Cheeky Sweetie

I’m a little out of my element right now. I spent years with a very flexible schedule, and now I have a regular hour type office job. I am really enjoying the job though, in part due to working with Marla, who is training me to take over part of her responsibilities while she heads out west to start a new Tulsa office for the business. She’s smart and really down to earth, and I can relate to her on a lot of things..she is also an independent thinker and she has lots of projects going. She’s an idea girl, too, and I have to say that we make a hell of a team, even if I do say so myself. I’ll miss her bunches when she takes off on her next adventure in Oklahoma. (PS, She does Pleasure Parties and Jewelry Shows, so if you are interested, I’ll pass on your info to her. She’s only in Florida until the end of the month, so get on it, so to speak!)

I’m also really enjoying being able to ‘clock out’ and not having to do paperwork at home. I think what burnt me out most at the last position I held was the fact that my success was not dependent on my own efforts, but on the efforts and motivation of the clients. Sometimes you bend over backwards to help clients and get not one single bit of progress, and other times you THINK you made progress, and then you see your former client in the previous days’ arrests or in the paper or something. After three and a half years of that, I just crashed and burned, which is pretty common in social services. Regardless, I feel good to be back in a position where I AM being effective again, and I love that the big boss is totally supportive of me continuing my education.

Speaking of education, I’m really enjoying my US History class. I know, it seems like that should be followed by some sarcastic qualifier, but I’m a little fascinated with history now. A really amazing instructor can do that. (Teachers, take this to heart-your passion to sharing your knowledge matters. A lot. Your perspective and technique can make subjects long ago relegated to the “crap, I have to take THAT?” pile exciting again.) Mr. Yarnell breathes life into the stale, one dimensional idea of historical figures that previous instructors have beaten into my head. He tells stories that I had never heard before, and maybe soon I’ll post about them, because everyone I see day to day is tired of me rattling off about Colonial this and American Revolution that and the establishment of the Constitution. Heh.

I’m doing well in the class, too, and I know this sounds really self-serving, but I didn’t expect anything different. I’m a straight A student. Except for that ONE jackass who started his A’s at 91 instead of 90. Gah. But anyway. I’m thankful I was blessed with a mind that easily absorbs information and has no trouble with abstract concepts….but I do have to admit that the older I get, the less effective my ‘never crack a book’ skillz are. I do, indeed, have to study now, and I have to have a pretty quiet environment with little distraction to do schoolwork in. Still, a 97 A is something to be proud of, and I am.

The only thing is…I don’t have much free time. I don’t play on Twitter and Facebook as much anymore. I don’t even text or talk to or see my friends much, except for Greg and Chrissy and Trishia. (Since Brian’s truck is down at the moment with a wheel bearing that needs fixing, Greg is picking him up in the mornings and I am picking him up from their house after work and bringing him home.) I don’t see how I can develop and market the business idea I had been working on, so that just will have to wait until I have time, or can implement a routine that helps me eke out every last minute I can do something productive with. It’s still a new schedule for me, and since I’m taking summer classes, as soon as I am used to it, it will change.

But, really? I’m starting to think my family will be just fine, and that the job change is the best thing that could have happened for me. Things really do happen for a reason, and my reasons are starting to materialize. I’m so thankful.