A Job!

Allright, since this morning’s morning cup was basically a shot of espresso, here’s an afternoon mocha with some more caffeine and a lot of sweetness mixed in!

Yesterday morning was Matt’s day off but we still needed to get up early to go to the REI Issaquah’s one year anniversary staff event they were having at 8 am (I don’t understand morning people). We woke up a bit late and rushed out to door pulling on jackets and boots for our hike later that day. As we drove out east we were blessed with the sight of the Cascades and the base of Mount Rainier—usually all shrouded in clouds. In fact, in the two weeks Matt’s been working there he’s never seen those mountains!

We got to REI (late, of course) and the whole staff was assembled in the community room eating pancakes and listening to the manager talk about how well the store’s done and honor a few people. We got our pancakes from Dey (pronounced Yi—we met him earlier at the Flagship store remember? He interviewed Matt originally for this job, and now is actually paired up with him in a mentoring program) and then stood awkwardly between the door and the trash can since there were no more seats left. I had a Styrofoam cup (shouldn’t REI know better?) in one hand and a plate of pancakes in the other and awkwardly tried to balance them and eat but eventually gave up and put the cup on the serving table. After all the awards and honors were given out, people began to mingle and talk and I got to meet some more of Matt’s coworkers and his boss.

We had just bought some duct tape for my heels (to prevent blisters) and were headed out for our hike at North Bend when I chanced to check my email on my phone. It was a day past a week since my interview with Delta and I still hadn’t heard back from them. I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket, so I’ve been sending in cover letters and resumes to other openings as well…but my heart just sank as I sent one to a dentists’ office, a medical simulation technology lab, and even considered nannying again. I didn’t want to take a step backwards! I had just barely made it to the career position I wanted in marketing and in a field I loved (boats! Yes I’m my father’s child) and it was so disheartening to think of going all the way back to start. But these are tough economical times and I need to work (and soon!) so if that meant waitressing, then I’d need to get some comfortable shoes. I saw I had an email from Delta Marine…I read:

“Hi Kaitlynn,

It was a pleasure meeting with you […]Thank you also for your patience in allowing us some time to think about how we are positioned for 2009 and a storm, if one should hit us. We are very cautious of the uncertain economic times and are hoping for a prosperous year to come.”

My heart was pounding…did this mean they were going to play it safe and decide not to hire me? I kept scrolling down…

“In light of that, we would like to welcome you to our team!”

I looked up at Matt and a big ole’ smile spread over my face. “You got it?” He asked. “I GOT IT!” And we proceeded to produce a display of silly excitement and mushy kisses in front of one of his coworkers who was leaving.

I somehow managed to calm down enough to read the rest and realized there was an attachment with my salary and benefits so we went back into REI and to the lunch lounge computer where I opened it up. Now the salary was what I had been making at Grubb & Ellis, and was more than when I started at Driscoll, but quite a bit short of what I was making when I left Driscoll. After discussing how to approach negotiations with Matt and with Matt’s boss even (really nice guy—named Matt—who’s very business savvy) I called ready to negotiate but still willing to take the job no matter what. It turns out she was wondering if I could start working informally next week just doing the newsletter, and come in for half an hour that day for her to show me how and go over the benefits.

Matt and I had to cancel our North Bend hike, but we did end up going back to Discovery Park and having a wonderful hike there. One of the first things I said after I got the email was, “This means we can get a dog!!!”

Matt and I are definitely pet people. Not just pet people, animal people in general. We had passes to the San Diego zoo and once I start getting a paycheck we’ll become Seattle Zoo members as well. We get googley-eyed over every dog we pass, and are still like kids in that we point out every squirrel that we see when we go on walks. We weren’t allowed to have pets at our last apartment (we even considered a guinea pig), so two or three times a week we’d head down to dog beach in San Diego and play with other people’s dogs. Last night we were both up until 2 in bed with the laptop looking online for dogs—so to say we’re ready is an understatement! We have to wait until after our Thanksgiving vacation (I don’t want a dog feeling we abandoned it right off the bat!), but we’ll keep you posted!

After our hike I cleaned up and drove myself (yes, you heard me) to Delta without getting lost or frazzled! I met some of the office girls, found out my job for the next week, and when she asked if I wanted to go over the benefits I said yes. At the end of her explanation of the insurance and vacation hours and all that, when she asked if there was anything else I‘d like to discuss I said yes again with my heart in my mouth. I explained how I understood these economic times were difficult for everyone, but then went on to reiterate what I was brining to the company, and in light of my previous salary that I thought a middle ground between what they had offered and what I had been making was fair. She agreed and said she was sure that would be no problem! I was so shocked at how easy she was with it I thought, “Dang, I could have asked for more!” But it’s still more than I was making two months ago, and I’m at a high profile company in the field I want to be…I have no reason to complain!!!

That night our friends from college Thomas and Mica Kucera came over (Mica was kind enough to view the apartment before we moved up here, so we knew we weren’t being scammed or moving into a dump!) and we went out to Thai food. Matt and I went to their wedding in 2006 shortly before we were engaged, and since then they’ve moved up here and Thomas (who is in the Army) has served in Iraq. Mica sent “WA Update” emails and that was the inspiration for these “Morning Cups.” So even though its been (wow) a year and a half since we’ve actually seen them, it hasn’t really felt like it and we were really excited to reconnect with them.

After they left I remembered a bottle of wine I bought at Wilsons Creek Winery with Nadine on our wine tour that I’ve been saving for whenever I got a new job. The day of my interview I put it in the fridge to chill as an act of faith, and every time I would open the fridge and see the bottle it was a reminder to say a little prayer that God would provide a job. Matt and I shared a toast and put the rest away for a good dinner I’m making up tonight.

Well I’m off to a Queen Anne Artists’ Trunk Show—I’m finishing up my third cup of coffee and am buzzed and raring to go! Thanks to all of you who kept my job situation in your prayers—and in case you didn’t know my brother also got a job the day before I did at a high end men’s clothing store called John Varvados! We are truly blessed!

(now we just need a puppy…Lord? haha)