Well a lot has been happening. Things have been kinda hush, hush so I didn’t post about it earlier………the cat’s out of the bag so to speak. Tuesday, the 6th in our weekly meeting the ball was dropped on us that our office would be closing and merging with a larger office. The funny thing is, I had to step out of the meeting to sign for the stuff our courier brought, when I returned it sounded like they were talking about closing the office!! I was thinking, I’ve only been here about 3 weeks!!! The biggest concern for me was, would I still have a job. The other office surely already had an office clerk, so where would that leave me? When I asked all I got was that the office clerk left last week. I was nervous because there was no reassurance that I would be moving with them. I little later I received a call from Human Resources, that she would be coming down to talk to me after lunch. My first question of course was, “Do I still have a job?” She said that they definitely wanted me to go and she was there to talk me into it if I wasn’t sure. I shared some of my concerns and feelings about the move, there is good and bad. I also asked if my pay would be going up too, and received what I think was a fair raise. I’m concerned for the agents, they have some real concerns about the merge. They have agreed to allow them to stay and have a branch office, which they are happier about.
Well, I’ve been in Ft. Oglethorpe for a week and a half now, I really like it, but it’s exhausting. I went from working with 8 real estate agents to 38! HUGE difference in the workload. Right now I’m trying to establish balance. I’ve been getting behind, partly because of the increase in people that I am now handling paperwork for and partly because I need to say “no.” I’ve been mulling over how to handle this, I don’t want to seem like a jerk, but I have to lay down some boundaries. That’s a hard thing to do when you’re new and people haven’t had a chance to get used to you yet. Don’t get me wrong, the people I work with are great. I was told I “shouldn’t let people take advantage of me.” I know at times I do, but I think the key is, as someone responded to that comment, “Sometimes we don’t realize we are taking advantage.” I think some of them probably are taking advantage, or seeing how much they can put on me because I’m the “new girl.” I honestly think most just don’t think that if all 38 people are asking favors of me, I won’t get anything done. It’s also been a real challenge because I’m having to figure a lot out on my own, nobody to tell me how it’s done. The agents have been a big help in many things, but some things they don’t have a hand in at all and they don’t know. It’s been a good growing experience for me. I really do enjoy me job, even when I’m stressed, it’s a different kind of stress than I felt at my old job. This stress I’m able to manage, the other was getting out of control.
On other great thing about working in Ft. Oglethorpe is that there is an Aldi just down the street! I got a 16oz package of bing cherries for $.99, that is, I got 3 at $.99 each. The price on there fresh produce is GREAT!! Before Aldi was out of the way, it was a far enough drive that the savings was probably eaten up in the time and gas I would spend getting there. Now it’s just down the street so I can take advantage of the bargains. Today I made muffins with blueberries, strawberries, cherries and kiwi (kiwi were $.99 for 8!). I wouldn’t have put the kiwi in, but the mixture was my hubbies idea, they are pretty good too. 
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May God bless your week!
I know it’s been a long time since I posted, I just don’t even want to be on the computer when I get home lately. I’ve barely even been checking my emails.
