Tuesday, November 24, 2009 <--Great Day

It is fairly obvious to all of you that Michael and I have found 2009 to be the year of surprises. And it seemed fairly obvious to us that these surprises hit in multiples. When we were down, the mean kid kicked us again. When we were up... well you get the point.

I am so, so excited to tell you about our latest "ups." :) With Thanksgiving one day away, it could not have come at a better time.

Yesterday I accepted a new job! I've been in a pretty extensive interview process (e.g., two 2-hour interviews and 4 tests) for the last few weeks and found out the news yesterday afternoon on my break. I wish I could tell you about the position but it's pretty foreign to me so explaining it might make you wonder how the heck I even got the job. Karen works at this company, mentioned the job to me and it sounded perfect for my analytical self. I start December 9 and could not be more excited.

With that in mind, I'm sad to be leaving Nordstrom. It's been a great experience and so valuable. I am a big believer that everyone should work in the service industry at least once in their life. It is a definite eye-opener and gives you a healthy dose of the golden rule. I was a waitress at several restaurants in high school/college and was confident I'd learned my lesson. Who knew that working in retail would be such a vivid reminder to the young waitress who thought she knew it all. I've already had my Nordstrom plea post so I won't do it again, but please remember to be friendly when you're out shopping, especially over the next few weeks when things are crazy. You're not the only one stressing out, the person behind the counter or serving your meal has their own stresses and worries this holiday season. Remember that. And throwing out a "Merry Christmas" wouldn't hurt much either. :)

And I'm off my soap box.

As I mentioned earlier, I said our "up" news typically comes in multiples, and if you've been reading closely you'll notice I've only mentioned one. Yesterday I had lunch with Michael and he told me he'd received a very nice promotion at work. I am so proud of him. Working at a start-up company is very scary--you don't know one day to the next the fate of your company. He has worked so hard since he started in April and I know this promotion is well-deserved.

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you. Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement for the both of us over the past eight months. I realize what goes up must come down but I think I'm going to hang out here in the clouds for a bit. It's been awhile and I love the fresh air.