviews seemed so incredibly nice and friendly, I can't help but to be really nervous. I can't help but to doubt that I will ever have such amazing people to work with again, but it's early in my career in this field so I'll stop drawing crazy conclusions like that. Regardless, I feel really lucky to have had this job and I hope to stay in touch with these people for a long time. I know I have a lifelong friend in a few of them and the others, I'll at least grab a drink with at the conferences.

GOOD-BYE COMMUTE WILL NOT MISS YOU

The rest of the week is going to be super fun. I wish my week off hadn't landed on the week where Kate is out of town, but at least I can help her out by tormenting teaching her kids. I am, however, going to follow her around tomorrow.

Outside of teaching, riding, and packing, I'll be spending some quality time with Rico and my parents' dogs (also probably them and my brother/SIL who are in the area too), hopefully sneaking in one more pix in parks hike with my SIL, and making sure I eat all the things that I'm going to miss out on eating (although Sacramento has me covered, really). And then, we move!