The Beginning.....

I have to admit to nerves on my first day, more so than on the day of my interviews, I guess walking into an open plan office made me feel rather dizzy. I only had to be at work at 10 on my first day so it was a rather leisurely morning of getting ready, checking email, skyping the sister, and eating breakfast.
When I arrived my boss came through to meet me and he took me to a meeting room where he ran through the floor plan and we had a chat and then I got shown my desk, met my team and got to see The Boss in action for a while before being whisked off by H.R to run through contracts etcetera. After that i was met by a lovely lady who walked me around the building showing me the showers, kitchen, fire exits, fire assembly points and all that jazz. The most interesting part of my tour was the fact that every Wednesday a massage guru comes into the office and we get a 20 minute pure bliss session of 20 minutes for a FIVER! I like it. On a Monday we get a delivery of pastries, fruit and yogurts to get us off to a flying week, this is SO much better than housework!
The best news I got today is that my recruitment agent was WRONG...I do NOT need a corporate wardrobe! A pair of trousers or a skirt, a nice jersey/sweater/jumper or shirt are good enough - I am over the moon, it was great walking around seeing people and realising that a suit is definitely not a requirement.
Next up was a delicious lunch on the company account with the boss and one of the other team leaders, in fact he was one of the guys who interviewed me first, and after that a cappuccino at a nearby pub...what a great start to my new experience!
Back to work where I was buddied up with Rob who started my training and a bit of chatting amongst my team ensued, a great bunch of people it has to be said.
Th office is absolutely open plan, not even the directors have their own offices which is actually pretty cool, and not something I am used to.
After work I got the kids and we headed to Dundrum where I snapped up 2 pairs of pants a REALLY cool jacket and a couple of shirts from my fave shop - Esprit. After that the kids and I wound our way to Mao for a divine dinner...Chicken Lemongrass salad for me, yellow veg curry for Kirstin and Chicken yellow curry for Jess. Now I am home in my pj's about to sit down and enjoy a movie with my girls...bliss

My days are numbered

And the number is ONE. Yes this really is my last day as lady of leisure, tomorrow I am going to help out for the last time at the shop and Friday is D Day (Divine Day - okay?). Today is going to be great, I am off to Dublin now to meet Debz, she is taking me shopping...to a couple of her favourite places and then lunch somewhere...ahh the end of an era!
Tomorrow I work and then I am having my hair cut, after that I guess it will all be after hours and weekends so best I enjoy it one more time.
I am looking forward to all the new challenges, and changes are supposed to be as good as a holiday...are they not???
David, my new boss to be even called me yesterday afternoon to congratulate me and let me know that he was looking forward to seeing me on Friday - I was pleased that he called, looks like I have a decent boss which makes all the difference...let's hope I don't have to retract that statement at a later date!!!
Perhaps it is time I got myself a diary, the dates and plans for next week or swirling around in my head...wow I am a busy girl.
Oh and one more thing....I was just thinking that it would be nice to get some ideas for Friday songs, some days I am stumped and spend ages in front of You Tube...so any suggestions will be seriously considered...and appreciated! Email is probably best and most of you have my address, if not there is one on my blog profile!

Working Girl

I am a saint not a sinner...
The news you have all been waiting for...as suspected I have NO criminal record, no bad debt, no bankruptcy hidden in a closet somewhere and so I begin the Nine to Five on Friday! Yep plans of going away for the weekend (seriously was contemplating a last minute flight out of Dublin tomorrow) are shelved and I get to meet all my fellow colleagues on Friday Hoooooo Boy! A new chapter of my life begins...

The Interview dossier

The suit looks good, or so I have been told by good meaning friends and family. I felt a bit bizarre though, like I was in someone else's skin, especially in the heels! Although most people would not even describe my shoes as heels...but for me that is exactly what they were...Jess and Kirstin took pictures...shall I upload one...hmmmm.
I left home at 10:00 -I knew it would be a longer than usual walk in the new footwear and it was! Worst of all as I started crossing the Dundrum bridge I saw the luas lights in the distance and knew that IF I ran I would make it...in my runners! I decided to give it a go anyway and so a suit clad figure was seen running in a very funny fashion across the bridge at around 10h20 this morning...and I am proud to say I did not trip, did not twist my ankle, did not lose a shoe AND managed to get on the luas - things were certainly going my way!
The interview went well...I think. I found it difficult to answer some of the questions because I had not found myself in some of the situations they asked about but I did my best. The role play....I was given 10 minutes to study a case scenario and then i was to have a call with furious customer - so...we start and i begin by apologising and all that and then ask what the query is....I got told that he had applied for finance which was approved on the 2nd and today was the 8th and the money was still not in his account...I asked him a couple of security questions looked up his account and lookie lookie...I told him his money had been deposited and was available..it was kinda funny and luckily they had a sense of humour about it, I did offer to continue with the call and change my answer but they saw the funny side of it and my "customer" was so flabbergasted he did not know where to go from there! So...not sure if i blew it or made it but only time will tell I guess, if anything I gained a lot of interview experience, the company seems great and the guys who interviewed me were friendly and interesting so all in all it was a good day out! They were chatting to me afterwards and asked if it was all that bad...I told them the worst part of the day had been walking to the luas in a pair of heels...walking back was WORSE and my new tights got a good testing on their ladder resistance because when I was on a nice quiet road, around the corner from home I carried the shoes and happily walked the rest of the way home barefoot and pain free.

The morning after the day before...

Yesterday I used the power of positive thinking and wore a skirt and a t-shirt to work. I have learned a couple of valuable lessons though so I did wear my runners/takkies for the walking part of my trip -Dublin streets and slip slops are not a good combination...and of course I packed an umbrella AND took my rain coat. I considered driving but I love the walk, the exercise is great and Dublin traffic is an absolute nightmare especially when the weather is bad, lots of people who would normally walk take their cars!
Of course because I was so prepared for the rain hardly a drop fell from the sky which made walking all the more pleasant.
The shop was very busy which I really enjoy and I spent a lot of time stocking shelves and helping customers, so busy I forgot to do my countdown...oops! 4 DAYS TO GO
... and my power of positive thinking DID work because it did not rain and it was a warm day!!!

Rose was having her work farewell at 51 in Baggott Street and she had invited a few of her non-work friends so Carla and I went to help celebrate new beginnings with her. After a visit to Eddie Rocketts (never thought I would actually end up there after midnight!!) we all caught a cab home and I was sensibly in bed by about 2...I think! Malcolm came crawling in from a farewell that someone had at his work a little after 3...and he has to play cricket today, should be FUN...for now we let him rest!!!

Caught in the rain...

I worked today, I only work once a week at the moment, long story but basically one of the other girls was desperate for more hours as she needs extra money and seems as I am off to Holland and France AND the kids are on holiday I figured she could have my shifts. I worked 10 -14 today and then could not leave...the rain had me trapped. I ended up spending an extra happy hour with Debbi waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't. It slowed down to a drizzle and I decided that at least I would not be soaked through and spent the next 10 minutes making my way to the luas trying to avoid getting rain in my eyes!
I should have just caught the bus as it drops me off at the top of my road but opted for the luas which meant a 15 minute walk through rain yet again. I guess after a year in Dublin I should always carry around an umbrella or a rain coat. Oh well.

The beginning of a smashing weekend...

Fabulous. The weather, the company, the surprise, the weekend all of it. Fabulous. Friday started out a bit miserable but by dinner time we knew we had to braai so I ran out to get meat at Supervalu. Ooh, ooh, ooh... when we got out of the shop there were 3 Garda cars and people milling about, sadly we had missed all the action while merrily shopping. The next day we heard that there had been a fight between 2 gangs in the car park! Not sure if that is the real story, will find out from our neighbors once they get the scoop!!!
So....the braai was great, Malcolm did an awesome job and we ate chicken kebabs, ribs AND steak, blew the budget but a BRAAI with GOOD weather people!!!! Have to grab oppurtunities like that whenever we can! Saturday the forecaster had promised rain, intermittent showers, so the chance of good spells (He he listen to the weather girl in me) and we had another awesome day, it started out looking rather threatening but by the time I got in my car and drove to Naas it was gorgeous! Naas, what can I say about Naas? What a pretty little town!!!! I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately I did not get to explore, I was fixing a WHOOPS I made at work and had business to attend to!!! Divine intervention is what it was. I ended up sitting around the kitchen table at L and G's for at least an hour and a half having the most excellent chat. We all decided that a dinner or a braai is definitely on the cards, all because I forgot to send off a delivery on a specific date!!! When I got home the kids had vacuumed, dusted AND mopped the entire downstairs AND had gone off to the little local hardware store and bought me little pots of mini pansies for outside the front door!!!! Not only that, Jessica had also made us a full on breakfast that morning, what on earth did the kids want? Nothing, absolutely nothing - I am one lucky parent, Malcolm is the other one! There is so much more news, but if I give it to you all in one go it will be too much reading so ........ LATER dudes!!!

Awakening

So I got myself a wee little job. No exaggeration there, I will be working from 10 – 2 every Thursday. The money is mediocre but the craic is excellent. I get to play shop keeper, shop keeper. I remember my sister and I saving (recycling) all the old biscuit boxes, washed out tins, shampoo bottles etcetera and setting up shop in the outside room when we were kids, now I get to do it for real.
I am still looking for something more permanent, or even a few other temporary positions but perhaps the flitting about from job to job has not impressed the powers that be very much. In my defence, I have always put being with my kids above work and therefore mostly chose 6 month contract positions, or half day stints. The array of what I have done also may boggle the mind, jack of all trades, master of none is me. I have said before I am a quick learner, and I think I proved it yesterday. I have never worked on a till, okay granted, it is not too difficult, but there are codes and categories that have to be used for different things. I went in for a training session, 10 -2 , dipping my toes in, testing the waters. Only to dive in head first when I discovered that my new boss had terrible tooth ache and had to go to the dentist. Before I could stop myself I had offered to work a full day, which meant cashing up, balancing and locking up shop. The pain must have been severe because I was sent off to get an extra set of keys cut for the shop when I went out to grab a sandwich.
So, day one…deep end, best way to learn how to swim. I think I did bloody well, closed shop at 18h00 and balanced the cash by 18h15, wunderkind me! Of course I had to get out the banking from the day before to see how it was done but it was all pretty straight forward and having dealt with till slips from 4 barmen 3 times a week, at my last job (a year ago), has made me a bit of an old hand.
It is a great way to get me out of the house, the money really is negligible considering I am paid by the hour, but at least I am doing something different!
Walking through Dublin yesterday morning with the sun shining and people all busily on their way to do ‘stuff’ was awesome and then after closing up I walked back through Temple Bar and past lots of restaurants with twinkling candles and happy couples, drooled over a board of breads and antipastos’ at a great looking Italian place and decided that I do need more of this in my life. Hopefully this is the kick up the proverbial….that I have been waiting for, life is passing me by as I sit at home in my pyjamas!