If this post doesn’t make a lot of sense or if sentences drift away before they’re completed, here’s why:  I’m wired and tired. 

GREAT news that I did indeed grab the next trapeze bar…meaning, I have a new job!  And what perfect timing it was to get the offer accepted and all paperwork completed – I had a couple of weeks to truly decompress without the stress of job hunting and rest the ol’ brain and body.  I absolutely loved my last work engagement.  But it took me a good week to really mentally unwind and cleanse myself of the day-to-day stresses a job brings.  And I had a fantastic mini road trip down to Oregon to visit my wonderful friend D and then back into southern Washington to see my youngest brother and my nephews and niece!  Perfect way to cap off time off – get outta Dodge for a while!

Now it’s back to the grind – a new type of grind – as I get acclimated into my new job.  I’m at a completely different company than the one I was at prior, in a different industry and doing a slightly modified form of the Project Management work I’ve specialized in since circa 2001.  I contracted at this company 7 years ago, and boy have I grown since that time!  I’m really enjoying observing how things have changed and yet not changed in those years since I was last there.  It’s going to be a tough engagement, but I’m rested, happy and ready. 

One component of this job is running backend technology updates and deployments…and that means working overnight one weekend a month.  I knew this going into the job interview, plus I knew the schedule was set up in advance – it’s not an on-call type of scenario.  But – surprise – little did I know that THIS weekend (Saturday into today) was one of those deployment weekends!  My new manager gave me the opportunity to decline participating in it given it was short notice, but I said no, I’m diving in as long as you think I could provide value given I’m so new. (Otherwise, I’m happy to stock up on sleep!).  The only way to learn and get accustomed to something new is to just dive right in, observe and jump in wherever it’s needed!

So, I did.  Starting at – gulp – 3:00 a.m. this morning.  Yes, that’s the middle of the night.  Which meant attempting to get into bed much earlier than I normally do in order to force some sleep…while trying not to stress that the alarm really WAS set correctly to wake me up around 2:15 a.m. with enough time to throw on some comfy clothes and drive to the office.  I was surprised how many cars were on the road at that insane hour, actually!

Now I’m home, happy and sleepy but mentally replaying how well everything went with the team during the deployment despite the issues we encountered.  I don’t dare take a nap for fear of making my ‘jet lag’ even worse to where I won’t be able to sleep tonight.  I feel like I do when I get home from late night hockey games. 

Except it’s daytime and I’m not nearly as sweaty or stinky.