Email Address...

My last count, I have 5 email addresses! yahoo, gmail, still have my butler account, my email address from when I was a student at IU (indiana.edu) and now, FINALLY, my new work email address was created today. It took them over a week to get me registered in the system because there was some confusion about my status since I was already in the system as a student. You'd think it would have taken less time since I was already in the system....not so. Anyway, if you have my yahoo email address, just email me there. I check that regularly and have had it for over 10 years, now. If you prefer to have my work email address, let me know or you can go to facebook and check my status (I listed it there). I don't want to put it here since this is a public blog. :)

Highlights of the New Job...

So, it's my second week on the new job. It's going well so far. I thought I would list some of the positive things I've found out about the new job:

• Everyone is really nice. The atmosphere is a perfect match for my style. Laid back, relaxed, friendly, open, joking, sometimes loud (in a good way) and welcoming.
• They aren't super strict about when you arrive and when you leave. They allow room for flexibility, which I think is great.
• They value working out at the gym. They all seem to have gym memberships and work out semi-regularly. Yay!
• I get valuable feedback from my supervisor and clear-cut direction on what to do next. She lets me know her expectations, which is something I never fully got from past supervisors. It's refreshing!!!
• OH, and I feel like I'm more integrated into the community of Indianapolis. IUPUI is such a part of the city. We are located right downtown and I feel like we're serving such a diverse representation of the community. It's a very different feeling from Butler and I think I'm going to like it.

That's all for now! Oh, a side-note and something that would probably never happen at Butler. I was standing inside the doorway of the parking garage leading outside. I was putting on my mittens before I walked outside and there was a lady that was approaching the door to walk inside the garage. She couldn't fully see me because I was kind of at the side of the door. She just say my shoulder or something and totally freaked out!! She apologized to me a second later saying that she was still half asleep and thought I was someone who was waiting to attack her. I laughed and told her I had no plans of attacking her. I guess that's one down-side of being closer to downtown.

Second Day...

Well, it's my second day at my new job. Things are going well so far. Everyone seems very nice and welcoming. Yesterday that had an ice-cream social for me to introduce me to everyone. They had vanilla and chocolate ice cream with a lot of different toppings. Yummy!

The drive to work isn't that bad at all. I've been so spoiled only having to travel 5 minutes to get to work over the last 3+ years, so I was really concerned that driving toward downtown would be a nightmare for me. It's not bad at all. It only takes me not quite 20 minutes to and fro. And I'm traveling in prime traffic time. So, that is an ease off my mind.

Plus, the culture here is similar to IR at Butler. Everyone is laid back, dress quite casually, not so worried about getting in on time, etc. So, that's nice not to have to worry so much about those details. The biggest difference is that I no longer have an office. The days of a private office with a big picture window overlooking beautiful Holcomb Gardens is over. I have a desk in a cube. I'm put off by that a bit, but it's a good way for me to get to know everyone more quickly. Sometimes an office can keep one hidden.

Celebration and OPTs

We celebrated my final going-away event last night. We were at OPT's bar in Broad Ripple. It was a grand time and I thank my friends very much for a lovely evening. A few highlights from the evening:

• Kicking Jeremy and Andy's ass at pool. Three times. Tyler and I are awesome pool-mates.
• The party-hat. We passed around a "party-hat" for all to wear. It was mine and I passed it on to Mary so she can continue the partying at Butler.
• Making fun of Angie's laugh (and Elaine's). Angie has a distinctive laugh.
• Me not having to pay for anything. Thanks, Jer and Angie. :)

Check out my Flickr photos to see the festivities!

Reception, Lunch and Drinking!

Today was my going away reception at work. All my coworkers gathered around to say goodbye to me. It was great. They had cupcakes and other goodies and had invited others around campus to say goodbye.

Tomorrow we'll be going out to lunch to eat Mexican food. I might even order a margarita! We'll see. Then, after work on Friday, we're all going out to a bar in Broad Ripple to celebrate some more.....I'm sure it will be a fun-filled evening.

My first day at my new job is on Tuesday. I'm sure I'll have a lot of adventures to write about as I embark on this life-change. I'll be sure and keep you all posted.

Love,
Mona

My Work Buddies are SO Awesome!

One week of my last two weeks at Butler has come and gone. I have one more week left. Everyone at Butler has been truly amazing. It's going to be so hard to say goodbye to them as co-workers. Of course, they will always be my friends, but we won't be spending every day together.

Mary even created a Facebook group for me "We're gonna miss Mona." She searched through a buncha work photos and found all the ones with me in them to post in the group. I saw some I didn't even know I was in! It's so cool. I so very much appreciate my friends at Butler. We are an odd bunch at times, but we have fun....and we truly care about each other. Love you guys!

Photos are up

Photos from New Years are up on my Flickr site. I also have a few more from Christmas, as well. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94106373@N00/

I'm Quitting My Job!

I just put in my two weeks notice yesterday. Yep, that's right. I'm finally quitting my job and moving on to other challenges. I've been wanting to post about this for a long time, but since this is a fairly public blog, I had to kinda keep it on the DL. I've been interviewing for the past month or so. The position I was really hoping to get finally came through with an offer! It was so incredible!!! I'll be working for IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis) in their Teaching and Learning Center. I'll be an Instructional Development Specialist there helping faculty teach better! No more technology for me!!!

Here's the awesome part. They want me to get my PhD, which, as an employee of IUPUI, I can get for FREE. I will also be able to eventually teach classes. It's all so exciting! The potential for growth is amazing and I'm very hopeful that I'll really grow to like and become very good at this job. YAY!!!

Of course, the downside is that I'll be leaving all my extraordinarily wonderful friends at Butler. Not really leaving them since I'll make an effort to see them often, but there is still a feeling of loss. They have been my family for the last 3 years and I'm going to miss them a lot. Here's a shout-out to my buddies.....love you guys! Tyler, Jeremy, Angie, Andy, Jeff, Brandon, Julie and Serdar! Thanks for being there with me through the best and worst of it.

I'd post pictures, but...

I'd post pictures from New Years except that I forgot my camera in Bryan's car. Oops. In fact, I don't really have a lot of pictures because I forgot the camera in the car when it was being parked before the New Years Ball. I was a little bit......uhmmmmm....forgetful at that point in the evening. But, anyway, I have some pre-party pics and some pictures I took in the car. Wheee! I'll post them at some point.