new directions

"The quality of life is determined by its activities." ~Aristotle

It is verbally official, only waiting for the letter to confirm the offer- I have new employment starting on November 6. That leaves me three weeks to help find and train someone to take my place. The wonderful little non-profit with the best boss in the world, cannot match the the offer which is more generous than I expected (though I didn't negotiate and might have gotten more). My new employer is a state agency and I will become a member of CSEA as it is a closed shop.

I interviewed for the last time about a week ago with the director of consumer services- being met and escorted (enthusiastically) by the man who will be my new supervisor (part of the group who interviewed me previously) and who called me to come back to sign and fill out an authorization for a background check, after I was on my way home. At that time, he convinced me that I was his choice and did everything but confirm I had the job. Yesterday, he called within minutes of my receiving a voice mail message to call the woman at human resources (and before I had a chance to call her and hear they were offering me the job!). He was placing an order and wanted to know what kind of calendar I wanted for next year (weekly, monthly, etc). It's nice to be wanted. It does some good things for self esteem- maybe even especially at my age.

But I feel a bit like a traitor- no, worse than a traitor, since I am leaving for money. The non-profit I work for is a wonderful group of people doing amazing work with small budgets in large part determined by the state agency that I will start work for in November.

When I arrived as an older student looking for an internship almost three years ago, I knew right away their attitude and perspective were a fit with mine. They care about nuturing both employees and clients. Everyone has something to contribute to this journey. I will miss working directly with all of them, employees, bosses and clients.

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