Monday, January 25, 2016

Is it Monday already?


So I made it through the first week of work.  It wasn't nearly as overwhelming as I expected it to be.  Still, I feel completely lost.  I'm learning to navigate the computer system better now but without help I still have no clue what the next step is, what I should be looking at and for specifically, and what it all means.  I tried writing the steps down but was discouraged to do so.  "You'll be doing it so often that you won't even need your notes, it'll just come naturally!"  Maybe so, but I feel like I need my notes until then.   They did give us screen shots of the screens, so that's nice.

Thankfully, my coworkers have all been very nice.  There are 13 newbies and we're all learning together.  I wonder if they feel as lost as I do, but I haven't asked.  We have one more week of training before we're out on our own.  I felt really good about everything as I drove home Friday evening, but then I had to weekend to think and I'm nervous to go back.  There is absolutely no way I'm ready to be out on my own yet.  I'm just praying that it all starts to sink in before the end of the week.  

I hope everyone who got hit by the nasty blizzard over the weekend is safe!

I'll try to be around sometime this week to visit everyone.  I should have done it over the weekend.  Instead, I felt antsy and colored a lot to relax.  I'm used to having either too much free time or absolutely none at all and had no idea what to do with myself over the weekend.   Here's a little bit of my work.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Working Girl


As of tomorrow, I will officially be a working girl!  I'm excited but also scared.  I have absolutely NO experience with taxes or accounting.  I'm trying to be positive and to think of it as a new skill to add to my resume.

I have a feeling this is going to be an extremely overwhelming week.  It's been awhile since I've had to get up early and keep an actual schedule.  I'll be learning a new job and meeting new people.  That's not easy!  The good thing is that I won't be having to deal with homework or studying while also adjusting to all of the changes.

While I'm relieved to have a new job (even if it is only temporary), it also makes me sad.  I'm going to miss Shiver and Chico.  We've spent all day every day together since graduation last May.  They're used to having me around and I'm used to being with them.  I've been watching Chico like a hawk for even the slightest change now that I know he has cancer.  I want to be on top of any changes to deal with them immediately.  I just worry I won't see them as quickly now since I won't be there to watch over him.  Shiver is anxious and I worry about how he'll react to me not being around as much.  I'm sure it'll all be fine, I just stress about everything.

With everything going on this week, I wanted to let everyone know that I won't be around this week.  I don't know what the coming week will bring, but I want time to let everything settle in and get used to it all.  I may visit and comment a little bit later in the week, it will all depend on what the week brings.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Colorful Monday

Monday's are generally a drag and very rarely does one actually look forward to the day.  I got a coloring book for Christmas and thought I'd share a little of my work to brighten your Monday.  Because I'm nice that way, ha ha!  I'm no professional but I think my pictures turned out OK, and I had fun which is all that really matters.

But first, let me share some good news.  I GOT A JOB!!!  It's only temporary, but it's better than nothing.  I am sooooooooo bad at math and know absolutely nothing about how to prepare taxes, but the state hired me as a taxpayer accountant.  I start next week.  When I did my interview, one of the ladies there said that they always treat their temps very well because they do the bulk of the work and that if we're ever not treated well to let someone in management know immediately so that they can take care of the issue as soon as possible.  So that was nice to hear!  I know from my experiences working as a temp and also working with temps that they aren't always treated so well.  The pay isn't great for this job but it's more than I got paid at the university as a student and I'll be learning a new skill.  The job runs sometime into June if all goes well.

And now onto my coloring book!  This is one of the first pictures I worked on.  I thought since it was large, it wouldn't take as long to do.  I was wrong!
I just started working on this a couple of nights ago.  As you can see, it's not done yet.  That's what's so wonderful about coloring though - you can stop whenever you want or need to and pick it back up at a later time.  There's one small section that looks dark brown here but it actually doesn't look that way in person.  It's a mixture of colors and looks much prettier than what the camera picked up because it kind of shows bits and pieces of different colors here and there and looks kinda cool.
Lynne was kind and generous enough to gift me with this recently, so now I have two coloring books!  I already picked out the first page to work on and hope to be showing the finished product to you soon.
Does anyone else color?  If you do, I hope you'll share your work on your blog.  And if you don't, you should totally start!  It's fun and a great way to relax.  Lynne shared a few links with me on youtube of various coloring techniques, which is always fun to watch.  Click on the link for a sample.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Is it 2016 already?


Wow, time flies!  2015 had it's fair share of ups and downs but overall, I'd have to say it was an excellent year.  I hope 2016 will be just as exciting!

Last week was so so busy!  Last Monday I had an interview for an internship.  I already found out that I didn't get it and I'm fine with that.  For what few hours and little pay they offered, my paycheck would be spent on the gas for the commute there and back with very little left over.

Tuesday I interviewed for 3 jobs.  I only applied for one, but the Human Resources department thought my experience might fit in with two additional job openings.  It was a weird interview.  I'd already filled out an online and paper application and had to fill out some additional paperwork when I got there, then take a data entry exam.  When that was all done, I was led to another room and sat at a table in the middle of the room to wait my turn for an interview.  Various tables were set up around sides of the room where groups of three people conducted interviews for different positions.  The table I sat at in the middle had a list of questions for each position that would be asked of us, so I looked them over and quickly formulated answers for them all in my head.  My name was called fairly quickly and I did my first interview.  I sat back down in the middle when it was done and waited until my name was called twice more for the other two interviews.  Other people were there were interviewing at the same time I was and I tried not to listen in on their interviews.  The questions were all easy and the interviews were quick.  The jobs are all seasonal, and have different start and end dates and pay rates.

Wednesday afternoon I got an email saying that I needed to go to the state police headquarters and get my fingerprints taken, then provide the potential employer with a stamped and signed document from the state police headquarters saying that I'd done so by no later than the end of the day Thursday.  I did that Thursday afternoon and now I just have to sit and wait.  I have no idea which of the three jobs I'm being considered for but I feel like they probably wouldn't have asked for my fingerprints if I wasn't a pretty decent candidate for at least one of them.  I got an email from the employer late that afternoon saying that the deadline for fingerprinting had been extended through this coming Tuesday.  I figure I'm probably not going to hear back before then.

Tuesday morning I've been invited to attend a free workshop that I'm pretty excited about.  It'll be an opportunity to network more and to learn.  Plus it's one more thing to add to my resume!  I complained to Starbucks last week that I never got my free birthday drink last October (yeah, I have no idea why I waited so long to contact them, either) and they were kind enough to credit my account, so I'll be enjoying a coffee on them Tuesday morning.  So far the year is looking pretty good!  How's your year going?
 

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