Employed at Last

Back in July 2012 I announced on this blog that I finally got a job.  Hooray for me I get to make that announcement again!

I was hired back in June 2012 for one year to cover a maternity leave, and the mother decided to stay out an additional 6 months, which means I got to keep my job longer than originally planned.  All good things must come to an end, though, and at the end of 2013 I was out of a job after 18 straight months of income earning (as you no doubt have heard from my recent bitching).

Seven "short" weeks later I got an offer!  It's a wild story, I went from zero prospects to two job offers (and verbal acceptances) within two hours.  I interviewed quite a few times in my 7 weeks of unemployment, which leads me to believe I have an amazing resume but crappy interview skills.  It was a crazy twist because I didn't even apply/interview for the job I got.  They knew me from my previous job, knew I was looking, called me on Friday and asked if I could come in on Monday.

Um...yes.

So that's the story of my glorious re-employment!  I'm working at the same university, but in a completely separate department than I was before.  I had worked with my new team on a peripheral level, but not a ton.  I'm just so happy - and relieved - to be employed again.  This mean we can resume traveling, so stay tuned for some major (major) adventures!

It's good not to be poor anymore.

In honor of my grand ascent from poverty I'd like to show you around my campus.  It's a real purdy one, and I've gathered quite a few pictures on my phone over the last almost 2 years (time flies!) working there.

Jacaranda trees around the Great Lake

Wild trees outside my new office building

The Great Court

Buildings made of sandstone

Also a fixture on our campus: bush turkeys!

These poultry can be found aplenty 1) in the wilderness and 2) on campus.  I love following them around with my phone and taking pictures.  Add me to Snapchat and you'll see just how much!

You think I got this job looking like a hobo?  Here's a selfie I took before one of my myriad interviews:

I clean up real nice

And one I took at the welcome reception of a conference I presented at in November:

OMG booooooze

I was so proud of/pleased with my free champagne, which I drank with gusto all. night. long.  I always tell Martin there's a reason I work in education and not in big money industry or consulting.  If I had a steady supply of free booze there's very little chance I'd still be alive, and an even smaller chance I'd still be employed.  I love free hooch!  And rarely get it working in higher ed.

I commute to work by bus.  Two buses, actually, one to get through the city and another one to get out to campus.  It takes between 25 minutes (good day) to 45 minutes (bad day) and costs $37.26 per week.  

It's (usually) not so bad, but I love it when I find myself in the magical phenomenon I call limo bus!

Limo bus is when you find yourself the only person on the bus.  Hence the name, your bus has turned into a limo.  Awesome sauce!

I am not a collector of 'things'.  I move a lot, and don't take much stuff with me, so I like to keep my crap collection to a minimum.  That is, until I realized how freaking awesome novelty paperclips are!

Fact: I don't ever clean my work space

It started as just one, my very favorite one even to this day (the hanger on the far right).  Then it became two, then three, and soon my entire computer screen was lined with them.  Then people started grabbing them for me when they saw an interesting one. Then my sister in North Dakota found a good one and mailed it to me from around the freaking planet.

And then TLC contacted me about filming an episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive.

I kid, I kid.  But I do very much enjoy my new hobby and get unnecessarily excited when I stumble upon a new one.  This addiction is well suited to me, who pushes a lot of paper.  Along with the turkeys, paperclips are another Snapchat favorite of mine, so get on the Snapchat train with the cool kids and add me!

I swear I actually work at work, and not just Snapchat.  But there's a lot of Snapchatting, too.  I'm only human.

To wrap up this quasi-professional post, I would like to brag about the company I keep at work, namely the Ambassador of Portugal!

Our meeting was all official (name placards!) and brunch-y.  When did I get so old and, dare I say it, respectable?

After 7 weeks of not-that-(f)unemployment I'm just happy to have any job.  But to have a really fun, interesting job in a growth field, at a top university in an incredible location?  Well, it's safe to say that I'm the luckiest working girl in the world.

But not that kind of working girl!