Say Goodnight Gracie....

There are many unforgettable closings and goodbyes that are etched in our memories from decades ago. George Burns' "Say Goodnight Gracie", Carol Burnett's ear tug at the end of each show, and who could forget the series finale of the Newhart show, when Bob wakes up next to Emily, (lusty low-voiced Suzanne Pleshette from "The Bob Newhart Show") and tells her he had the strangest dream...he was an inkeeper in Vermont, with a cast of crazy characters, including Larry, his brother Darrell, and his other brother Darrell.

Since the day I started this blog, November 3, 2008, I have dreamed of this, my final blog entry, and I don't need to tell you what that means:

The nightmare is over!!!!


I've been trying to figure out how I could summarize this moment for you that would be hilarious and unlike anything I have written before.

I came up short.

You see, I've spent almost 3 months documenting this "journey" as a way to release some stress and to keep you AND me laughing.

And it worked.

And here I am, at the end of this journey. You would think that this would be the entry I had prepared WAY in advance. It should have been the FIRST one I wrote. Of course, that would've been bad karma probably, or as I like to call it, bad "ju ju".

While I have not run out of material, I feel like cutting to the chase. (If you need me to make you laugh in the future, just call, we'll have coffee!)

Here it is, "by the numbers"...
(and for those of you who got our '08 Christmas letter, yes, "by the numbers" is stolen from there, and if you didn't get our Christmas letter, I'm sorry, I'm just not that into you...) ;-)

~Days since my notification of downsizing - 142

~# of weeks in job search - 12

~Hours spent in job search activities - 263

~Number of networking contacts I made - 68

~Number of contacts with three eyes and claws - 1

~Number of jobs I applied to - 53

~Number of companies I actually got an interview with - 4

(actually, make that three, Apex Printing doesn't count...)

~Ounces of coffee consumed and home and out and about - 7,128

~Conversations with God - I lost count

~Number of interviews with the ONE company that finally had the brains to snag me, (oooh, sorry, my ego flexing has been on hold....not anymore!) and the ONE company that would be at the very TOP of my list to work for:

3.5 - (That last one was a "technicality", hence the .5...)

The company that believes in me as much as I believed in myself (most days!):

LifeTime Fitness

My title:

Manager of Member Relations

My life:

Changed forever

My worries:

Over

My gratitude:

Immeasurable

My desire for coffee:

Still off the charts

My dream job?

Yes (until my 24 employees start crabbing at me, but then I'll just describe the last 142 days to them and then they'll shut the hell up...)

Do I think getting laid off is the best thing that could've happened to me?

Last Thursday...no. Friday...where is the "Hell Yes!" button?

My commute:

14 miles to the LifeTime Corporate Headquarters in Chanhassen MN

My passion for health, fitness and wellness:

As enormous as my passion for finding a job

Was it a rollercoaster ride?

OMG YES!!!

LifeTime and me?

The perfect "fit".

My days of grinding the beans:

Over

Do I care?

Hell no

Did I ever get those windows washed?

Dang...

Feel good inside?

Yes. I do.

:-)

"Sometimes through the winds of change we find our true direction..."

"Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be"