February flew by too quickly!
At the beginning of the month I handed in my resignation at work. This wasn’t the easiest thing in the world as I really like the people I work with but after 5 ½ years it was definitely time to move on. Mainly as there are things I wish to achieve personally and professionally and after serious reflection, came to the realisation that this required moving to pastures new.
I had hoped that I would be immediately sent on garden leave, however, as I wasn’t going to work for a competitor, I was required to serve out the one month notice per the terms of my contact. I kid you not folks, a month! Thankfully, I had already booked vacation for what would have been my last week of work. Thus I only had to put in place a coping strategy for three weeks.
For the first two weeks, it was almost business as usual which was most annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to do all that I could to help the business before I left but once I’d given notice I was emotionally checked out. So I switched tactic on the third week and focused on putting together a 26 page transition document.
During the third week, there was a bit of drama that was just surreal. The CEO and Chairman of the Board for my then employer’s parent company were forced out. While I won’t go into great detail as the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange, lets just say that when they realised they could no longer hold on to power, the troops were gathered for a champagne celebration! This wasn’t given by the outside investors who had instigated this coup, but by the CEO and Chairman who jumped on the boardroom table and gave a rousing speech about their achievements over the last 8+ years.
Leaving all that drama behind on the 21st February, I spent the next week entertaining Racquetball Guy here in London. For those of you who have read my blog for sometime, I’m sure this will come as a surprise. Our relationship fizzled out when I left Chicago for London and I wrote some not so nice things about him. Mainly because I was angry as for a while he stopped talking to me. Since I couldn’t get him out of my head, I never stopped trying and we started seriously talking again in January. Will things work out this second time? I don’t know. I want to be optimistic but we are oceans apart and without a clear roadmap it will be quite the challenge. Despite all that, the romantic in me is hoping for the happily ever after. However, if that doesn’t happen, maybe this time I’ll get proper closure.
In the meantime, I am looking forward to starting my new job on Monday. These last two weeks off have been great, but I’m ready to get back in the thick of things!