The grass is not always greener

I didn't necessarily think that I would find a BETTER company when I left PSS...

I think my exact words were "I can find another job" when Scott and I were planning on moving so that he could take a sales territory with PSS. I really only had experience with one other company from a professional standpoint (ITT) and it wasn't all that bad. So while I knew that the corporate culture at PSS was outstanding, and that they did a lot for their employees, I kind of assumed that there were other companies out there that did similar types of things...

BOY WAS I WRONG!

I've been working at my "temp" position at Michael Baker Corp for 2 months now so I've gotten to see first-hand their culture. All I have to say is WOW... not even in the same ballpark as PSS.

I had my second interview with EDMC today for a Senior Financial Analyst position and asked the AVP and VP of Finance about what the company does to foster a team atmosphere and encourage camaraderie and generally have fun... again, WOW! One of the answers I got was about how the CEO holds quarterly Q&A conference calls with the employees - how that constitutes fun I don't know. The only bright spot in what I was told was that they are all going to an amusement park in June for the day - okay, I'll give them that, it does sound like fun - for ONE DAY. I asked the lady who would be my boss the same question during my first round of interviews and her response was "We made a team CD and each person was able to put a song on it" - are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I know I'm not the most exciting and fun person in the world but COME ON!!!

But, the fact of the matter is that I need to work and right now these are my only 2 options. I've applied for the perm position at Baker and will talk to my boss this week about it. I'm leaning more in that direction because I feel it will be more conducive to my personal life and my desire to spend time with Scott & Josh. The position at EDMC seems like a great fit for my skills, a blend of technical and business analysis, but it also requires a fair amount of overtime on top of the hour commute to and from downtown along with the crappy parking situation.

So, all of this has made me miss PSS more and more every day, today especially. I didn't think the grass would be greener when I gave up my position but I also didn't think that I'd be landing in a pile of dirt either!

Easter fun

We were very happy to have Nana & Papa with us for Easter this year. We went to Easter mass on Sunday morning and had a nice early dinner before they left for home.
Just a few pictures:

Before church - After church -
After nap with all of his Easter basket loot -

I love Edward

I love Edward... Edward Cullen to be exact.
I love his charm, his wit, his humor, his selflessness, his ability to love so truly and deeply.

And he's a vampire, a fictional vampire.

My latest obsession, and I stress the word obsession, is the Twilight series of books.



I haven't been this crazed about reading a book, let alone a series of books, since I was a teenager laying on Brennan Beach and reading VC Andrews novels. These books have me hooked to the point that I'm staying up until 11pm or midnight every night to read them after Josh goes to bed. There are 4 books and I just finished the second/started the third last night. I'm averaging a book every 3 days and they are over 500 pages each!

The story is amazing, the characters are so well developed and you can feel the passion and love that Edward and Bella have for each other jump off the page at you. I seriously can't wait to finish the series and read it all over again. I watched the movie for Twilight, the first book, and was disappointed because I felt like they didn't capture the passion but it was still a good movie. The movie for the second book, New Moon, comes out on 11/20/09 and I've already made plans with my girlfriends to go see it immediately. Its good to know that I'm not the only one obsessed...

Jax trip

Why is it that time flies so fast when you're having fun? That was what my whole weekend was like, time just seemed to disappear and before I knew it I was back on the plane headed to Pitt.

I flew down to Jax on Friday morning and stayed with my friend Dawn. We had lots of good times with friends and I of course drank way too much on Saturday night and am still hungover as I sit here on Monday morning because of it. I'm glad I went for a visit even though it was bittersweet. Jax still feels like home to me and I got a little choked up a couple of times being back there. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to but its hard to cram so much into only 48 hours. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to go back again in the near future.

Here are a couple pics from the trip: