Love.

[serene]

sproul
Originally uploaded by serenejournal

I love my new job. I love my family. I love that my new job doesn't take me away from my family TOO much. (I was even able to get in a date with stonebender before it started, and we're gonna do lunch in Berkeley once a week when we can.)

But lately, I really love ME. It was really, really hard to choose to take this job. I know I'm overextended already. I know I'm a busy, tired introvert, with a family to take care of. But the more I thought about it, the more I *really wanted it*, and I'm so glad I didn't balk. I think I'm doing what's best for me.

I walk through the UC Berkeley campus every day with this huge grin on my face. I love being there. I love the people I work with. I even love the job, which most people would find terribly tedious. It's just perfect for me, though, and I'm SO glad they offered it to me.

And now, after how many years? I am a real, career employee there, with health insurance, a pension, a cubicle, keys, and the whole shebang.

I deserve this. I totally rock.

me-work
Originally uploaded by serenejournal

This is me at work. Goofy, I know, but the joy is genuine.

Comments

[eeyorerin]

yay! you look very happy.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you; I really am!

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

You are awesome and you look so cute. Yay for places where you can wear t-shirts to work!

Also, this has got me thinking about the cliché of a cubicle job as a place where your soul goes to die, and how often it's just not true. As if the fact that there are unpleasant aspects to it means that nothing you do there can be worthwhile. It's so spoiled!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Yeah, my boss asked if I wanted another wall on my cube for more privacy (the previous tenant of the cube complained about its being too open), but I love it. I can see my boss when her door's open, I can say hi to folks as they pass, and yet, I have my own space that others don't intrude on. And KEYS. I have the KEYS. :-)

I wore a tank top to work today. This is Berkeley. :-) I didn't even wash the graffiti off my leg.

It's funny; I do this job that, on its surface, is total drudgery. Filing, making binders, printing labels. I actually spent an hour today just alphabetizing file folders. Mind-numbing, right? But it really works for me, doesn't bore me a bit (wonder what that says about me), AND I know that my doing this means that students with disabilities are getting more efficient service in dealing with their academic accommodations, so what I do *matters*, y'know?

[tiger-spot.livejournal.com]

It is so great when people find nice-fitting spots! Yay your job!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

[vito-excalibur.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Where I'm working this summer, I spend time doing things like making sure lineweights are all consistent... Maybe you have to be a certain kind of person to find satisfaction in that. But I know why I'm doing it too! It's because it's really hard to read drawings this detailed if everything isn't consistent! Absolute consistency means ease of communication of an idea means more ability to design and speediness in construction and fewer mistakes and more efficiency and less money... Little things make a difference. I've tried to find things in non-alphabetized folders.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Yes, thank you for getting it.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

sounds like a great job :)

[uncacreamy.livejournal.com]

You know, I would -love- that kind of job too. It speaks to a side of me that wants things to be organized, put where you can find them. And disabled students need all the help they can get. Even in this day and age, they really have so much more to get through than everyone else. Awesome for you!

[saoba.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I've been so distracted I haven't told you this already-

I'm SO happy for you.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you, dearheart! Not like you don't have your own stuff going on. You're posting about as seldom as I am these days. Hope all is well. *hugs*

[tracytreefrog.livejournal.com]

yay to having your own work space I worked too many years where I had to share a desk. It's so nice to have a space that is yours. When you put something some where it is there when you get back. So glad you are happy!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sweetie.

[mackenzie]

This is so wonderful and exciting. Go you!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And I love the icon. :-)

[jb98.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you went for it! Sometimes the things that make us busy overextended introverts happy are not those we think they should be. There's a lot of unseen energy that goes into living without health insurance, a pension and the whole shebang. Having those should help alleviate some of the tiredness, I think.

I'm so glad you're happy :)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweetie, you nailed it. Yes. I cried tears of relief when I read this comment. That's a big part of it. Yes.

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

I think I understand... Yes.

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I'm so, so happy for you! It's really great when a job and a person match up well.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[eeyore-grrl.livejournal.com]

you are so frikkin' adorable it's awesome!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you, babycakes! Love you.

[raynaarwyn.livejournal.com]

You look so happy... :)

All the best!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm very happy.

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

yay for happy serene :D

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[marea93.livejournal.com]

I am very happy for you. I also enjoy little clerical tasks, so long as they are not the bulk of my work. And it makes a big difference to know you are working for a good cause. But as me olde mum always says, the main thing that makes a job tolerable or not is the quality of the people around you. Sounds like you've fallen in with a good crowd. Reading what you've written makes me wish I could work. I'll probably try to find some little part time thing once we get settled in L.A. Anyway, go you. And don't forget to remember YDTBFC.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you, precious. *hughughug*

Hey, I'm making around a hundred dollars a month being a cha cha guide. It's not much, but it's a way to get paid to sit on my ass and surf the web:

http://answers.chacha.com/?page_id=410

[uncacreamy.livejournal.com]

Is the cha cha thing a pain in the butt when it comes time for taxes?

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

You've worked so hard for this -- rejoice!

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

That's just too awesome! You look terribly happy :)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I really am.

I think of you often, what with the whole teenager thing. :-)

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

yeah - likewise! (hugs) sisters in the whole raising-someone-else's-teen thing :)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Yep. I think I may be getting the long end of the stick, though, 'cause mine's past that everything-adults-say-is-stupid stage (she's 16), and is a genuine help around here. Of course, it's only been two months. We'll see if it wears thin after a while. :-)

[cassidyrose.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the new job and all its amenities!

Yay for you!

And that is a very cute pic indeed.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!

:)

[windsea.livejournal.com]

W00T!!!!

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

That is so, so amazing! I'm so happy for you.

And I think I'd like that job, too, actually.

-J

[redbird]

It sounds like an important piece of why you like that job is that it accomplishes things you care about. I know that can make a real difference for me in what look like very similar tasks, but on different projects or for different employers.

[custardfairy.livejournal.com]

Awww! You look so happy! :)

[kineticphoenix.livejournal.com]

You look so happy, glowing even! I'm so jazzed for you. You deserve this!

[uncacreamy.livejournal.com]

Very very very cool. I am so happy for you! Everyone should be happy with their jobs, I'm glad that you could find such a thing.

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

Aw, this made me all smiley :) So happy for you!

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

It is wonderful to see you so happy, loving life. Boom de yada!

[hnybny.livejournal.com]

Congrats!