The new kid on the familar block.

Well, I made it.

My first day at my new job…8 1/2 years in the making.

And I loved it.

Even though I have no idea where the bathroom is (and barely know where my cube is!).

Even though I only know a handful of names (partially because I used to work with them when this company was a client at my old job!).

And even though I know there’s a lot of learning ahead.

I feel that passion and inspiration coming back. The fire for what I do slowly starting to rise again. That passion I lost a few years ago when my job stagnated (like whoa) and thus, I stagnated.

What’s really great about this job, as I have mentioned before, is that while it’s a new position (basically opposite of my old position, if that makes any sense), it’s at a company I have worked with before for years, and know their business well, which helps so so much.

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I was nervous when I woke up today, and powered through a half-successful interval run on the dreadmill, and had to remind myself about 10 times that “I got this” and ‘it’s in the bag, baby!” (thanks IntrigueMe!) as I walked in, but everyone was so welcoming, so nice, and I just WANTED to be myself, be cheerful, be confident.

And I know that while the block is familiar, this is my role to make, and I am the creator of my own (career) destiny. That scares me, but in a good way (cue that “be uncomfortable” resolution here!) as it will stretch me, help me grow and learn that making mistakes are sometimes part of the process.

I also know that this will most definitely shake up my routine (more on that in a future post), especially when I’m traveling and have to adjust to a different workout schedule, a different meal schedule and meals generally (my hotel doesn’t have a fridge, unfortunately, as I thought it did, where I could buy some yogurt and stuff to keep here) so I will need to be careful with my food choices etc. But all those things are minor in the grand scheme of it all…I’ll cope, and love every minute of this gorgeous city.

And, it was 65 today. 65! (70 by Thursday!)

It won’t hit that at home until late April or early May. I think I can get used to this (no jacket, no sweaters, no gloves! Sun! Palm trees! Green grass and flowers! I never realized how much I crave fresh air in the winter until today. CRAVE it.)

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Beyond today going smoothly, it was also a comedy of errors, in getting here, and tonight. For your reading pleasure, in bulleted format for easier reading 😉

• My flight from Boston? Yea, it got completely rebooked as my original 12:15 flight got canceled. So, rather than a layover through Atlanta, I had a layover through Minneapolis (which I was trying to avoid – helllo snow!) and had to sit in the airport for 3 hours waiting for my flight.
• I didn’t bring my laptop as I didn’t want to lug two home. So that three hours in the airport? Um, boring. Tried reading some blogs on my Blackbery which wasn’t overly easy. AND both of my flights had wi-fi…what a tease, when you actually have in-flight wi-fi, you don’t have a laptop? fail.
• I borrowed my mom’s Kindle to read on the plane. And um, the battery was dead (despite my charging it two days prior!). And I had just *one* magazine. For the entire trip. And no TVs or movies on either flight. Fail. Fail. Fail.
• As anticipated – snow in Minneapolis. Flight in took longer as we got re-routed. Thus, I had to make a mad dash to my connection, half-sprinting, and thus, no time to grab food for dinner. Fail. Fail. Made even worse by the fact that we sat on the tarmac for an HOUR waiting for de-icing. One more fail for good measure. Got into Costa Mesa and my hotel at 9 pm PT. Tired face.
• My only fail for tonight? Grabbed a shrimp stir fry take-out for dinner (trying to have something somewhat healthy, right?) and somehow dropped the fork on the way in. So, rather than try to find one downstairs in the lobby? I used my knife. On a stir fry. Yup. Desperate measures my friends. I was hungry, what can I say? Felt like 9 pm at night and a girl’s gotta eat 😉

So, there you have it. My random musings on my first day, my comedy of errors getting here and my delirium over how frickin nice out here it is. A girl could get used to this. Just sayin.

More tomorrow, friends!