Post 7 of 7

That was a pathetic attempt at 7 posts in 7 days. It turned into 7 posts in 9 days? Oh well. Such is life. Last week of work is underway. I had lunch with my boss today; let's just say it was interesting. On my way home, I got a call from the daycare that Junior was sick with a fever and had essentially passed out on the bean bag chair. Awesome! Well, at least Mr. Amen has tomorrow off work so I don't have to take the day off. And now this tidbit of wisdom from my 4 year old. "If you get sick at dinner, then your bellies might hurt." Just in case you didn't know.

Post 6 of 7

Saturday is winding down. Mr. Amen is home from China. The kids are both in bed and I am finally sitting down. The weather has cooled off considerably and the windows are open. How lovely. But mostly I just want to go to sleep. Mass in the morning, laundry all day and dinner with my family (if mom can kick this nastiness she has been dealing with for the past two weeks). A day like tomorrow has me longing for the office on Monday, and you know how much I love my job. In other pleasant news, I have been feeling the baby move over the past week. Which is totally early. Around 12 weeks I thought I was feeling the baby, but thought there was no way, but I guess the more pregnancies a woman has the earlier she can feel the baby. Of course this all depends heavily on many factors, but I guess it really is the baby and I am not crazy. Phew!

Post 5 of 7 - My Departure Memo

Well, since I got to be home in the afternoon today, I thought I'd post a little early and get my Departure Memo up for your reading pleasure. For privacy reasons and because I am a Compliance girl in my heart, I removed the name(s) of the firm(s) I worked for and everyone else's name has been taken out.

I can't believe I am really leaving the firm and that my last day is next Friday. It's gonna be very strange not getting up, getting dressed and driving the ~30 miles to the office 5 days a week. There are definitely aspects of the job I will miss. There are many aspects that I won't miss at all (I'm looking at you, assistant from h-e-double-hockey-sticks). Here is what was posted for everyone to read:

I have drafted my partner speech a thousand times, but didn’t anticipate writing a green memo. My career at [firm name] and her related entities is winding down and I write this filled with a mix of emotions including sadness, nervousness, trepidation, giddiness, and anticipation of good things on the horizon. When I tell you that I’m eagerly expecting our third child in January, you’ll probably blame these tumultuous emotions on those darn “pregnancy hormones”. But I think if you’ve known me over the past 10 years, you’ll recognize that an emotional melting pot like the one above is almost always present under the cool and collected surface of your favorite Compliance Harasser Annoyer Analyst.

I’ve made the truly difficult decision to leave the firm to pursue other “interests”. These interests consist primarily of changing diapers of the non-fresh variety for the self-made army of short people that is rapidly taking over my home, ruining my stuff, and spending my money. But I’ll also have time to focus on other fun things such as homeschooling my kindergartener, continuing to speak at medical conferences and to write articles and curriculums for various publications and organizations, and, finally, perfecting my original recipes for delectable nut-free baked goods. Yes, I am that strange; you probably already had an inkling.

Recently, when Drew & Mike went off the air at WRIF, I took the opportunity to reflect on my first day at the firm. Stick with me here. I was all nostalgic remembering the happy memories the show had brought me over the years and sat down to write them a note of appreciation. I recalled, driving to the office on my very first day at [firm name], being quite nervous and apprehensive. Of course, I was listening to their show as I drove when Drew Lane said something to the effect of, “well, it’s not like he had a job at a really great company like {firm name].” My mind was immediately at ease, knowing I’d made the right decision to join the firm. If Drew says [firm name] is a great company (firm, Drew, we’re a firm), then I know it really is.

You are likely familiar with green memo patterns and recognize this as the part where the writer gets sappy and begins to thank people for the many kind and generous opportunities provided and the helpful advice offered over the years. So, let’s get on with it.

Mr. ABC brought me into the firm back in July 2003 and I am glad he did. He was and still is a great asset to [firm name] and a generous leader. He took a chance on a temporary Okie that wanted to replant herself in Michigan. It was under Tom’s leadership that I had my first taste of the incredible [firm name] culture that is touted from sea to shining sea by current, former and wannabe [firm]ers.

From [firm], I moved over to [related firm entity] as an analyst for two years. Mr. BCD and Mr. CDE are two of the most amazingly knowledgeable professionals I have ever had the pleasure to encounter. Under their tutelage, I was challenged to expand my skill set beyond what I thought was possible. I still use many of the lessons I learned in [related firm entity] on a daily basis and probably always will. Ms. DEF and Ms. EFG were always there to keep me grounded, offer advice and a listening ear. I am grateful to know these fantastic people. To this day, I miss working with them.

After [related firm entity], I briefly left the firm (to take a nap…those [related firm entity] guys work A LOT). I was invited back to join [current related entity] by Mr. Boss. Now Mr. Boss, what can I say about Mr. Boss? He’s been my mentor in the Compliance field for almost 7 years. He’s given me the opportunity to grow, to learn, to make mistakes and to take the reins. He is the walking encyclopedia of compliance related laws, rules and regulations to my “no need to memorize it; it’s available on the interwebz” style. My career in compliance would have gone nowhere without his guidance and I am eternally in his debt because of it.

While here in [current related entity], I also got to work with the talented teams of [another legal entity] and [one more legal entity]. These folks are the real deal. I would be happy to refer my relatives to these firms, confident that they would be treated fairly and with respect.

A few others at the firm without whom I wouldn’t have lasted as long as I did: list of 28 people. Each of you has had a hand in my success at [current related entity] and I want to thank you for all you do to make this firm great. If I continue talking about this group of people, I will cry. And it will not be a pretty cry; I’m no Helen Harris III.

I’d like to thank Mr. Facilities Manager 1 and Mr. Facilities Manager 2 for saying that if my water broke in the office, they wouldn’t be mad at me. They confided that such a scenario is a recurring nightmare for them. I’m sorry I couldn’t make your dreams a reality.

Though my personal preference is not to do so, there are individuals at [current related entity] who forced me to memorize certain sections of the Policies and Procedures. Your relentless questioning of the rules, regulations, laws, policies, guidelines, canons, commandments, suggestions, dictums, edicts, regimens, statutes and precepts helped strengthen my resolve when you had me questioning myself. You are the reason I am so comfortable quoting section and page number of the P&Ps along with a solid “no” response, something for which my children thank you as well. On a serious note though, your unwillingness to accept an answer you didn’t understand because I wasn’t articulating the reason clearly enough challenged me to grow in my role and build confidence in my understanding and interpretation of our P&Ps. I appreciate your tenacity. But the answer is still “no.”

August 2^nd will be my last day at the firm. Feel free to keep in touch with me at [personal email address]. (If you find me on LinkedIn or Facebook, don’t worry, I will not be monitoring your postings for adherence to regulatory and firm restrictions anymore.) I’d love hearing from you and would welcome the chance to engage in an adult conversation from time to time. I wish each of you continued success in your wealth management careers and I look forward to hearing about all the great things you accomplish.

Post 4 of 7

So I remembered to do a post today. Barely. I am beyond tired and totally just want to crash right now. It was a long (short) day at work today, if that makes any sense at all. I only worked 8 hours...it's been a good long time since I've done that. I had lunch with my assistant. She invited me for a goodbye lunch, then at the end of the meal revealed that she had no intention of paying for that lunch and expected me to pick up the tab. I'll be putting that on my expense report. At the end of the day, I picked up the kids and took them to the ice cream store where our parish was holding a fundraiser for a group home for disabled orphans in Kenya. Junior was excited to get to eat dessert before dinner. As we were waiting for our ice cream, I noticed that my arm felt a little wet, looked down to see I had a leaky diaper of the #2 variety. Delightful. Then we headed over to my parents house for dinner and more fun. It was a pretty good day, but it took all the energy I had to empty the dishwasher, make bottles for the "baby" for tomorrow and tap out this pathetic post. Hopefully tomorrow I can get up the energy to turn on the real computer and put up my departure memo for your reading pleasure. I likely will since I have a doctor appointment in the afternoon and I have no intention of going back to the office afterwards. Until tomorrow...peace out!

Post 3 of 7

So, I totally spaced on writing a post yesterday. I awoke at 1:34am and realized I hadn't posted. Whoops!

It's been a rough week at work. Since I gave my notice my boss hasn't spoken to me. He did send me an instant message and ask me to send him an appointment for lunch next week. Any day, my choice of restaurant. I set up lunch for Monday, but I don't think I will go through with it. I will just cancel tomorrow and let him know that I would rather not lunch with him. I'd rather spend time with my friends.

I did send out my departure memo, rather it was posted on our intranet site. I have gotten some really nice responses from folks who have read it. Complete strangers have emailed me to say what a nice memo it was and they wished they had known me. I think it is sweet and very strange. Mostly because the people that know me well can tell that large chunks of the memo are complete crapola. One of my friends read the first sentence and started laughing so hard he said he didn't really need to read anymore. I spent considerable amounts of time writing it, and I think it turned out well. I may post it here, taking out my firm name and the people's names. We'll see.

In other news, ummm. Nothing, I got nothing.

Maybe I'll have something more exciting tomorrow.

Post 2 of 7

Post 2 of 7 for the seven posts in seven day challenge.

NFP week has caught me unprepared this year. It's not that I didn't know it was coming. I did. I just didn't prepare anything. I've honestly just been in survival mode for so long, I didn't have time to throw together at coherent thoughts on the subject.

I am a little wore out at the moment. We have an NFP class series starting to in September. Usually I am really excited about it, but tis year I know it will be different. First, Mr. Amen probably won't be here to teach with me. That just makes me sad because it is something we do together. Next, I will have to miss my son's first football game (among others) to teach the class. Honestly it was easier to leave my 5 week old baby last year to teach the first class in the series than it is to miss my son's football game. My parents and brother and sister-in-law will be there (my niece and nephew are on the same team), but it just won't be the same as having mom there for his first game. And dad will miss pretty much all the games but maybe one.

So, NFP. Yea.

One thing about staying at home though...it should allow me more time to focus on my writing and teaching. That'll be great. I have a class series I've been wanting to develop for my parish on the dignity of the human person, so that has a fighting chance of getting some of my attention over the next few months.

So, there you have it. Post #2. Not too shabby.

Seven posts in seven days

I decided that I would try to keep up with Jen over at Conversion Diary and see if I can bang out seven posts in seven days for this poor neglected blog of mine. So here's number 1. Updates, updates. I can't believe my baby girl is almost 1 year old already. She is standing on her own for chunks of time and attempts a step here and there. I really wouldn't be surprised if she is walking before her first birthday or even if she is walking before her daddy gets home on Friday. Speaking of daddy, he's been in Shanghai this month. He left a day early from our vacation the first week of the month and has been in China since the. It's been a real challenge for us for a few reasons. First of all, it is a 12 hour time difference. So when he gets back to his hotel at night, we are leaving the house for the day. And when we get home in the evening, he getting ready to leave for the day. We get to FaceTime for a few minutes or instant message one another, but it makes it difficult to discuss any of the things we need to discuss. Junior misses his daddy something terrible. He is counting down the days until he gets back. This month's count is "daddy comes home the day after my priests scoop the ice cream." Our church is holding a fund raiser for a home for disabled orphans in Kenya and our priests will be scooping out the summertime goodness. Junior is really excited for it because he will get to actually have some ice cream. No, I am not e toe of mother that denies her child ice cream, but this particular place uses tree nuts, which he is allergic to. So soft serve is his only option and I will have the epi-pen on standby. I am trusting God that we won't need it. Lastly an update on me. I quit my job last Monday. Well, at least I gave a three week notice that I am leaving. I will be staying home with the kids and homeschooling Junior is fall. Technically, he is not old enough to enroll in kindergarten in the local schools, but his daycare teachers feel he is ready and so do I, so I will just do it myself. Being a SAH mom is my dram come true. But I wold be lying if I said I wasn't having second thoughts about it all. I am used to having a lot of pressure on means hard deadlines and multiple projects going at once. This seems like it will be a real slow down for me and I worry if I can handle the reality of it all. No breaks. Kids on my own 24-7 since Mr. Amen will still be traveling (he has an 8 weeks trip planned for this fall...not excited about that one.) Anyhow, I better save something for the next six days or his little experiment will be a disaster.