12 of 12....... the EMPLOYED edition! lol!!

so today was my 4th day at my NEW JOB!!!! I am really enjoying it though I feel a bit scattered right now. it is weird knowing so much and yet so little all at the same time. but......more about that as we go along...... and for those of you who haven't been following along at home.......Chad Darnell started all this craziness!
as is tradition, there is my odometer shot. 1,400 miles in the past month. probably has a little to do with that trip to Reno to see the Gin Blossoms?!?! and maybe that trip to the Jelly Belly factory with Stanley?!?! and maybe all those trips to Periwinkles in Folsom for Webkinz Extravaganza?!?!?! and the several trips downtown for interviews?!?! and well.....you get the point! I will be interested to see what it looks like next month after I am taking Light Rail everyday.......and the boys being out of school.
here is my train stop. exciting, isn't it?!?! today I had time to take this picture because I missed the train. why did I miss the train? well......because I missed one light on my morning carpool taking the boys to school and......
because I have to buy a train ticket every morning. I can actually buy a monthly pass but it is more expensive then buying a ticket every day. crazy, isn't it? I might still buy one just for the convenience. I am SOOOOO not good at walking around with a bunch of $1 in my purse to pay for train fare. luckily, though, I can get transportation expenses withheld from my pay pre-tax! so unlike filling up my tank, I CAN get a little break on my train costs!
me.......on the train......in my business suit........we normally don't get this dressed up but we were having out of town company visitors. the jacket actually came off when I got to the office and never went back on. nice fish-eye kinda picture......but atleast I only have one chin! lol!
staples of my train trips.......my iPod and a book. this is the second in the Dexter series. I think I like the books better than the tv show.....no surprise there I suppose. this morning's music was shuffle.....I believe I got some Yaz, Collective Soul, and Bonnie Raitt. our building.........our nice big ol' new building. course, they are still doing lots of construction on it. in fact, several people opted for an early lunch when what sounded like a jackhammer started going off. though considering how high up we are I am pretty darn sure it wasn't a jackhammer! on my way in to the building this morning, a fellow train rider stopped to take a picture (that I might take in a coming month) and I ended up talking to him as we crossed the street. couldn't help but ask him if he was doing 12 of 12! lol!! (he wasn't .......bummer!)this job feels like a seriously official job. why? because I have TWO badges! not just 1 but TWO!!! one is for the company and one is for the building. sheesh! at my last job we had a code for the building but never ever actually used it. in fact, I think I still have it somewhere! lol!
this is my cubicle. envious, aren't you?? actually.......as cubbies go it isn't too bad. the walls are high enough to offer privacy yet you are close enough to people to be able to get answers without spending all day walking around in circles. good thing when you are the new girl! I am slowly bringing stuff in to personalize my space more. the whole train thing is limiting in that way! oh....and you might be able to see my lunch of a pannini sandwich and some triscuits. tres exciting! lol!
this is the view out my window. technically not MY window......but the window of the cubby next to mine.......or at the end of my walkway. I am close enough to the window that I can get the sun coming in without the glare. and.....with a quick couple steps I can see outside. today I watched a plastic bag get blown up the side of the building from the crazy winds we were having. but......they kept it nice and cool. I hear we are breaking 100 by the end of the week! YIKES!
Light Rail drops me off literally across the street from my office (sweet!) but to catch the train back home I have to walk a whole humonguous block! and this is what I walk towards (though more even keel than this photo might suggest). crazy that I work so close to the capital! that is something I never ever imagined I would be doing.
on the way home I exited the freeway one exit early so I could drive by a gas station. this is one of the cheapest places in the area......and is still 14 cents more expensive than this time last month. so......even if my $4 in train fees is only break even with the 1 gallon of gas I might be saving.......I am also saving a minimum of $7 a day in parking. I think I deserve a nice treat for saving so much money, don't you? lol!!
and what 12 of 12 would be complete without a fully devoted food shot?
like I mentioned before, one of the biggest changes with this new job is dinner. Mondays are still easy since we generally have pizza, but J and R are going to be doing more of the cooking. R was in charge of cooking the pizza tonight. looks good! tasted even better.

and with my days starting at 5am now.....I am exhausted and off to bed.
thanks for joining me this month!

think of 2008 as the year of opportunity....

I have a layout in mind showing the front door of my previous employer. I am going to use the quote "when God closes a door he opens a window" and talk about my old job and how hard it was to deal with the office closing and everyone being laid off. I figure I can have an accompanying page titled something like "hello window" about my fortune in finding a good job so quickly. (not really QUICKLY but in a whole lot less time that I thought it would take)

add to that the timing made it so I was able to take the boys up to see my mom, nana, and stepdad during Spring Break.

add to that my being able to go see the Gin Blossoms in concert in Reno.

add to that the fact that next week I will start getting paychecks from the new job and will still be receiving a little severance from the old job. we have plans to use that money to pay down some debt and trade a gas guzzler for a nice hybrid so that we can start saving more money.

add to that the fact that now I am taking public transportation to work. it is definately an interesting experience but I am saving a couple $$ every day and helping make less pollution. my new employer will also let me do pre-tax withholding for my transportation expenses.....so I will be making less taxes for myself at the same time! lol!

add to that the fact that J's employer has started a nifty new health plan. they will pay our gym membership as long as we go 3 times a week. sounds pretty simple except that I am getting home a lot later with my new job than with my old job. but I figure if I go Sat and Sun and 1 night during the week it will be a lot better than I am doing now. the company they have partnered with is putting in a new club about 1 mile from our house. no excuses!!! I just hope they have a yoga class on Weds at 7pm. life would be pretty darn close to perfect then!

oh yes.....and about that gym......from what I can see from their website, R will be able to use the facilities too. most places say they have to be 13, but it looks like this place goes down to 12. which is good because R really needs to work on some physical fitness!

so......while things looked rather bleak....it seems that 2008 might be a darn good year afterall! now if I can just get back into scrapbooking! lol!