Saturday, July 21, 2018

I had "the conversation" with work

For those of you who have been long time readers, I've been planning to quit my job & find something much more flexible for years. In fact, before we moved to California & I stumbled into this job, I'd planned to quit my job of 15 years, take some time off & find something flexible.

So, I finally did it. I had a conversation with my manager that I was planning to leave the company. I was very honest with her, as she's been incredibly supportive of me & my career. I wanted to give her a long lead time, as filling positions like mine can take a year. We had a very good conversation, and I feel so relieved to have had it. She offered to try & create a part-time role that fits my interests, and we both agreed to think about what that could look like. We also discussed end dates for me doing this role in my current capacity. My feedback was that I'd strongly prefer September, but think it's unrealistic given that my main people manager left a few weeks ago. We discussed January as a very end date, with some flexibility between now & then in order for me to stay that long.

It feels both surreal & so amazing to be honest with her & get feedback. She understands that I'm not interested in a big giant career, with international travel & a team of 30 right now. I shared that my job took so much of my energy & time, that I don't have enough time for myself or my family, & I want to change that. That's not who she is (she's a hard core career person), but we both respect each other a great deal & I feel so happy that I don't have to avoid conversations about our performance reviews, or career, or my pending promotion, etc.

In other news, my real life continues. We had air conditioning installed, and it's amazing. Our house gets very hot (sometimes 90+ if we've had a series of hot days). The A/C guys finished yesterday & my house is an utter disaster. To compound that, the kids rolled back from 12 days summer camp yesterday, couldn't enter the main part of the house (because of the construction) & dumped everything in our laundry room. . . I have a lot to do today. ;-)

Here's the list!

  1. Revise menu for the week based on what we have around
  2. Go to the produce stand & the grocery store
  3. Go for a 4-5 mile run
  4. Sweep
  5. Mop
  6. Dust (there is SO much dust in our house right now due to the construction)
  7. Deal with the mail
  8. Figure out how to exchange a pair of shoes I ordered
  9. Clean the bathrooms that 5 guys used for two weeks, wearing dirty work boots. It's a little. . . dirty
  10. Donate books
  11. Clean the kitchen
  12. Laundry (like, 5 loads)
  13. Wash the sleeping bags & hang them outside to dry
  14. Have kids put away all camp items
  15. Deal with our sofa sale
  16. Read my book by the pool for 20 minutes? ;-)

Okay, and with that, here's what I'm thinking for #1:
  • Saturday - hot dogs, corn & salad
  • Sunday - kebabs & rice
  • Monday - leftover pizza (kids) + curry (freezer leftovers) for the adults
  • Tuesday - leftover hot dogs
  • Wednesday - leftover kebabs & rice
  • Thursday - any remaining leftovers, or spaghetti & meatballs
  • Friday - tacos
What about you? Any big news? What are you eating this weekend?

9 comments:

  1. I just read our comment and your list is pretty darn intensive as well. Congratulations on the air conditioning. Even if you only turn it on for the wretched days, it truly makes the heat manageable-and I love hot weather, except for sleeping. I'm happy your conversation went well with your boss. When who we report to has different priorities and values about career aspirations, it can be scary to ask for what you want. Kudos to you for having the brave conversation and for her in not just slamming back at you for making a different work life choice than she would have.

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    1. It was such a scary moment for me, but I feel really great about the honesty, and she handled it so well. I'm proud of her. She's evolved so much over the past few years.

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  2. Isn't AC a blessing? I am so glad we bought a house with it, can't see working full-time out of our house in the summer without it as hubby has lights in his office for internet conferencing and it really heats up. My dog is super spoiled now when it is too hot to go out he speeds out there, pees, comes back and lies in the sun on the patio...inside the house with the AC haha. So happy for you that you were able to finally have that conversation, no more should I or shouldn't I tell them, or when. Now you have a pretty firm end-date that is moveable if need be. Something to look forward to!

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    1. Oh, AC is amazing. I was so happy yesterday to be able to prep food in the kitchen. Normally it's a disaster, with sweat running down my face while I'm trying to cook. It's SO fabulous to be able to adjust the temperature up or down to suit our needs.

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  3. I am sure finally having the talk is a weight off your shoulders.

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  4. Congratulations on having the talk. I know you feel like a weight has been lifted.

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    1. I feel so much more relaxed about the future, knowing I can be honest in my planning.

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  5. it sounds like your manager took the news well, & good to start planning when it will be.

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    1. She really did handle it so well. She's lovely & while we may be quite different in many ways, she cares about her team & me as a person, which I quite appreciate.

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