Waiting For The Phone To Ring...

Me at 7:30 yesterday morning -- very early.

  

So I've mentioned a few times that I was unemployed for most of the fall. I have also mentioned that I started work this week. So here is the whole story (mostly)...

There were rumblings that changes were afoot with my old job but those changes weren't confirmed until mid-July. And the rumblings started last November so there was a very long period of unknown. So last winter I started casually looking around for other job opportunities. I found one I was quite excited about but it was an "ongoing" posting so it just sat open in my web browser for months.

Once my job was finished at the end of August, I got my act together, submitted my resume for this "ongoing" posting, crossed my fingers (and toes), prayed, and waited... and waited... and waited. And waited until the end of September when I found out I had been offered an interview. Then I waited... and waited... and waited some more until I found out I had made it to the testing phase.

The day I took the test (basic office skills), I found out immediately that I had passed. This was in early November. Then I had to wait (and wait and wait) until earlier this week when I had training and orientation.

My job is basically like being a substitute teacher but for secretaries and (eventually) library clerks at schools throughout our area. I can work in any school in our school board from elementary to high school. Yikes. So I wait by the phone, I check the online postings, and I go where they send me.

Since I make "First Day of School" signs for my kids, 

they decided I needed a "First Day" sign too!

 

I finished my orientation and training on Tuesday at 4. I got home at 4:30 and by 4:40, I had received my first call to go out to a school for all day yesterday. I'm sure the principal was thrilled to find out how green I was. Ha!

I felt like it all went fairly well though. The principal said they'd be happy for me to work at their school again and that felt HUGE. (I didn't ask, they offered that comment.) And I'm off to a different school this morning.

Next week I am excited that I will get to take the library clerk training and then I can work in the libraries as well. Eventually I hope I can get a permanent position in a school but for now I just want to work in as many different situations (offices/libraries/elementary schools/high schools) as I can.

I'm so happy that Sam and Rachel are excited for (and with) me, that Dave is able to take on the morning before school routines, and that we have an awesome babysitter who is willing to be on call to hang out Sam and Rachel after school. I really couldn't do this without my village.

So if you're looking for me, I'll just be over here, waiting for the phone to ring... Or you know, trying to figure out how to buzz people into the school and make phone calls. They didn't cover either of those in the training. Ha!