I'm Tired

The new job is making me WORK! 

I mean, duh, right?

And it's not even really work yet. 

It's consuming an insane amount of information for several, similar accounts.

Meeting after meeting after meeting. 

I worked on a nice CX document today for a couple of hours and that really helped me understand more of what my role is and what we do. 

But my brain is tired.

I'm learning new information daily and trying my best to retain it. 

I'm meeting new people and trying to remember their roles and duties. 

So it's a lot. But in a good way.

I'm finding that by the end of the week, I'm straight exhausted.

I literally have up to 5 meetings per day, back to back, usually. Whatever breaks I do get, I'm either doing trainings, or poking around our shared drives and reading and reviewing documents.

I haven't done this much reading in years lol.

That all being said, I really do love it so far. 

It's challenging, but invigorating. 

Being able to work from home is still magical. Almost everyone I work with is remote and working in a state far from where I live. 

It Didn't Work Out

Welp. 

I always knew it was a possibility.

That an adoptive family just doesn't work out sometimes. 

No one's fault. 

Just circumstances, I guess. 

I was so hopeful.

Mr. Wiggles' new adoptive family reached out to me last week.

They told me they loved him, but unfortunately, he was not getting along with their baby, who is 15 months old. He was fine with their older two kids (5 and 9, I think?) but just couldn't deal with the baby. He did NOT like when the baby cried. 

He nipped at the baby unprovoked. 

They told me they called a trainer to try to work on it, but it wasn't working out.

So, I went and picked him up on Sunday. I haven't had him in over 3 weeks, so I wasn't sure if he'd remember me or not. 

I also didn't want to get him home to my house and settled again, only to move him again. 

He remembered me and was SO sweet. He settled right into my arms.

I felt terribly for the family, especially their 9-year-old daughter. Ugh. Breaks my heart, but dogs can't be nipping at babies, so...

I'm sure they will find the perfect pet to add to their family. 

Before I picked him up, I had two families lined up to meet him. One was out of town - about an hour and a half away, and the other was in Rochester. So I went with the local lady first and I'm so glad I did.

She's a single lady (for now), with a 6-year-old retired greyhound, named HENRY! and a cat who apparently doesn't mind being chased by dogs. Not that Mr. Wiggles will chase the cat, but we're just unsure how he'll be with cats. 

Her house was calm. It's just the three of them.

Fenced in backyard.

Super cute area for neighborhood walks. I actually saw two families with babies and dogs walking on my drive to her house. 

Mr. Wiggles was nervous. As expected. And because he was shuffled around the last month or so...he needs patience and love. 

I think he'll do GREAT once he settles in, but I think it'll be a slower process this time. I can't imagine how the poor little guy feels. Scared, a little happy, nervous, timid, curious, all the feelings.

This lady's greyhound was the SWEETEST. Like the calmest, nicest, quiestest, GIANTEST dog I've ever met. Henry!

It was basically love at first sight. Good Lord. What a sweetheart. The lady told me he wanted a little dog. lol. So cute. 

Anyway, he was loved right away and we did all the necessary paperwork for her to keep Mr. Wiggles.

I reminded her to be super slow and patient with him. I do think he'll be ok in the right home. 

This whole fostering thing is not for the faint of heart. 

I mean, developing a relationship with him, getting him adopted, getting him returned, finding a new family...it's a lot on this mama's heart. Of course, it's 100% worth it, because we end up saving dogs in the end and that's the goal. Getting these babies homes. 

Fingers crossed this works out for him and he can relax and settle. 

He deserves it. 

So Far, So Good

You guyyyysssss.

I'm dying.

I mean, I'm dying in a good way.

Finally.

Something positive in my life. 

I know I've only been employed with my new company for two weeks, but OMG I love it SO MUCH! 

The people I've met so far are so cool. That's the only way to say it. Like, their personalities are all legit. Normal people. People I can chat with. People with personality and humor. 

Then there are the techy IT/Solutions Architects...lol just kidding. Ok, not really. They are SUPER nice, but exactly what I'd expect. Very straight-forward and black/white. Very technical and very smart.

I'm working with several teams, so there are a lot of people to remember...but so far, I'm loving it and everyone is being SO nice. 

Things are starting to feel familiar, so that's good. I don't feel completely lost everyday. LOL.

The schedule is much busier than my last job, but mostly because I'm in a TON of meetings. I'll be leading a few different accounts and each account is large...and has several meetings each week. 

The work I've been assigned hasn't been exactly hard. Just different. 

But I'm excited! I'm excited for this new journey. I'm excited about the paycheck too! I mean. Seriously.

Oh and I also signed us up for health insurance. First time in a LOOOOONG time we have a regular Copay plan instead of a High Deductible plan. AND it's not costing us an arm and a leg. I also increased our life insurance and added in a couple more benefits. And it's still not that much more than what we were paying on Steve's High Deductible plan. 

So I'm getting comfy and settling in.

Because of all my meetings, my schedule isn't as open as it was before. But I'm still able to throw in a load of laundry or marinate some meat for dinner if I find a few minutes. I can bring my laptop with me of course, to keep an eye on things.

There is so much potential and opportunity in my division (Citizens Pay - a BNPL product) that it's hard not to be excited. We have some big names who have signed on for multi-year contracts and it's so refreshing. 

I absolutely cannot wait to see what's in store for me. 

Here's to week #3. I'm ready for it. 

Weenie Update

Wiener Bean has been a Ruple now for 8 months. 

And she is amazing.

She is the sweetest little thing.

She is my shadow and prefers to be next to me at all times. She is starting to relax and just allow me to be within her sight, versus needing to be WITH me...but it's slow progress. 

We are working on potty training...she still has accidents in the house from time to time, but I'm realizing that it's really my fault for not being on top of it more. Her bladder is tiny and I need to be taking her out every 2-3 hours.

BUT, she is legit the CUTEST thing I've ever seen. EVERRRR.

STOP ITTTT.

Every time it's mealtime. 

Come ON right?? So cute.

💓

This little dog saved me. I got her way before I knew anything, and she entered our lives right when we needed her to. 

Boston Details and Getting Settled

Onboarding at a new job is no joke. 

Especially when it's a bank. 

I've only ever worked for privately owned companies, usually owned by one to three people. The largest company I've worked for was like 100 people at its max.

I never, everrrrrr thought I'd work for a national organization with over 18,000 employees.

But my team? It feels like a start up. We are about 80 people deep with all the different verticals, but my specific team is like 10 people. And I've worked with 3 of them in a past life! 

Anyway, after an amazing 3 day trip to Boston last week, I've been spending my time getting settled and organized. 

First Week of My New Job - COMPLETE

You guys.

I have officially completed by first week at my new job.

The first 3 days were spent in Boston, followed up with two days settling into my home office.

Let me just say this: it's incredibly hard to work off of a small laptop with no second screen, no mouse and no keyboard.

All my "extra" stuff is for a MAC. We now have Dell laptops (gagggg).

So it's, um, super annoying. 

Trying to see different windows is nearly impossible. 

So now this is my set up, while I wait for my new stuff to arrive.

I'm going to be redecorating my office. I will likely remove the bed to give myself more space...I dunno. 

Sitting through a million compliance trainings

I sat in on some meetings, but mostly tried to get acclimated with our systems. 

I spent a lot of time doing compliance trainings, which are sooooo boring and tedious to get through. 

Funny How Life Is - My First Day at My New Job

If I were to tell you what's happened in my life in the last 5 months, I swear you wouldn't believe it.

The ups and downs have been incredible to deal with. 

Literally the lowest point in my life, probably ever, alongside the most amazing point in my life. 

Happening at literally the exact same time.

How is that even possible. I'm sure it happens all the time in the grand scheme of things.

I wonder how other people deal with it. 

My brain is mush and it's been hard not to have a constant knot in my stomach.

That "pit" feeling is so real I'm just in disbelief about everything.

The universe is weird, I tell ya.