Alaska or bust

No, we're not going back even though we did love our cruise there last year. Rather, tomorrow is the last day on the job for my former boss but now peer who is leaving us to move to Alaska. So I made a card with the 50 States cartridge that I've had for oh so long but never really put to use until now. Now I just have to figure out what to say inside.

It's funny, I didn't really like her as a boss. I felt like she didn't give her employees the respect they earned and treated very well trained professionals like scribes. In fact, she's the reason I'm in the position I am now. Even though I loved the job I had, I couldn't stand the fact that I wasn't being challenged mentally anymore. In fact, I felt like I was losing some ground working for her. I was no longer pushing myself to better, more, faster, etc. Instead, it was just rote work. So when the opportunity to manage a section I had worked in before came open, I applied and took the promotion. Now instead of working for her, I work with her on the management team. It took some time for us both to adjust. The funny thing is now we've worked as peers for three years, we've actually settled into a fairly good working relationship to the extent that we have to work together. While we didn't always see eye to eye and we have very different styles, I was comfortable with where we had landed in our working relationship.

Now things are going to change. I was asked if I wanted her job. I thought about it. To many people's surprise, I realized I didn't want it. Sure it would be a challenge. I would have to learn a whole new set of laws that I've only scratched the surface of and I would have to push myself to bring unity to a team of people who have been struggling to find a team spirit. Both of those things are challenges that would normally seem right up my alley.

But it would also mean leaving the team I manage now. Over the last three years, we've all come together quite nicely. We've been through huge upheavals and things are just starting to settle into a lovely new "normal." We are just starting to see the real fruits of the hard work we've put in and, honestly, there's still a lot more I'd like to accomplish here. In the grand scheme of things, I think I'm better off staying where I am. I think my team is better with me staying. It's clear there's going to have to be some reorganization and changes with her departure, but, at least for now, I don't want to think about that anymore.

I think I just want to take tomorrow and say goodbye and thank you. While it may have been rocky and there may have been times when she brought me to tears in frustration, in the end, she pushed me to look at things differently. She pushed me into taking a step I probably never would have tried otherwise and I'm oh so happy now that I did.