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i gave my notice at work today.

this probably comes to a shock to most that know me there.  i’m not a big fan of major life changes.  i’ve been there for seven years… literally since i was in high school.  i’m always up beat and am heavily involved in many company activities.  the people i work with are like family and i am the typical “happy camper.”

about a month ago, though, i was contacted by a former colleague.  he used to be in my group but moved on a couple of years ago.  he wanted to go out to lunch, and so, i met him. he offered me an opportunity to help him grow environmental work in texas.  at first, the thought of leaving my current job was terrifying and seemed implausible.  but there have been some things lately that made me question how much i would progress in my group due some dynamics.  i checked out the offer and visited the office of the new company.  to be honest, i went thinking that i would probably just  not envision myself there and that it would be an easy decision to say no.  the experience was completely the opposite, though.  the people i met were great and energetic.  my former colleague had a very clear vision for me and i was excited about the growth that i would have there.  despite this, i turned down the first offer this company made (which was a good offer).  after i turned down the offer, i felt sick.  and then i realized that i wanted to go.  they came back with an attention-getting compensation package, and i have accepted.  telling my boss today was one of the hardest conversations i’ve had.  the people i work with are friends and have been like family to me.  it’ll break my heart to not have daily interaction with a lot of them, but i know it’s for the better.  people close to me have known some of my frustrations and i have received support from unlikely sources.  to be honest, though, i’m a little scared about this drastic change and i hope i’ve done the right thing.  (i had a couple of “oh my gosh, what did i just do?!?” moments today)  but i’m excited … i think it’ll be a good shift for me.  the pace will be different, and i’m going to have to learn a lot of things quickly, and that’s fine.  this job is going to open up a lot of doors for me and will dramatically change my quality of life.  today was stressful - i’ll probably be spreading the word of my departure to fellow coworkers tomorrow now that the initial dust has settled.  my last day is on the 18th.
the decision to jump ship has caused me to not get good rest for a while now, so i’m looking forward to some deep sleep tonight.

other than that, not much is going on.  i still have not regained my voice, but it’s getting a lot better.  jeromy and i have just been hanging out most nights doing a lot of talking.  a lot of it lately has had to do with my career decision, but we’ve also been looking at our future plans together, which has been nice.  i truly feel fortunate every day that i get to be around the guy - and for some reason, the thrill of that feeling hasn’t faded in the least.  i have never loved or have been loved in this way.  and i think we’re both starting to look at what it’s gonna take to move it to the next level.

i went over to mom’s for dinner last night.  i don’t go over there as much as i would like.  i really love my family and i enjoyed hanging out with them yesterday.  my brother changed his major to horticulture, so i hope he likes that.  mother’s day is coming up and i need to think of something neat to get mom.  susan will be having her baby in about three weeks… i am way excited for her and jeff.  so fun.

i’m addicted to those oh-so-delicious peanut butter cups.  i wonder if they have a support group for that…