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Is it April already!?

It seems like I get the urge to blog about once a month :) Or maybe it just takes that long for things to change at work just enough for me to write about it. I'm not sure. Either way, it's been a while and things are on the move, again.
Not a whole lot has changed recently. At least not concerning work, but I'll get to that... Stess and I are thinking about living together again, but it probably won't happen until the end of summer, maybe. She's teaching out in Sandy as a temporary sub for the rest of the year. It's nice to know she's got a steady job, but that's causing her some stress since she now has to plan a lesson every day as well as get her school work done. We don't see each other as much anymore since we're on the opposite ends of town. We're making up for it during the weekends though.
Last weekend Mom, Dad, Stess, Crista and my Aunt and Uncle all came up to Portland to see Cat's the Broadway. I think we all agree that we didn't really like it. I'm glad I've seen it, but I won't pay to see it again. However, I'm really looking forward to seeing The Lion King in June!
Stess and I went over to Sisters three weeks ago as she started off her spring break. Mom and Dad took us on a bike ride, 30 miles later, we were a little tired :) We're planning our summer vacation and want to go down to San Francisco and then ride our bikes on the coast to San Louis Obisbo. I can't believe it, but they're turning me into a biker. I actually bought my first pair of bike shorts! Well, actually second, but these are the tight kind. Am I seriously going to wear those in public!? Yep, I guess I am. (Sigh)
Stess and I have decided that next June, for my 30th birthday, we are going to Hawaii! We'd both been thinking about doing something. I thought of a cruise, she thought of New York, and then on the way to Sisters I said, "What about Hawaii?" and it was settled. So, we're trying to decide where to go, where to stay, and what to do... Mom and Dad are thinking of joining us too since they'll be celebrating their 35th Wedding anniversary. That being the case, we are NOT sharing a hotel room between the 4 of us. Although, the snoring that all three of them do is enough of a diterant for me!
Work's been quite interesting lately as well. About a month ago I moved my team over from desktop support to notebook support. It's been a fun change and my team grew in size. The other two managers had too many agents and I was short some, so I got more. I'm still liking the work a lot, though I'll admit, letting people go is not fun :(
We've been working on a new contract in the building that would potentially give us 750 new employees! It's been in the works for a few months now. Last week one of my agents showed me a job posting on our internal website for a Classroom Training Manager position. This job would be what I used to do as an Associate Trainer, but permanently. It's something that I figured would be coming up some time soon but there weren't any postings when the management position came up in January. With internal transfers at work you have to be in your current position for at least 6 months to qualify. It was a concern when I applied for my current job, but I applied anyway.
Well, the CTM position closed on Wednesday of last week and I found out about it on Monday. I went in to speak with my manager about the job. I explained to her that I'm happy doing what I'm doing, but that I wanted to apply for the CTM job, but wasn't sure if the fact that I was in my current position for less than 6 months would immediately take me out of the running. She said she would be surprised if I DIDN'T apply for the job and that she would back me if I applied. I did :) We'll see how that goes. It's another situation where I'm at peace with either job. I like what I'm doing now, but I really liked the teaching aspect of the CTM position. That and there's travel potential...
On Wednesday we found out that we got the contract! It's a huge deal at work now. They'll need some 30 plus managers to support the agents. There's also now 1 CTM position for sure, but possibly 2 more that will open up!
That same day my boss' boss, the head of our site, asked me into his office. He came over by my desk and asked me to come with him. In the hallway was another agent, an associate trainer as well, who was apparently waiting for us. Corwin, the boss, asked me where another associate trainer as my boss, Jillene, came up. He sent the other AT and I to his office while they looked for Dan. I knew I wasn't in trouble, cause I hadn't done anything, but still very curious as I'd never been asked to his office before!
Well, all three of us associate trainers, as well as my boss and Corwin were in his office and he proceeded to tell us that they, Jillene and he, wanted to ask us if one, we'd applied for the CTM job, and two, were interested in going up to the Seattle area for training so we could come back here and train for the new contract! Of course all three of us immediately jumped on the opportunity! We basically came away from that meeting knowing that the head of our site is aware of us and that we have a good record of being hard workers and good trainers. On top of that, it seems like we're the top 3 picks for the potential CTM jobs! I talked to Stess on the way home that night, then called Mom and told her then told Dad. To say I'm excited is quite the understatement!
To top that off, I've heard from a source that if I'm successful up in Washington, I'm probably going to be the first choice for the CTM job! I just am amazed at how God has orchestrated this whole thing! He's amazing!
Okay, one last thing. Thursday was April Fools Day. I played a prank on my team and had such a blast doing it! For training everyone has to take a series of tests to show they know the material. Well, the tests aren't that good and some of them are terrible. I drafted an email to my newest agents, the ones who were in my last training class and the one that followed, telling them that one of the tests, the hardest one, had a snafoo and the scores weren't recorded. Unfortunately, since the scores weren't recorded, they had to retake the test. I had agents sending me screenshots of their scores and some asking if it was a joke. I was able to keep a straight face and tell them that their screenshots weren't enough. I then sent another email with the link to the material they needed to go over before taking the test. The link opened up a page that simply said, "April Fools!" in bright, bold, flashing letters!
It was fun! And I got a few of them really good...
That's all for this month ;) Thanks for reading.

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