Hey everybody --

About 20 minutes after I got home today, I got a phone call. It was from the place I applied a couple weeks ago. I GOT THE JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like most of the people I work with and I learned a lot from the place I'm at, but it also put me in the hospital twice this year and caused me a total of 2 or 3 months of sick days and vacation because I was too depressed to deal with it. We have a new "big boss" starting Tuesday -- the day I'll be turning in my resignation, LOL -- and one person in the production department is leaving as of Thursday next week. Yesterday they started teaching me and another guy to do some of her work. So they're out of luck on that front now, too.

I feel bad, kinda, but since the place literally has made me sick, I think it's a good move. It's like 18 cents an hour more, whooppee , but I knew that going in. This is a place that produces like 25 suburban papers, all of which have ONE reporter -- so I'm on my own, forced to dig up my own stories instead of having them handed to me, forced to start learning how to assign photos, and basically write a story a day when I'm used to writing 1 or 2 a week. I'm not at all convinced I can do it!, LOL, but it will be a good challenge. I've gotten away with being lazy for too long.

I start Jan. 14! Even better, I went to school with 2 people who currently work there, and 1 who I worked with for about 6 weeks at the place I'm at before he quit. So I'll already have some friends and it shouldn't be quite so lonely as being brand spanking new.

I know everybody is busy the next several days, but I think we ought to have a party in chat soon. I can't drink, with the Klonopin (found that out the hard way, oops!), but I'll buy a round for anybody else who wants one!

It is SO nice to be able to post GOOD news for once instead of my usual "I suck" posts. Maybe I can do that more often in the new year.

Candy