Fortune 500: Monday's Disappointment

The first week at my dream job with one of the biggest Fortune 500 companies based in the frozen tundra was nothing if not an abject disappointment. The first day alone was ridiculous and warned me that this company would be on equal footing as the non-profit I slaved at for three years when it came to technology. The morning training session was punctuated with a series of technological failures, and each event was more baffling than the last.

Trainer 1 had a laptop that refused to turn on, and once that issue was solved she had to go back to her desk multiple times for print-offs and other materials. We spent the hour between the end of the training and lunch sitting at what would be our desks with no instructions or direction. I couldn't even try signing in to the systems because I had a computer tower with no monitors. I was forced to socialize with a fellow trainee out of sheer mind numbing boredom. I would have been better off keeping to myself and drafting blog posts in the notebook I had brought with me.

Fortune 500 Company

After a few months adrift I've got a contract position starting next week that has the potential to lead to bigger things.  It's with a Fortune 500 company that headquarters here in the frozen north and it's along the lines of my educational aspirations.  As of Monday I will be a Contract Accounts Payable peon for the next 9 months.  I'm not sure what to expect, but I certainly hope they have decent technology since it is such a huge company.  I refuse to weave my hopes and dreams around the possibility of a future with this conveniently located company that offers phenomenal benefits.  The future is now, and the only option it to keep moving forward.

I really needed some good new this week with Alberto's birthday coming up and Ashley's birthday following soon afterwards.  My love is going to be 28 this year, and our daughter will be 6 years old.  I have been feeling increasingly numb these past few weeks, which I have been attributing to the birthdays this month and the fact that our 7th wedding anniversary is in December.  I try to maintain my realistic, if not optimistic, outlook on life but it is becoming increasingly difficult as I get older.  I wonder when I will find my first gray hair.

The Death Knell of my Nonprofit Career

It’s not often that I am completely caught off guard, but this definitely took me by surprise.  It was a normal Thursday, a little chilly compared to the rest of the week, but still good bubble weather.  I stopped at Target on my way in (as I do about once a week) since my friend Bella was in dire need of caffeine, and since I needed snacks for my drawer it was no hardship.  I got my desk in order and promptly dove into the large stack of financial aid applications.  In retrospect there were a few things that should have tipped me off that something was not right.

I suppose I need to provide a little bit of background information.  I worked for a non-profit organization that works in conjunction with other organizations to strengthen and build communities.  Every employee and volunteer needs to pass a criminal background check since our organization works with children and potentially sensitive information.  My last few weeks have been occupied by processing mounds of financial aid application, and hundreds of product request forms.  I had been sending out emails by the hundreds, asking for additional information in order to process the applications, and I began getting responses in the beginning of June.

 

Hashtag Srsly Ppl

I am now officially a cranky old lady. I took Ashley to the doctor this morning because her face looked awful; she woke up in the morning with little red dots all over her face and a red patch around her eye. The doctor declared my baby was suffering from a bad eczema flare up with a dash of heat rash just to make things more interesting. By the way, if any divine entities read my blog, have pity on me and stop making my life more ‘interesting’. The Doctor prescribed a special antibiotic cream for the skin around Ashley’s eye, something that wouldn't hurt or cause damage to her eye, and then suggested I put her lotion on at every opportunity.

Since they were celebrating the August birthdays at school today, I made her go to school directly after the appointment. We got lucky and found her teacher right away since they were having a fun day outside with all sorts of fun activities. Ms. Johnson was in the classroom for a cool down after having taken a quick bathroom break. This is only significant for the fact that Ms. Johnson is now 7 months pregnant with twin girls and has all my sympathy. If I had the time, motivation, or even just my own place I would have thrown her a baby shower.

Hold your vote

I have had no less than two fights with my husband this week, about two completely different things. The first argument was after his visa appointment; when he went to the consulate they told him that he needed to pay for the appointment and bring all the appropriate documents with him. He accused me at the top of his lungs of not telling him to bring the documents I sent nor did I mention he would have to pay for the appointment. It says in the last six or seven messages I sent him before the interview that he needed to print all the attachments to bring with him and that the money was in the account to pay the $230 appointment fee. It was a pointless argument since he retrieved the paperwork and they allowed him to interview later that afternoon (thank God). Thankfully Alberto is not one to stay angry very long and Lord knows I can't stay made at him because he is, after all, just a man.

The second argument was in regards to our darling daughter Ashley. She was in class when she took a pair of scissors and began cutting her hair. Since to the best of my knowledge they do not cover hair-styling 101 in Kindergarten these days, she was caught and the teacher emailed me about the incident. There was a picture of the small pile of hair under a chair as well as a picture of Ashley herself with the most hangdog expression you could ever imagine. Since this was just an interesting point in a child's life, I posted the story on my Facebook page with the pictures her teacher had sent me.

More of the Same

I've really bad about keeping my blog up to date, which I'm sure by now many of you have noticed. I will, as I have in the past, create posts that cover events that have happened since the end of October. There just isn't a lot to write about during that period of time. Perhaps it would be easier if I committed to writing a minimum of a paragraph each week and posting that as I go, since it the length requirement in my head that keeps me from writing more often.

Since October, our I-130 was approved for the second time and was forwarded to the NVC for processing. I then sifted through 7399+ pages of documents to find names, addresses, and phone number for each employer my husband had since he arrived in the United States. We can all be thankful to my packrat tendencies which have saved us several times in the last 6 years. The down side is that this does make my room a veritable mess at the best of time since I am in a perpetual state of cleaning and organization - which I never manage to finish because God forbid people leave me alone for a solid hour at a time.