Currently: Winter 2021/2022

 

❅Well, hello everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Easter! This year is possibly the first time I haven't made any holiday posts! Anyways, I've been MIA from my blog for awhile and even though I had several posts planned for April, the absence from my blog has been a good thing. There have been some great changes in my life, especially in my work. 

To put it simply I finally left my job...sort of...

❅My last currently post wasn't exactly the most cheerful and uplifting and things went from bad to worse starting after Christmas. For Christmas vacation my family went down to the OBX and had the most wonderful time. It was beautiful and calming and so very relaxing! I could have stayed for another week or so. However, all good things come to an end and unfortunately I had to go back to work. Due to a co-worker's home emergency I had to be put back onto the opening shift for a couple of days during the next several weeks. That in itself wasn't terrible and it was nice having a the whole day to myself afterwards. This co-worker is seriously one of the best people I've ever worked with and so I didn't mind opening for a few days.

❅Yet, things really got terrible when in mid-January I finally had a falling out with a co-worker who was determined to get me into trouble; and let me tell you it was bad. Thankfully, it was taken care and she quit her job before she faced termination from her position. There was another co-worker that was refusing to talk or even acknowledge me for a mistake I made back in December and yet another co-worker who seemed to take it upon himself to dictate to me how I should behave in my job. 

❅The stress from my co-workers, the changing schedules and a new boss that was still unfamiliar to how we do things, made my performance at work so terrible that people were complaining about me nonstop. The problem was my boss never made me aware of these complaints until I was in so much trouble that I was one step away from getting fired. 

❅So, I really had to think hard about how far my depression had fallen and needed to climb out before I lost my job (not like my job was worth staying in at this point). While my co-workers and my new boss were a primary issue, another problem was that I am an intense rule keeper and I would get frustrated if the rules were being followed, no matter how hard I tried to enforce them. I started easing up on the rules every now and then and realized that bending the rules ever so slightly really made a huge difference. The co-worker who was giving me the silent treatment suddenly decided we were friends again and behaved as if nothing had ever happened. The last co-worker...you know, I'm not going to pollute my site with his toxicity. Safe to say he's out of my life.

❅This was January and February, March and the start of Spring was when things changed for good and really quite by accident. There was another gym that needed people to work there temporarily until they could replace the people that left. Unfortunately for me, that gym is all the way in Chesapeake and it's a 38 min. commute. My first trip there was a disaster, but my first day there was surprisingly relaxing. I liked the atmosphere, the people and the new co-workers. 

❅Soon, I began looking forward to going to Chesapeake, regardless of how far away it was. After two weeks I knew I wanted to stay in Chesapeake. I texted my boss about it, with a great deal of fear because I thought she would say no, and much to my delight she said yes, even adding that I was thriving there! Now I work permanently in Chesapeake and I couldn't be happier. I am much happier going to a new place and getting acquainted with new people. I've talked about my loneliness issues at my work, but now in this new job I can go into it without the delusional belief of gaining relationships. It's a hard thing to say, but it's also freeing too. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won't but at least I'm at my job to work as my main focus. 

❅That was a lot, but safe to say I am doing better both mentally and physically than I was back in December. Before it got better it had to get worse, but now I am so thankful for how far I've come. I definitely learned a lot about people in my last position and hopefully I'll refrain from making the same mistakes. Also the people at my new job are closer to my age as well so I don't feel like I'm working among a bunch of children and young adults. It's relieving to finally have adult conversations and also be around veteran co-workers who have been teaching me so much. I haven't reached my pique in work and I still have so much to learn and work toward.

❅January and February weren't entirely terrible though. At the beginning of the year, I finally caved and bought a new car! I had been putting it off for ages, but I got a little Honda Accord even though it cut my back account in half. The car has been worth every single cent too! I love it! After years of driving the family mini-van it was about time I got a vehicle geared toward a single, working woman. 

❅My therapy which started in December is going very well. My therapist is fantastic and we've manage to talk about some really serious issues that stem all the way from my childhood. I'm not sure how long I'm going to be in therapy but it's been one of the best decisions I've made and my only regret is that I didn't look into it 5 or 6 years earlier.

❅Oh and it snowed! Beautiful, heavy snow which got me out of work for the day! Actually, we had a really cold winter which hopefully might make for a cooler summer.

❅As far as entertainment goes, this new job hasn't really given me a lot of time to do much of anything. I saw saw West Side Story in January, Death on the Nile in February, The Batman in March and my sister and I are going to see Fantastic Beasts tonight! I've only been waiting forever to see it! Ever since I saw West Side Story, I've been on a big musical kick. I bought the 1961 production and then I watched Dirty Dancing (2017) and Oklahoma! too. Now I'm thinking about rewatching the original Dirty Dancing and maybe make an attempt to watch the new Cats musical. Not sure about that last one...

❅The new schedule has also affected my reading as well because I work the closing shift. So, I get to work early in the afternoon and I don't get back home until almost 10. At first it was exhausting, but my body is beginning to adjust and I'm really starting to get back into my books. 

❅So hopefully my next post will be the review for Fantastic Beasts and I'll be able to slide in the next Myths, Legends and Lore book review (Leprechauns) and get around to doing another tag I found on Tumblr before the end of the month. 

❅Have a good and happy spring and here's to hoping that my Currently: Spring 2022 is just memories of a fun and happy spring (it already is) 🌸