Tag Archives: job

Two Years

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Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. 
~Carl Sandburg

Earlier this month, I celebrated two years here in the Pacific Northwest. It’s been a tumultuous two years full of ups and downs.

For the majority of the two years (let’s be honest, all but 15 weeks because I got a job but was laid off just 15 weeks later), I’ve been unemployed. I mean, I’ve always had the Navy Reserves and have done stints of active duty there (and am just finishing up three months of active duty), but for the most part, I’ve been unemployed.

But two weeks from today, I’m starting a new job. I’m going to be working as a Navy civilian on the local base. It’s a dream job. It’s also a two-year “term” job… which means it’s only around for two years.  But who knows what will happen. In that time, it could be extended or it might stay two years.

Two years.

Wow. A lot can sure happen in two years. I wonder what I’ll be doing/where I’ll be in two years.

What do you think will be happening in your life?

Hope? Maybe?

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All it takes is one bloom of hope to make a spiritual garden.
~Terri Guillemets

So. I got an email today from the insurance company that is going to be doing our home insurance. It contained a brief “here are the documents you asked for” sentence and the attachments. I opened them and they contained a receipt of homeowner’s insurance and laid out everything that was included in it… and had a closing date of 4APR.

Now, that was news to me, so I called the agency and asked. He said he accidentally sent it to me instead of to the mortgage lender and that they had requested it. I asked him if he knew if this was the closing date. He said, “Well, that’s what they asked for, but you probably know more than me” to which I replied, “Apparently you know WAY more than I do.”

So I called the lender, but it was 5:30pm and our account person wasn’t there. However, the manager of the place was and so I asked him if they had heard back from the underwriters after our re-submission to hopefully fulfill all their conditions. He said he hadn’t seen anything however, he had heard that it was approved completely and they had accepted the responses to the conditions. But he didn’t know for sure and gave me our person’s cell number. Of course… she still hasn’t called back and now it’s after 7pm.

So maybe?

In other news, I got an email today about the base job I wanted. It stated:

“Dear Applicant,

Congratulations.  You have been identified amongst the “best qualified” applicants for a vacancy at XXXXX.  Your resume on file with Department of the Navy has been forwarded for selection consideration for the position of XXX…”

Um. Hello hope! And prayer! And nerves! And excitement!

This job would pay about twice as much as what I’ve ever made before. But it’s more than that.

Three years ago when we realized we were going to be homeported here, I said to myself, “Self (’cause that’s what I call me), you should work at the base. I mean, that’s what you’ve been doing all your adult life and that’s what you are doing in the reserves. It’s a government job and it would help your Navy Reserve career. But most of all, it would be fun, exciting and you wouldn’t have to make that 3+ hour roundtrip commute to Seattle.”

I found out last October that this job was going to be opening at SOME point. I was told this by someone on the inside. And then I went to a job fair and met the HR person. She was surprised I knew because it wasn’t announced yet. She told me she’d forward my resume to the hiring person.

Then, I ended up emailing said hiring person several times when I was working in my reserve capacity doing something for the NOSC.

Then, last week, I volunteered to help the USO out with all the families evacuating from Japan and coming in via the Seattle airport. While I was there, through a conversation, I mentioned to the lead volunteer that I was in the Reserves and mentioned what I did in it. She said, oh, then you’d want to meet XX. It was the hiring person/supervisor of the position. I told her I’d *love* to meet him because I had applied for a job with him.

So I met him. Of course, being pro-active, I mentioned to him that I had applied for the job.  And we had a fantastic conversation. Including my work in the Reserves.  And I’m excited because I think he’d be an AWESOME person to work for and with. Awesome.

After our conversation, he said he’d be looking for my resume.

And here I am, a week later, getting this email.

Could it be? Dare I hope? Is our three years of boot-crushing bad luck and crappy situations possibly turning around? In the next few months, might I find myself living in a house WE OWN and having a job that I LOVE that pays an awesome wage? (awesome enough to pay off all but our soon-to-be mortgage and maybe Huzzy’s truck)?

I’m hoping. And hope springs eternal, right?
(speaking of Spring… where is that little witch? She needs to make an appearance)

Welcome back to me

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Madness takes its toll.  Please have exact change.
~Author Unknown

Well, I’m back from my week of active duty in Rhode Island (more on that in another post).  Coming into work today I have come to realize that the person who will eventually be taking over for me has already done just that… taken over.  She’s even taken charge of the duties and responsibilities that I was supposed to be doing. And not just while I was gone… noooo, she’s done several things this morning that I should have been doing.

So yeah, I’m here at work with absolutely nothing to do. Because she’s “handling it.”  I asked our boss what she would like me to do/things to do/things that happened last week while I was gone. The response? Nothing, it was a quiet week.

Makes me wonder what happened while I was gone, what meetings may have gone on. And if they will honor their promise to keep me until I move. I’m thinking with next year’s budget in the works, they’ll probably need to save my salary. And eliminate my position. I have a feeling it’ll be soon.

I do have one job prospect, so please pray or think good thoughts for me for it. God I need it.  I need to get out of here. I need to be there when my husband returns from deployment. I just need to start my new life and stop being in limbo.

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