School and... work?

Nate has been going to school every day this week, and it is going well so far. I picked him up early (12:00) on Monday and Tuesday, but today I'm letting him stay the full time, 8:30-1:30. I think that timing will be an adjustment (a long day for him), but I also think he's having a good time. When I picked him up yesterday, he announced that he had cut with scissors and played soccer (that is some pretty good spontaneous language for him). He also, of course, loves recess.

I also have another update that I've been meaning to write about, but it happened so quickly that I never got a chance. Jon's company works with a graphics design studio in Long Beach, and he mentioned to them that I do freelance editing. They immediately asked for my resume and scheduled an interview within a couple of days. I went up there, interviewed and took a proofreading test, and they offered me a part-time, work-from-home job a couple of days later. So I'm now going to be doing about 10 hours/week of editing/proofreading, mostly from home. (I went in a few half days this week to train, coordinating childcare with family members, but the company, Vision Design Studio, knows I won't be coming into the office more than once a month for a half day.) It's just cool to be able to do something I love (editing) from home that won't take away from being a mom.

Christmas thanks

Christmas card drawn by my 7-year-old student (whose 9-year-old sister takes lessons too):

Today starts my last week of work!

Here's one of the pictures we had taken at Sears yesterday for our 3-year wedding anniversary and to celebrate the pregnancy in general (Jon is such an indulgent husband--he hates going to have his picture taken but does it for me without a word of complaint because he knows I like it):

I gave my notice (as in, I'm not coming back) to my boss today. I was going to do it this Friday, which is exactly 4 weeks before what I anticipate will be my last day (April 29), but I decided to do it today instead because tomorrow is the baby shower the department is throwing for me. I guess I just didn't want to go to the boss the day after this nice shower and say, "Thanks for the party. I quit." Anyway, she took the news relatively well--I can't imagine she was too surprised--and we decided we/she will probably tell the rest of the department some time next week. The semi-nice thing is that, since another proposal writer quit a couple of weeks ago (which in and of itself is a bad thing, leaving the department short yet another person when I go, but overall is a good thing since he was, frankly, a poor proposal writer), my boss has already started interviewing prospective proposal writers.

I was nervous to talk to my boss, but after it was over I realized I was more nervous in general about the finality of it: I'm actually quitting! I hadn’t had to think about it too much ‘til now. I won't be working anymore...because I will have a kid! This is going to be a huge change...

Since I haven't been posting much at all, I thought I'd use my answers to Nell's questions left in the comments section below as my next post.

When is your last day of work?
Although I haven't officially given a day, I think it will be Friday, April 29. That will give me three weeks before my due date.

What have you decided to tell you boss about your "maternity leave?"
I'm going to continue avoiding questions of this nature (posed by my boss, that is) until probably the end of March, when I will give one month's notice about April 29 being my last day. I'm only obligated to give them two weeks' notice, but I think a month is 1) kinder, as they will have more time to find a replacement and 2) still fairly safe, as they could let me go on the spot, but I doubt they would because I think they need me and will want me to stay as long as I can.

Will you teach your flute students through the first few months with the baby?
Yes. I plan on taking approximately a month off from teaching lessons. I'm sending home a note to my students/their parents in the next week or two to let them know I'm pregnant (I usually don't see the parents--they just drop the kids off) and that there will be a month or so of no lessons beginning around the end of May. I think this will coincide well with summer, actually, so that we can start a summer schedule of lessons for July and August. That summer schedule can be worked out so that either 1) Jon's mom could come over/help with the baby during lessons, 2) I could see about scheduling lessons during baby's nap times, or 3) we could continue evening lessons so that Jon would be home. I figure that, as long as we don't have a super fussy baby and I can make sure I feed him/her at the right times before or after lessons, it should work out well.

I'm also going to continue editing, but the logistics of that aren't as difficult, as that is completely on my own time and schedule, and I can accept or deny jobs as necessary.

:)

General news
Work
I have been quite bored here lately. So have the other proposal writers--at least the other two I'm friends with. Because of the restructure of the sales and marketing force in the company and the changing nature of how exactly we're doing business (new products, new sales targets), the salespeople haven't been getting/submitting proposal requests. This is our slow season for proposals anyway, but annual projects are only so interesting (and only take up so much time). The fact that I'm only going to be working here 5 months longer (though no one here knows that yet) also factors in to my boredom/lack of motivation.

Jon's job, on the other hand, is anything but boring. He's working his typical long hours and coming home exhausted. I can tell when he has had a good day, because, though he has usually worked 10+ hours, he feels productive--like he actually got things done. Receiving constant interruptive phone calls and questions surely impedes progress...

Home
We still haven't decided 100% what to do with our house: do the addition after the baby's born? Not do the addition and instead just get a new roof, of which the house is in desperate need? Regardless, we need to have something done about the roof so we don't stay up at night each time it rains praying there are no leaks.

We're still really enjoying our new tile floors and the heat, protection, and comfort God through our home gives us.

Pregnancy
This past week has felt new. I've been feeling great, but I've also noticed that my lower-to-middle back has been hurting. I guess that's typical, even this early in pregnancy when I haven't gained much weight. Also, I've been thinking that it is a boy. Of the 4 or 5 dreams I have had with our baby in it, it has always been a boy. And in discussing names with Jon, I kept thinking about and wanting to talk about boy names--almost like I had forgotten about the girl names I like. This might just be my subconscious "psyching me out," since I have been leaning toward wanting a girl just a little bit more than a boy. But a couple of the boy names we came up with have me very excited, so maybe it's God preparing to change my heart. :)

Weekend plans
My parents are coming to visit this weekend! This is my dad's first time back out to California since they moved exactly two years ago. My mom has been out numerous times (three I think). They're flying in Friday and leaving Monday morning, so this is a short visit, but certainly better than nothing. Though I don't mention it much, I really miss my parents and brother and sister.

We're planning on going to I Love Sushi for dinner at some point over the weekend, and Jon got four tickets to the Clippers game for Saturday night, so we'll go to that too. I think my dad wants to go to Laguna Beach and buy a t-shirt, too (my silly dad).

Flute lessons
I have four flute students right now--two on Mondays and two on Tuesdays. If it weren't for one of my Monday students, I would think that I am a great flute teacher.

Angela, the student I've been teaching the longest, is a diligent 12-year-old who has long fingers and a naturally good tone. She comes from a typical Orange County Asian family; I think her parents push her to do well in everything--tennis, swimming, flute, school, etc. I'm sure her room is always clean too. She has improved steadily since starting lessons.

Tosin is a man from Nigeria who is in the states for school. Although he is busy and sometimes cancels our lessons (well in advance), he is a good student. He practices a lot for our lessons, and he listens well (I'd hope so--he's 27). He's improving steadily.

Natalie is a new student--we've had just two lessons so far (tonight will be the third), but I will have fun teaching her. She is a freshman at a local high school, and she is intimidated by the [snobby] older flute players. Although she has a good sound, we're working on the fundamentals now (scales, reading notes) and on not getting frustrated/flustered when she messes up.

And then there's Annie-Jo. She is a 9-year-old from England living here with her family for 6 months. I have taught others as young as she is, so I don't think the issues stem solely from age. Annie-Jo talks incessantly--her stories start off sounding like they're related to what I've just told her about flute, but then they tangent off and keep going and going. It's hard for me to get a word in edgewise, and so I end up having to be stern with her. But it isn't just the talking. In the three months or so that I've been teaching her, I think she has made about three weeks' worth of improvement. I give her basically the same assignments each week because she either hasn't done them at all or she hasn't made any change/improvement. I do think she practices. Another problem: her mother. Annie-Jo's mom is also a beginner flute player, so I think she tells Annie-Jo how to do things; often, those things are in direct opposition to whatever I've told or assigned Annie-Jo. (Oh, and after talking with the mother a few times, I see where Annie-Jo gets the incessant talking from.)

I think it's time for a new teaching plan with Annie-Jo. Usually, I don't have to do much preparation for my lessons. I set up my flute, the chair, the music stand, and then, when the student arrives, I look over what I assigned him/her last week and start from there. Maybe Annie-Jo needs even more structure: a written out quiz she must start immediately upon arrival while I put her flute together for her (instead of her putting her flute together, which has become a time where she slowly puts together the flute while rambling on and on); a rule sheet with the number one rule of "no story-telling"; a requirement that she repeat my instructions to her after I give them... Look out, Annie-Jo!--you're about to be hit with Extreme Flute Teaching!

I must be very busy to have not posted in almost a week. But I am as far away from busy at work as I've ever been. The past couple of weeks have just dragged by. If the proposal writer position weren't basically indispensable, I would wonder how much longer we'd be around, because no work is coming in for us (the reason being the sales force has been recently reorganized, and we work closely with them and depend on the sales people to bring proposal prospects to us). But really, if they were going to lay off any proposal writers, it would be proposal writer S and/or proposal writer J before me. They are slackers, slow learners, one of them has ADD and says the most nonsensical things all the time, and their proposals are sub-par. So there.

Phil and Katrina's wedding was this past Saturday. It turned out great. I had Friday off to do the bridesmaid stuff and go to the rehearsal and dinner... even took a few "girl talk" minutes with Katrina as she was quite nervous about the wedding night. The wedding was on Saturday at 11:30, and the reception was at the Summit House in Fullerton, which was really nice. Katrina was a beautiful bride.

This past week, I've had a few "sick" pregnancy days. They haven't been bad, but I'm definitely counting down the days 'til the second trimester. I'm at 10 weeks 3 days today--over 1/4 of the way through the pregnancy already.

One more tidbit of news: Joe and Ricci Brosseau's baby boy, Jeremiah (Miles) Tobin, was born late on Sunday, October 24. He weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces, was 19 inches long, and has light hair! Congratulations!

I'm still not feeling like blogging, but I'm doing it anyway. I should be gearing up for my 100th post, which I think occurs next post or the one after that (it seems blogger has been stuck at 97 for a couple of my posts).

Those two prospective flute students from last night will now become weekly students, which makes my total student list add up to... 3. Actually, ideally I'd like to stick to 3, max 4, while I work full-time and edit (and cook/clean, etc.).

Back in the swing of things
This is my second day back at work, and things are going fine. I didn't experience much jet lag at all, which is nice.

I miss Ellie (Nate and Louise's daughter). She's quite cute. One of her favorite activities is to say, "Sase! Sase!" (chase) and run around one of their armchairs while someone chases her. When the adult feels it's time to stop (it's tiring!), she'll say, "Mo-wee," which means more.

Upon returning to work yesterday, I found out that I had the opportunity to switch desks with someone (the situation is too lengthy to describe, but it involves a whiny guy who doesn't want to move back to his old desk though he's being asked, so instead he asked me to move to his old place and he'd move to mine. Gosh, I guess that wasn't so lengthy). Though I like my current location (it's tucked away and has a window view, and no one can walk up behind me without my knowing--and the other location has none of these benefits), this move would move me away from annoying coworker. Hmm. Tempting. It's funny to me that whiny coworker would even want my desk, though, because I don't think he and annoying coworker get along at all. I guess he likes the people over at his old desk even less. But I don't think I'm going to give him the satisfaction. Moving both him and me makes absolutely no sense; it would probably even ruffle some feathers (even with a "directive" from boss, annoying coworker would probably realize this was something either whiny guy or I requested--this may hurt her feelings, which I don't want to do. She may also be "mad" at me for having agreed to a move that would put whiny guy next to her, since I know she doesn't like him). So, I don't think I'm going to do it, but I just find it interesting. The end.

Frustration at work
A coworker has really been getting on my nerves. This isn't annoying salesperson--thank goodness (she's gone)--but it's someone who sits basically right next to me in our little "pod." At first, it was personality stuff, and now that I'm annoyed at those things, little mannerisms and "lower level" things are bugging me too. It's all going downhill.

Personality things:
-She is such a complainer. I now know I can't recommend any restaurants to her anymore, because she comes back to work after going to the restaurant whining about how much she hated it.
-She is overweight (probably "obese"--since it's over 30 pounds) but still goes to the vending machine several times a day and eats candy. Now that she's "on a diet," she complains nonstop about what she can't eat anymore. She has told us her goal is to lose 30 pounds by the middle of December, and if she does, her big "reward" is to go out for a big meal at Chili's. Hello!--that is not a "reward"--that's really a punishment since you'll be working against what you've been working toward for months.
-She'll turn around and start right in on some conversation she must have been having in her head and expect me to know what she's talking about. It's like she's rereading an e-mail I sent her yesterday or the day before or something, so she'll turn around and say something like, "Yeah, with that you're going to have to find out what the answer would be from Customer Service."
-She doesn't listen and always interrupts.
-She is annoyingly protective of and anxious about her 21-year-old son. She calls him all the time. She talks about how she can't go to sleep at night until he gets home, because she's so worried. She hears sirens on the street near her house and assumes it's because her son has been killed in an accident.
-The only change she is willing to go along with is one she suggests. I created a style guide for our department and did a reworking of all of our AutoText to update grammar, punctuation, etc. I also fixed consistency in spacing (some sentences had 2 spaces after periods, some had 1, some even had 3--I went with the Chicago Manual of Style, since that's what our company supposedly uses, and corrected everything to 1 space), and she is still complaining about that 9 months later.

Mannerisms:
-She talks weird. She halfway smiles whenever she talks (not bad I guess), so when she says her Ps (like in "park" or "apple"), her upper teeth touch her bottom lip to make the sound (instead of both lips coming together to form the sound).
-Whenever she gets up from her chair, she does this annoying little "grunt" thing. I know she has back pain, but jeez!

OK, and now it's time for me to do what would help me: begin praying for her. Anyone else have ideas?

Random thoughts
So things are actually setting in that annoying salesperson Kate is actually gone. Her last day was about 2 weeks ago. I'm loving this. I'm no longer wondering if I really want to answer my phone when it rings. My heart no longer drops when I receive a new request and wonder who the salesperson is. This is great!

Our floor tile finally came in. We bought 700 square feet of the stuff back in November (that's right, 7 months ago) and were told it was out of stock but would be in by January. Obviously, January came and went, and so did February, March, April, May... In May we went in and picked a new tile that was more expensive (but we didn't pay anything). That one was out of stock too, but it just came in this past week. They're delivering it for free today... I'm not too impressed with their customer service. But pretty soon we'll be able to get rid of our 1977 brown carpet. Yay!

I still can't wait to do laundry. The washer and dryer are being delivered on Saturday.

My husband is working so hard. It's definitely wearing on him that the company isn't doing much better. He's putting in all this work without a whole lot of "return on investment." :( I made some of his favorite food (my meatloaf, which I never had growing up but which isn't too bad, and my mom's potato casserole, and salad too) last night because I see how hard he is working and I love him.

No appreciation
That's what our department gets. The CEO sent out a company-wide e-mail today to thank some people for the success we had at a trade show this week. Now I personally didn't do anything for the show, but 3 of our department members did weeks' worth of work on it, developing custom collaterals, presentations, tabletops, etc. But because some other people in our company, whose position titles and department titles have changed to be internal (no longer Marketing!--their department is now Employee Development), have held onto the task of actually attending the trade shows because it's fun and they didn't want to give it up, they get the thanks. The CEO didn't even mention our department, let alone the 3 girls who did so much work. "THANKS again to [employee #1 who didn't do anything] and [employee #2 who didn't do anything] for handling the AHIP exhibit preparations," he writes. Grr! Yeah, folks, our department is relatively small (17 of us), but we do a lot and no one even notices?!

Wonderful news!
Annoying salesperson took me aside yesterday "to talk." I thought, "OK, she's either going to lay out all the things I did wrong on her last proposal, or she's going to talk about one of my coworkers and didn't want them to hear it." But no! She told me that she has submitted her 2 weeks' notice! What?! Yes! I said, "But you're doing so well here!" (and she is--she's the #3 salesperson in the company). But, apparently, this new "opportunity" was too good to pass up. I had to make a conscious effort to stop smiling and act disappointed. This will make my working life a lot nicer. :) :) :)

Well, things have calmed down at work, and I have much more time now to post. And I have a personal/work victory to report: last week, I scheduled a meeting with annoying salesperson Kate for this past Monday. In the meeting request, I wrote that we should meet to discuss "some ways we can improve how we work together"--so she expected something. I wrote out the 3 main issues I needed to discuss (I have to write these things out or else I become flustered and usually start crying), and off I went on Monday morning! Things went VERY well! Here's what I came away with (these are the notes I brought over to Kate's office but now with post-meeting additions; Kate asked that I send her a copy of this so that she could remember):

Multiple drafts
▪ Sending multiple proposal drafts back and forth is not the most efficient use of our time. When you send me a draft that is not as updated as the one I’m working on, I have to go back and forth between documents and try to update from one to the other.
▪ Solution: one draft. That is, we have an initial meeting to go over what needs to be done on the proposal, including reports to request, people in other departments to go to, etc. (I will schedule this meeting on our calendars within 1-2 days of receipt of the proposal.) Then I work on the proposal (with input from you as necessary question-by-question) and send you my final draft when I’m done—with plenty of lead time for you. Then you work on your input/changes and get your final draft, including executive summary, cover letter, etc. to me at least one day before the proposal needs to be mailed. No more changes should be made after this. This will give me time to make edits, ensure that the proposal follows our department style guide, add in formatting and page breaks, and print and bind the proposal.
- The edits are very important to me. Proposal writers get audited each month on at least one RFP each, and the last RFP of mine that got audited was one you and I did together; because of all the typos and small errors (which, for the most part, were entered last minute), I got docked enough points that my proposal fell below the department standard. This reflects poorly on both of us.
- We will consider our “due date” of the proposal one day before mailing, so that we can work with that as our deadline.

Telephone & time management
▪ It’s a waste of both your time and mine for you to be typing on your computer/doing other things while I’m on the phone with you.
- I could be working on things I still need to get done for you or other salespeople.
▪ It is not necessary to call immediately after you send me an e-mail. I will read the e-mail immediately. Say anything you need to tell me in the text of the e-mail. Calling me just wastes more time.
- You are concerned that I will make assumptions or inferences. Solution: I will always reply to those e-mails and reword what it is I think you want me to do. If I’m wrong, then we should talk on the phone.

Duties that are not the proposal writer’s
▪ Making copies, printing non-proposal documents, training on computer programs
- While I am happy to help, the proposal writer is not the one who should be doing these things. It wastes my time and takes time away from proposals for other salespeople or from your own proposals.
- Solution: Tiffany. From now on, I will copy Tiff on the proposal files we send out, so that she can keep the files on her computer. I will help her if necessary when she needs to print/bind extra copies of things.

Things I (Katie Varela) will keep in mind and work on:
▪ Not making assumptions
- I will think outside the box and not assume that, just because we don’t have data “available,” I can’t get it somewhere. I will identify data that doesn’t seem to “fit” exactly what we want and either find out if we can get the right data or get a good explanation about why we can’t.
▪ Being proactive
- I will be more proactive at the beginning of the proposal process about going to outside departments and subject matter experts (SMEs) to get data reports and answers to other questions.


So I will report back here on whatever progress is made! :)

I realize it looks like I don't like my job if you read the posts below, but the funny thing is that I love it! Kate is the only thing/person that/who stresses me out, but even when I'm working with her, I still enjoy the proposal process. So I do love my job. ;)

Have Awana (I'm a listener--I listen to the kids say their memory verses) and music rehearsal tonight at church, which always makes my Wednesdays very long (work 8:30-5:00, rush home to eat a quick dinner, Awana 6:15-8:00, rehearsal 8:00-9:15 or 9:30).

What I Do
by Katie Varela

Job Summary according to Beech Street:
Responsible for preparing proposals for existing and prospective clients, evaluating client requirements and coordinating/updating information. Will provide assistance to sales personnel including preparation of "Requests for Proposals" (RFP's). Screens RFP's for specific and/or unusual requirements; inform department manager of special needs. Performs word processing of rough and final draft or various materials involving varied and specialized proposal requests. Requires an Associates degree or equivalent work experience. Two years in a healthcare environment preferred. Must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills. Requires a working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and 40-wpm typing.

Job Summary according to real life:
Responsible for preparing proposals for existing and prospective clients, evaluating client requirements and coordinating/updating information. Will provide personal assistance to sales personnel, especially lonely 45-year-old condescending cat owners, including preparation of "Requests for Proposals" (RFPs). Screens RFPs for specific and/or unusual requirements; informs department manager of special needs. Performs word processing of rough and final draft or various materials involving varied and specialized proposal requests, including making copies, downloading files, teaching basic computer skills, and answering 25 to 30 calls per day from said cat-owning salesperson. Requires an Associates degree or equivalent work experience. Two years in a healthcare environment preferred. Ability to be subservient, submissive, and patient preferred. Must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills. Requires a working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and ability to teach said programs to stupid salespeople and 40-wpm typing.

Hello again. I have some interesting news to report on the work front:

On Friday, Kate sprung a good deal of work on me at the last minute (her exact words on the phone: "We are going to do a proposal, but trust me, you aren't going to have to do any work"). I came to find out yesterday that she has known about it for 3 weeks but just didn't do anything about it until Friday, even though this work is due today. Because she knew I would push back and remind her of our department and company turnaround standards (in this case, at least 10 business days), she tried to push some of this work off on someone in another department who knows basically nothing about proposals (she just changed positions from accountant to client relations manager, both unrelated to proposals). Once I realized what was happening, I tried to make the girl (Martha) feel better for not knowing how to do anything, and I told her that it's my job, not hers, so if Kate asked (told) her to do anything else, just direct her to me. By the end of the day, I got a call from the boss of Martha's boss (Carol) saying she was so sorry about the mixup and the last-minute work. That's when I found out it had been in Kate's hands for 3 weeks, but she hadn't done anything about it. Apparently, Carol and Kate got together 3 weeks ago and Kate decided they wouldn't do a proposal for this prospect; she'd just "write a letter." Of course, that would have been too much work for Kate (a 2-page letter? No!). I told Carol that this is something I have come to expect but am not going to continue to put up with (and Kate knows that, which is why she didn't come to me to do the work like she should have, even if it was last minute). I also told Carol the proposal would be a good one and I'd get it out on time. I could tell she was upset with Kate. That made me happy! The more advocates I have, the more people see what Kate is really like, the better I feel. I do not want to get Kate fired, but I do want people to understand that I'm working hard! I also think that the more people who understand what Kate is like, the more likely she will have her blinders removed to see that she treats people like dirt.

Nothing too new going on this week at work. I just finished some not-in-my-job-description work for salesperson Kate, so I think she'll be off my back for THAT kind of thing for a few days (we'll see).

Last night we went to Jon's parents' house for dinner (yum!), which we have done on most Mondays for the past couple of months.

Tidbit: I will be going today or tomorrow to get a passport picture taken, as my passport expired in February 2003, and I'll need the new one before September! :) ~K

This has been a very busy week at work, which is why I haven't posted. Annoying salesperson Kate is monopolizing my time, something she seems to be very good at doing. Oh wait, my phone's ringing again...and it's her.

I'm back, after having explained to Kate over the phone how to do a Ctrl+Find. She thinks of me as her personal assistant, but no, I am her proposal writer. I write proposals for her. I do not train her on computer programs. I do not make copies for her. I do not call other employees to ask them questions for her. I do not stand by at my telephone waiting for calls from her every 15 minutes. As a matter of fact, I have 6 other salespeople for whom I write proposals.

OK, I feel a little better now. And I'm glad it's Friday! As for plans for the weekend, I think we'll mostly be relaxing, especially since the weekend after this one will be much busier: hosting a Salt & Pepper dinner at our house Friday 3/19, going to a baby shower Saturday 3/20, and more I'm sure that I've forgotten. I do have at least one editing job to work on this weekend, though, so that will take up a bit of time.

Oh yeah, and we bought tickets to go to Germany in September! We will be visiting Jon's best friend Nate, and Nate's wife and daughter Louise and Ellie at the military base in Wiesbaden. We are so excited! The trip is September 3-12. Jon even found a decent price for a non-stop flight on Priceline (cost less than a flight with one layover on Hotwire!). Yay! :)