surprise

A couple of good things did come from spending the weekend sick and in bed.  I emerged feeling well rested and bright eyed.  I may not have gotten a head start on my work; I’d taken home copies of documents that I would need to sift through in order to write up the narrative for one of my cases.  

I don’t often take work home but seeing as how I was scheduled to provide a sample narrative (a test), at the company I am interviewing at, I figured that it would give me practice and keep me from falling behind.  Instead of being ahead of the game, I was well rested.   That works too.

The best part about Monday morning was figuring out what to wear.  This is because received a care package of sorts: clothing, beautiful clothing.  I selected a cream colored silk blouse, my brown slacks, and heels.  I tucked the shirt in and sucked my belly in to match.  I happily discovered that this task is a lot easier when there aren’t stomach cramps to deal with.  I wore my hair straight for the first time in months, I think.  I was hard work to tame down the frizz in hair that has become accustomed to doing it’s own thing.  A bit of make up, not too fancy ear rings, and I was on my way feeling beautifully confident.

Until the email came in noting that my 20-60 minute test would now be an interview with the Sr. Director of the department. This was less than an hour from the appointed time.  My stomach knotted up in a way different from the weekend’s experience. I began working on my breathing.  It was all I felt confident in doing.  

And before long, it was time to leave my desk and drive, in my air conditioned car, the two driveways down the street to Company J.

I met with a relaxed, casually dressed, down-to-earth woman.  We started off talking about what I could expect: the company’s shift to paperless (in the truer sense), flexible work hours, possibly working from home at times, and the LARGE workload.  In turn, I shared a bit about myself.  I was honest in my answers: meaning, I didn’t candy coat my response to “why did you switch from Clinical to Drug Safety?”  As succinctly as I could, I told her about my husband dying just 3 months before I was laid off, and how I could not longer meet the travel requirements of the jobs available.  I also told her that I enjoyed the switch and how the new position challenged me to use my nursing knowledge.  She said “sorry” and the interview moved on to other topics.

An hour and a half later, I left the building and returned to my work.  Later in the day, several emails rolled in for the many meetings at headquarters, which is where my desk will move in about a month.  I hope and pray that I will have other options by then.