Spring into....something.

The real question is how many blogs I can start with "still in limbo"? I keep thinking things can't get weirder, but they do. This week we had one person, ONE, on vacation and it was nuts at work keeping up with his work and my work. It's a scary vision of the future if one more person leaves. Unless that person is me:) Just kidding. Even though I would be excited to start something new or move somewhere new or you know, actually KNOW what my life would be like next month, I would feel awful to leave my team with all the extra work. At this point, if someone else leaves the work would be almost insurmountable.

The lady who sits in the cube next to me got let go on friday. The mood was not what you would expect. She was ECSTATIC. She was jumping up and down and whooping. It definitely made getting let go seem like more of a reality. Anyways, the rumor is that more people are getting let go in April. scary.

The good news is I may have convinced my boss to let me move to either Dallas or DC and continue doing my current job. He has to figure out if it's legal for me to work at a verizon office if I'm technically working for both verizon and alltel. The other good news is I'm having lots of interviews with verizon for other positions, so hopefully one of those will come to fruition soon.

In non-work related news, my 10 mile cherry blossom run is next week! I get to go to DC and visit with my friends natallie and kate whom I love to death. It should be really fun minus the body beating I'm going to take at the race. I think I'm ready though. Then, after that I work for a few days and then leave to go visit the Lequires and see their beautiful new baby and play at the beach in charleston. It should definitely be a great time!

In limbo - still

Who knew that my life would be in limbo for the entire time I've lived here?

It's really interesting to be on the inside of a merger. I randomly took a class in grad school about mergers and aquisitions. We analyzed completed mergers and labeled them successful or unsuccessful and decided whether "synergies" were acheived. I never thought I would be on the other side as an employee. It's absolutely insane. Every single day is different. Some days I have nothing to do and I get two emails, but other days I am running around trying to get info for verizon and run the alltel side of the business. My media content team went from 12 to 5. Everyone has left and it feels like a ghost town on my floor. Friends who used to work next to me have been divested, moved to another building and no longer have access to my building. I have to be careful about what I say. I am classified as a shared resource which means I work for alltel and verizon. I can't tell verizon about alltel info and I can't tell alltel about verizon info. It gets really complicated when you have alltel, shared and verizon employees all in the same meeting.

The worst part is I have no new information besides that I am now a verizon employee and my benefits are changing. I still have no idea when or if my job is going away. I have heard everything from may to september to you'll be an employee forever if I have my way. It's incredibly disheartening. How are you supposed to plan your life? How do you even sign a lease? make vacation plans? know how much you need to save? How do you establish relationships if you're leaving?

As I said before, people are dropping like flies. Members of my team are now handling the jobs of three people when they were already super busy with the one position. My boss is leaving, her boss left already, and my new boss lives and works in dallas. So who do I even report to right now? It has been difficult to engage our counterparts at Verizon, but it seems to be coming together finally. Emails are getting answered and phone calls have been set up.

The good news is my fear has grown into apathy. I have accepted that I don't know my future at all. I'm trying to just take it day by day.

At Aunt Fay's Request...

So, apparently some people (at least within my family) actually read my blog and at aunt fay's request, I am going to start blogging again....starting NOW.

This has been a crazy six months. I graduated in may, moved the dog and my stuff to little rock, started a new job, made new friends, got adult furniture, learned new things, the usual life changing ridiculousness. Of course as my luck goes, three days after I started working it was announced to everyone's surprise that we were getting bought. That kicked off a whirlwind of emotions and very few actual answers. I have heard a dozen different dates, but it seems now that Verizon has the financing to move forward and that the date of the merger close should be sometime in january.

Initially, the idea of merging was scary and it will never be ideal, especially in light of our economic status and rampant layoffs across the country. But, after you've mulled over your impending doom and joblessness for six months, you start to come up with a life plan. I don't know if I'll have a job with Verizon, I don't know if I'll lose my job in Little Rock (although it seems pretty likely), I don't even know when anything will actually occur or when I'll even know what my future will be. Yikes! That is the part I'm trying not to dwell on. The good news is that I'm educated and mobile and I have to think that things will be ok. I have a good job right now and a little time to save up for possible joblessness. I have decided that if I do lose my job, I will pick a new place to live and find a temp agency and work until I find something permanent. Franklin may have to adjust his taste for stuffed animals and doggy day care, but other than that, I think we'll be alright.

The sad part is that I really love the people I work with and I truly enjoy my job. It's interesting and challenging and I have a boss that cares about her workers. I've been impressed with how willing everyone at work has been to help each other out. We pass around job postings and trade contacts, offer reccommendations and send out resumes. It remains a good atmosphere to work in and it is only slightly annoying when teams that are not as busy as mine hold fooseball tournaments by the elevators. It is nice, afterall, to have the option of playing fooseball, pacman and asteroids, if you ever need a break from work.

The next month should definitely be interesting. I'm heading to the remote carribean island of Bequia to celebrate my Mom's recent graduation/departure from the grueling hell that is working and going to school at the same time. It will be great to spend time with my family and explore a new part of the world. I will keep you updated on the merger and my state of mind throughout the transition and the next phases of my life. I do know that everything will be ok, no matter what happens. At this point, my sanity remains intact - hooray!

Winding Down

I find myself a week away from graduation wondering how everything went by so fast. I can't believe I'm done. I really can't believe all the things that I've accomplished. I realized my dream of working and living in France. I visited eight different countries, learned a new language, got my masters degree, made new friends and dozens of other accomplishments that I am probably forgetting. The best part is that I am gainfully employed. After numerous interviews and two job offers, I will be moving to Little Rock and taking a position as a marketing analyst at Alltel. I am really excited about the opportunity. I never in a million years would have pictured myself in arkansas, but I am surprisingly ok withit. I have already found an apartment. It's right on the river and near a park and downtown. Everyone I've met so far seems very laidback and nice, so that makes me feel even better. I'm looking forward to getting involved and meeting new people and actually living in the same place for more than 6 months.

I will keep everyone updated on my return to the job world, the move and my trip to vegas with my sister and cousin amy. It will definitely be an interesting transition.

Welcome Home Franklin!

Since I have been able to keep my plants alive for the past several years, I decided I needed a new challenge....a dog. I've been thinking about it a lot ever since my parent's dog passed away. It seemed odd for no one in the family to have a dog. So, I dragged Kate to the humane society where we didn't find any small dogs. Then, I found a fantastic organization called Pets Inc. They really take good care of their dogs and they had tons to choose from. That's when I stumbled upon a young poodle named Franklin. Well, I named him Franklin, he had some girly name at the shelter that did not fully encompass his manly sophistication, thus the name change. Anyways, he was a lost dog that someone brought in and I was second on the list to get him and the first lady never showed up, so now he is MINE. He is 1-2 years old and a purebred poodle. I never thought I would be a poodle person, but this little guy is adorable, well behaved and super sweet.

I guess I'll update you on the job search and school, while I'm at it. The job search is going. I wouldn't say going well, but it is going. So far, I have interviewed with five companies and no second interviews yet. I'm not too worried yet, I'll start freaking out in january. School is good. I am doing really well gradewise and some of the projects are pretty cool. I am actually doing a consulting project where I create a customer satisfaction program for Ingersoll Rand. It's been pretty crazy, but I think it's finally coming together and they will be really happy with the results. Other than that, I'm taking a branding class that is pretty cool and marketing research which is much less cool, boo statistics. That's about it. I'll try and update this on a more regular basis:)

See Ya Lyon, Hello Columbia!

And...I'm back....in the US. finally!
Part 1: The BIG Move
The move out of france went ok. I ended up having to buy yet another giant bag to put all my stuff in. My last day at work was pretty cool, I finished up my final project and my coworkers threw a champagne party for me at lunch and I got a computer bag. It was fun, but I was pretty stressed out about getting everything ready for the move. Really, I was trying to figure out how I could possibly get three bags and me on the bus, on the train and then on the plane. All the frenchies in Lyon had comments for me and all my suitcases. Are you going on vacation? How are you going to move all those bags? A nun helped me get them on the bus, then another lady helped me get them off (she felt karmically obligated to help me since her own daughter had done a study abroad in england and had a lot of bags too). Some guy who probably weighed less than me decided to be a gentleman and helped me get the bags on the train (this involves lifting two 70 lb bags above your head to get them on the shelves which i really didn't want to do, obviously).
At the airport i got lost trying to find my hotel, then i had to make a maintenance guy help me up the escalator with my stuff. But everything worked out, I found the hotel and went to sleep. I woke up bright and early at 5am to get checked in for my flight. It would have all gone smoothly, except for the the fact that I got stuck in an elevator and had to PRY OPEN THE DOORS WITH MY BARE HANDS. Yes, I pressed the emergency button, and I told some guy in french that i was stuck, but no one came. So i had to take matters into my own hands before i started freaking out hard core. The good news is I finally got on the plane and thanks to my uncle jeff, i got to go back home first class. It was awesome!

Part 2: The Return
The return was basically mayhem. I got into ATL, met my parents, woke up in the morning and had to drive to Columbia, move all my stuff, get the lock off my storage unit (to this day, no one knows where the key is), go to class and try not to speak jet lag gibberish (which I did anyways). It was a mess and it took me a week to recover from everything, but now I am feeling pretty great. I've seen my friends and family and am settling into classes. Right now, my schedule seems pretty easy, I'm just waiting for the wave of work to knock me down. Hopefully it will be ok. But i will continue to update the blog when I can, so stay tuned.

Getting My Version of Tan in Nice and Monaco

A couple of weekends ago, i went to Nice. I got up at 5 am on saturday to catch my train that would put me in Nice around 11, i did this because if i left on friday, i wouldn't get in until midnight and i thought (THOUGHT) that I might at least save myself one night of hotel dollars. So the train ride was 4 hours, which was fine, i half slept for the first two and then re-read some magazines for the second two. Around hour three, I realize i have left my confirmation page at home and that i don't know the name or address of my hotel. so i call nanda, make her get on my email account and text me my info.

When I arrived, i went straight to the tourist office and asked where my hotel was, she gave me directions in french, which i thought i understood but didn't, so i walked too far, but then realized my mistake and walked back, walked into the wrong hotel, got directions to the right one and finally found it.So, i walk up to the receptionist and say, my name is emily woods and i have a reservation. The girl holds her hand out. I say I am sorry, but I forgot my confirmation page,but i made my reservation through last minute. and she starts huffing at me like she's SO annoyed. and i'm all WHAT. and she's like, "well you could at least give me yourpassport." so i hand it to her. and she says, no we don'thave anything for you come back at two when check in time is and we'll look at it. And I go don't you think i should KNOW that i have a hotel room before then? i made a reservation and she sighs like she is SO annoyed and says well i have nothing, so go across the street to the internet cafe and email me your information. FINE. so i go across the street, email her my info and walk back. she prints it out and happily points out that i made the reservation for friday, not saturday (CRAP). she is like I do not know what to do we are fully booked. and i'm like ooohhh no the whole city is booked, what am i going to do. so she says well let me talk to my manager. and she calls him and then says to me, "actually we have one room that we reserve for ajust in case situation." well lady, this is one of those situations, so why don't you just give me the keys. so long story short, i check out the room, it is in the attic, but it has a shower and a toilet and ac, so i say whatever and take it. I of course was charged for the night before and for this night, so basically i am paying a ritz carlton fee for a chamber maids quarters, but at least i am not sleeping on the street. They also threw in a terrible breakfast of butter and stale baguette for my troubles. To calm down, I decide to find a book and go to the beach and stay for as long as possible which is exactly what i did.

unfortunately i did not reapply my sunscreen, so i am burnt in places, like the side of my calf and part of my stomach, but i do look slightly bronzed or at least less see through. my favorite game at the beach was to find people whiter thanme. it was a veritable where's waldo of pale people. also, it should be mentioned that while the beach is incredible,the water was blue and green and smelled like beach, the actual beach has no sand, it has rocks. and not rocks that are big enough to lay out on or pebbles that are as good assand, no the kind of rocks that are impossible to get comfortable on and give you rock shaped bruises when you lay on them. i should've listened to my let's go book and gotten a mat, but i thought i was tough enough. i was wrong, once again. anyways, it was still relaxing andbeautiful. sunday, i went to monaco, and it was awesome. the beach had pebbles, YAY! and the best tiramisu gelato ever(my current food obsession). it's gorgeous, a port city set into the cliffs and so many lambourghinis and maseratis and yachts and rich people you don't even know what to do with yourself. i walked for hours, tried to get in the monte carlo casino, but then decided against it after discovering the 10 euro entrance fee. the train to get there from nice went all along the coast and was only 20 minutes. it was beautiful. Quite a break from the construction, and 15 yearolds yelling "je suis la, bebe" at me that nice had to offer.