The days are just flying by!  I’ve been down to Seattle (and gotten the 3rd degree on both sides of the border), spent many, many hours on the road, had a weekend with my niece, gotten acclimatized to my new office, unpacked new gear, and created a go-forward strategy for my main focus at work right now.  Phew!

For those of you who asked about my new job… I am the director of marketing and interactive for a marketing company which specializes in media-based organizations.  I’m currently working on creating a rich media experience for a network’s web presence.  …I’m really enjoying it!

All this, and Michael and I will be heading off for the Caribbean cruise in two and a half short weeks from now!  The tickets for the cruise and the air finally arrived, and now we’re just counting down the days until we head out for a much-needed vacation!

What have you been up to, recently?  Anything exciting?

So, tomorrow’s the big day!  I’m heading into my new office with laptop in tow, ready to get started on my next chapter…  I’m really excited about all this opportunity can be!

This afternoon, I had a really nice lunch with my Dad, as we talked about my new job, our upcoming cruise in three weeks, and life in general.  My Dad is such a great guy, and always has a way of making me smile with the funny things he says.  I’m glad he made it in from Surrey to share some time with me on my last day before my new position begins.

Thursday morning, I’m off to Seattle for business, and will be back on Friday evening… I haven’t spent much time in Seattle the last few years, so I’m up in the air as to what I’ll be doing that evening, but I’m sure I’ll find an interesting restaurant to try and/or shops to peruse after the business day comes to a close.  If you have any suggestions for evening activities in the Queen Anne area, please let me know!

…I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday!

…And I now have a new job!

I’m very excited to report that I received a great job offer today, and I accepted!  I’m thrilled with the new position, and all the opportunities it provides — And, it’s with a friend, and colleague with whom I’ve worked for a few years on contract.  The new company will definitely utilize all my talents, and give me new reasons to extend my current abilities.

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who put out the word, as well as sent opportunities my way!

And now, I’m really looking forward to seeing where this new chapter of my life takes me!

ps: No, I never did ever catch Oprah during my week of unemployment.  I’ll have to learn what daytime tv is during the Christmas season, or something. 

And, it sure is!

This whole day has felt, well, weird.  It’s hard to put my finger on why, but, now that I’ve realized what day it is, I’ll chalk it up to that!

Are you off to celebrate this fine day of mystery and superstition?  I am off to a housewarming party tonight, which will definitely be fun!  …This weekend is still very much up in the air, but I do have a lot of little things to get to.  And, I am hoping to get together with Zoë this weekend so that we can finalize what phase 1 of our wine site project looks like.

Good times!

…So much for taking it a bit easy for a week or two while I let the stresses of the past few months subside!  I’ve already been out for job interviews / information sessions on opportunities, and I’ve barely been unemployed for three days.  I am focused on finding a really great fit for me, (and the prospective company, too) on many levels.  This isn’t the time to jump into just anything because it sounds cool.

There are so many factors that I must consider when making these important decisions.  Let’s face it, I’ll be spending more time doing my job than I spend at home, so I want to enjoy the experience and feel like I’m an important part of the team.  Points of consideration for me during this process are:

– Office environment and team
– Opportunity for advancement and growth
– Salary and perks
– Position responsibilities
– Office location
– Where the company is planning to go in the next few years

I’ve got a lot of food for thought, and I think I really need to take the time to properly consider my next move. 

I might as well put a feeler out to you, too!  If you know of a company looking for high-level marketing, design, web services, or flash talent, please let me know!

  Drop me a comment, or email me at info@netchick.net — I’d love to hear from you!

The 2006 Canadian Blog Awards are now looking for nominations! If you enjoy my blog, why not go over and nominate me in “Best Local Blog” or the “Best Blog” category?  I figure it’s a great way to find new readers, as well as put a spotlight on some really great bloggers in Canada…

I see several very worthy candidates in many of the categories already!  I’m looking forward to seeing the results in December!

Has your blog ever been nominated for an award?  That’s actually how M and I met a few years ago… Our story, in case you haven’t heard it, is coming to a Canadian magazine soon (how neat is that?)!  Link and story to be posted in an upcoming blog entry.

I just had to mention this, because I think it’s rather humorous: We’ve been living in our beautiful downtown home for 6.5 months, and we still don’t have *anything* up on our walls.  No art, no enlarged photos… Not a thing. 

How sad is that, when both M and I are artists?  We really must get out of our decorating slump!  I can’t wait for M to paint me something pretty, or cool, so that I can adorn the walls with his talented output!

What have you decorated your walls with?  Do you have a favourite style or type of art that you’ve stayed with, or is your wall decor all over the map?

Hey kids!  How’s things?  Things for me have been relatively calm, but not eat-bonbons-on-the-couch-while-watching-Oprah kind of relaxed, though… I’ve actually been keeping relatively busy, while using my office as a launch pad for my job hunt as well as to give a minor amount of support to the team who are also here to make our transition to unemployment easier.

And, I have to ask myself:  How on earth did I accumulate so much crap at the office?  I was going through my desk and office yesterday, and I have to say, I’m not a packrat at home, so what is up with my office habits?  I think I’ve been so focused on my job that I haven’t made time to really properly organize my surroundings.  That’s going to change for a future position!

Well, I’d better head off!  I have two meetings this afternoon to attend…  So much for sitting down to Oprah today!