I am much happier here than I have been in a long time. So, I felt the urge to list the especially wonderful aspects of my new life, because ... well ... let's be realistic. It could all change in a heartbeat. But somehow I have the feeling that I really do like it here!
1. Seeing my son in his French blue down jacket with his red fleece race car hat.
2. Sledding--if you don't like sledding, you are a communist. And you probably hate puppies and coffee too.
3. Not stepping on a scale--or caring, really, what the number would be if I did.
4. Cheese
5. Cheese
6. The new cheese I discovered at the Co-op with some fancy French name I can't pronounce.
7. Driving to work early in the AM, while it is still dark, quiet and seeing the orange glow of glass being blown into beautiful shapes through the window. I am so proud of what my company makes.
8. Working with an amazingly fun and talented team of designers and visual merchandisers.
9. Going to the local hardware store for $1.00 coffee each morning (that I like better than Starbucks) and gas I don't have to pump. They have everything there ... this morning I bought feminine products, a banana and a pair of black socks. All my other black socks were dirty and I am sick of laundry.
20. My knitting circle. Most wonderful group of women!
21. My son's preschool. He couldn't be happier.
22. Snow plow operators.
23. Not locking doors (I know I still should, but the last theft in my town was 17 years ago. Murder ... never happened.)
24. My corner office from which I can watch the snow fall.
25. My husband who taught me everything I needed to know about staying warm and driving safe.
16. Bun warmers in my husband's car.
17. A garage.
18. My beautiful surroundings.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
My new gigs
It has taken me forever to get to this post. Mostly because the subject is what has been distracting me from writing. And of all the things that have happened to me since moving to Vermont, leaving IBM and taking a job at Simon Pearce has been second in importance only to losing my baby boy. In fact, as much as I hate to admit that there is any inkling of a silver lining to losing my child, if I must, then this would be it. And one day I might just find out that it was my very own guardian angel who told me to check the Jobs in Vermont website that day.
After two years of being dissatisfied with my job, and coming to the conclusion that I was either going to be laid off or have suck it up and dread every weekday morning, I finally decided that life was too short. The first moment I had the chance to snatch up a better opportunity, I would. If I had to wait until Aaron was done with training, so be it, but soon .... some time soon .... I would get a new job. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted. I knew it would have to do with art, interior design, writing or handling baggage. I didn't care. But if I could live off of it, I would do it.
Here is where the concept of flow comes in. Shortly after we arrived here, when I was still pregnant with Jason, my husband took us to eat at a restaurant called Simon Pearce. I only knew of it through my mother-in-law. And I wasn't all that excited to be going to a place that my mother-in-law recommended ... as I am sure you can understand.
Simon Pearce was an English-born glass blower, who grew up in Ireland. After marrying an American woman, he moved his studio to the beautiful Quechee, Vermont. Some 30 years later, his tablewear is still hand made in the USA (most of which happens in Vermont), and he has an amazing restuarant on the Ottaquechee River where all of the entrees and drinks are served on or in Simon Pearce pottery and glass. It is a truly incredible experience. For those who appreciate both hand-made items as well as beautiful tablewear, once you have a Simon Pearce glass in your hand, you realize that you have to get a job that pays enough to buy them. I looked Aaron right in the eye at lunch and said, "One day, I want to run the marketing for a company like this!"
A week later, we went to our local ... (only) ... Chinese restaurant. My fortune cookie insert read, "Success is on its way to you." I taped it to a votive candle holder and lit it everytime I looked for a job inside and outside of IBM. Even during a few phone interviews. Two weeks later, I went back to the chinese restaurant and found my fortune cookie's insert to read, "You have a love of all things artistic." Lather, rinse and repeat ... I taped it to my votive and believed in flow.
The next week I saw a posting for a marketing manager position at Simon Pearce. While they were looking for a somewhat junior marketing manager, I applied anyway. Long story short, we both realized that that it was a good fit. They ultimately needed marketing leadership, and I desperately wanted to be that person! So, let me introduce myself as the new ... and first, ever, really ... director of marketing at Simon Pearce. I love my job ... my .boss ... my staff ... and the designer James.
Oh, and by the way ... the quarterly executives' meeting was at Simon and Pia's house in Norwich, VT, where I live. Here I was, at a corporate meeting sitting around the fire looking at strategy charts on a projector and sneaking peeks outside the window at the snow falling on the tree branches and thanking God ... and Jason, maybe, for placing me where I am today!
After two years of being dissatisfied with my job, and coming to the conclusion that I was either going to be laid off or have suck it up and dread every weekday morning, I finally decided that life was too short. The first moment I had the chance to snatch up a better opportunity, I would. If I had to wait until Aaron was done with training, so be it, but soon .... some time soon .... I would get a new job. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I wanted. I knew it would have to do with art, interior design, writing or handling baggage. I didn't care. But if I could live off of it, I would do it.
Here is where the concept of flow comes in. Shortly after we arrived here, when I was still pregnant with Jason, my husband took us to eat at a restaurant called Simon Pearce. I only knew of it through my mother-in-law. And I wasn't all that excited to be going to a place that my mother-in-law recommended ... as I am sure you can understand.
Simon Pearce was an English-born glass blower, who grew up in Ireland. After marrying an American woman, he moved his studio to the beautiful Quechee, Vermont. Some 30 years later, his tablewear is still hand made in the USA (most of which happens in Vermont), and he has an amazing restuarant on the Ottaquechee River where all of the entrees and drinks are served on or in Simon Pearce pottery and glass. It is a truly incredible experience. For those who appreciate both hand-made items as well as beautiful tablewear, once you have a Simon Pearce glass in your hand, you realize that you have to get a job that pays enough to buy them. I looked Aaron right in the eye at lunch and said, "One day, I want to run the marketing for a company like this!"
A week later, we went to our local ... (only) ... Chinese restaurant. My fortune cookie insert read, "Success is on its way to you." I taped it to a votive candle holder and lit it everytime I looked for a job inside and outside of IBM. Even during a few phone interviews. Two weeks later, I went back to the chinese restaurant and found my fortune cookie's insert to read, "You have a love of all things artistic." Lather, rinse and repeat ... I taped it to my votive and believed in flow.
The next week I saw a posting for a marketing manager position at Simon Pearce. While they were looking for a somewhat junior marketing manager, I applied anyway. Long story short, we both realized that that it was a good fit. They ultimately needed marketing leadership, and I desperately wanted to be that person! So, let me introduce myself as the new ... and first, ever, really ... director of marketing at Simon Pearce. I love my job ... my .boss ... my staff ... and the designer James.
Oh, and by the way ... the quarterly executives' meeting was at Simon and Pia's house in Norwich, VT, where I live. Here I was, at a corporate meeting sitting around the fire looking at strategy charts on a projector and sneaking peeks outside the window at the snow falling on the tree branches and thanking God ... and Jason, maybe, for placing me where I am today!
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