Starting over (happily)

It was the phone call I had been waiting to hear for the past 26 months.

"You start Monday at 8:30 a.m," the voice said. "Minnesota Department of Education in Roseville. You need directions?"

I told the voice I would happily look up how to get there. Turns out to be about 10 minutes from the house.

Since October 2008, I have been semi-employed. I made phone calls. I sent emails. I sent letters. I sent resumes. I sent updated resumes. Sometimes you got a form email saying they had received your stuff and was reviewing it. Many times, I simply never heard from the company. I would call and sometimes get a real person to tell me they had my information. Much of the time, however, the best I could do was leave a message that would never get returned.

I had come close a few times to getting back to fulltime work -- been a finalist at least twice that I knew of. But something always seem to happen.

I would get a phone call, a letter or an email saying somebody else had the job. Sometimes I got a reason. Most of the time I did not. Didn't matter, though. The result was the same as when nobody called at all.

I understood this wasn't personal. I understood why someone with less experience would get hired for a job. I would listen to the great thinkers and talkers of our time opine that anybody who really wants a job can get one. The people saying this were usually folks with nice, comfy gigs already. They hadn't sent out the letters I (and many others) had sent. They may even believed what they were saying.

I worked at staying positive. (Most days, I was.) I worked at being creative. I worked at part-time gigs. I prayed. I asked friends and family to keep an eye out for me and let me know of any openings they heard of. To the many people who did just that, I say "Thank You" for your kindness and patience with me.

I was told early last week the MDE was getting ready to hire for an open position and that I had a real good shot at it. For two days after, I stared at the phone every time it rang. On Thursday, the call finally came. I felt like someone who just snagged a prom date with their dream queen (or king).

Now comes the hard part. When you have been off for 2+ years, you eventually lose an edge. Your skills get a little rusty. Oh, I have done plenty of writing. I think I know what they need and feel confident I can provide it for them. But it will require getting back on the horse. It will require getting used to the routine of getting up early, cleaning up and getting into the office by 8:30 a.m. five days a week. It will require discipline, getting to know new people and a new job.

That is all easier said than done. Bad habits are easy to make. They are also hard to break.

There is one last thing: I am thrilled (and grateful) beyond words to be back working again. Some people I don't really know that well are putting a lot of trust in me. I am flattered by that and anxious to prove them right. The new job starts in 9 1/4 hours. So now I need to get some restful sleep.

I hope I remember how to do that.