The next chapter

I am super tired after my first full workweek since just before my kid was born. (Actually, I think I had a five-day sub stint last year, but this is different.)

So how did it go? I think pretty well. :-)

Here are some random observations before I head to bed:

• The work is pretty interesting overall. The teacher in me is fascinated and challenged by the units/lessons I am reviewing, and the editor/proofreader in me is full speed ahead finding typos, wording issues, and layout inconsistencies.
• I am happy to say that one of the woman I have been working with told me she was really impressed with all the things I questioned/found. It is nice to be complimented during the first couple of days.
• The people are really nice and friendly. I have not detected any egos, just people who work together and want to help one another (and me). As I was sitting with my coworkers at lunch today, I mostly felt as if I had worked there for a long time. (I also discovered I do not care much for pan-fried noodles.)
• It is great not having to track the details of my time. At the job where I spent 13 years, we had to log all of our activities because that is how we billed clients. I was constantly writing down what I was doing or electronically updating the time-card records with all my tasks (and because I am so detail-oriented, I wrote a lot of crap). At this job at the end of the week, I pretty much just review my already-populated five days of 7.5 hours each and hit approve/submit.
• Parking is super $$$ and not easy to come by. The garage attached to my building is $14 a day and is often full, so the first four days I parked at a garage that is a brisk five-minute (eight or nine minutes for most people) walk away for $12 a day. Today I found a lot that costs only $7 a day (cash only, bummer) and involves a 10-minute walk one way going at a quick pace. Included in that walk are over 200 steps (on the way to the office the steps are mostly down). It will be nice to get in some daily cardio (at least it will be until the temps go past 80!). Unfortunately, any day I have to pick J up I won't be able to park there; I would never make it to her after-school care by 6 p.m., thanks to where the lot is, combined with all the lovely traffic during my commute home.
• In some ways, it feels as if I have been working awhile. It was not as big of an adjustment as I thought it would be (the first week, anyway; I realize I have a long way to go). My kid has done just fine at after-school care. The hubby has picked her up most days, and her homework has been completed, her piano practiced, and her lunch made before I even get home. How great is that (great, trust me)?! It is weird to do laundry at night and to have to run my errands, including grocery shopping, on the weekends. I am pretty sure I am going to hate that.
• But it will be nice to finally get a steady/regular paycheck and have paid time off, including vacation, sick, and personal days as well as holidays. (Did I mention we get the week between Christmas and New Year's off?! Totally awesome for parents with school-aged kids.) Keeping those future days off in mind is helping me get through the "I-miss-my-kid-and-want-to-be-with-her" angst. Then again, her going-on-13 attitude is also helping to ease the separation...

I don't know how all of this will turn out, and that is okay. But right now I feel pretty good about the situation, and I think I could be at this job for awhile. Truly the support I have received here from my great blogger friends, from people on Facebook, and from family and friends in real life is a big part of my positive attitude.

You might be surprised how far words of encouragement can go. I, however, am not. :-)