2015 New Beginnings, Adventures and Excitement

Since my last post, many things changed. In no particular order: I am no longer in school, have a relatively new job at a new company, got married, live in the suburbs, released over 90 pounds and have two trouble-maker, spoiled cats.

What happened with school?

To be honest, I did not anticipate the amount of work doing a degree online entails. I thought a couple hours a night, supplemented with a few hours, even maybe eight hours weekends, that I would be able to handle the day job and homework. However, it took its toll! By the time I reached the last semester in my first year, I had to go on sick leave for a few months to recover enough to just get to the office. It seems silly now how I underestimated the work involved with school knowing my perfectionism and my passion for school; it is what it is. Despite the setback with my health for a few months, I have no regrets and given the same circumstances I would have made the same choice to go back to school. I’m halfway to my Bachelor’s Degree and hope sometime in the future, I will be able to finish the program. I am not there right now.

I went back to work gradually, part-time and built up to my full-time hours. It took a lot of aggressive rest therapy and also I started my journey to a healthier body weight. I was fortunate that I could  take the sick time I needed and still go back to my same job (Service Desk Analyst). It was a tough road and today I am in a much better physical and mental state.

New Beginnings

In May 2013, I met Gil through the matchmaking agency, It’s Just Lunch. The short story behind our romance is we were engaged in July 2013, I moved into his house in August 2013 and we were married February 14, 2014. Yes, our first wedding anniversary is around the corner!

In June 2014, I moved out of the oil and gas industry and into a financial institution world. I continue working with Information Technology, now as a Manager of ITSD (Information Technology Service Delivery) which equals managing the IT Administrative Support team. This career advancement allows me to explore a variety of new challenges including communication enhancement, process improvement and overall people management. It is exciting and I love working with this team at this company.

I am looking forward to an interesting year!

 

Finding the balance: Working full-time, going to school full-time and living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Finding balance is always tricky for me. Balance between working, resting and having some semblance of a life is challenging for most but I also crave extra challenge and personal growth. I always loved school and have wanted to go back for years. It was never possible physically or financially before. Since I started working in oil and gas industry, I’ve worked long hours and worked strong and diligently as much as could, taking on extra projects, even long-term extra responsibilities. This left me drained physically and mentally. When I changed companies in 2010, it was an effort to find more balance. I enjoyed the new job, the stable work hours and the less stressful environment.

So, what changed?
I work 8 – 5, live close to work so it is only a 10 minute walk and was able to oversee a large project transferring our wireless device management to an outside company. But It wasn’t enough. The job was something I’ve done for years, IT administration. Is that all I was ever going to do? What about writing? What about starting my own business? Where would I be in another 5 years?

Here it comes… Schooling!

I started investigating DeVry and discovered that I could do a Bachelor’s degree without stepping into a classroom. Yes, it would be expensive. And a lot of work. I’m not a huge fan of commitment so this was a big one. It requires discipline, a huge amount of energy and a major lifestyle change. It means studying, homework, getting to work every day and studying most evenings and a chunk of every weekend. The pro and con lists were extensive.

RISKS

• Relapse of CFS
• Ability to do my job effectively suffers
• Financial commitment
• Embarrassment if I didn’t do well or succeed

BENEFITS

• Finally get the education I’ve dreamed of
• Find out if I can do more than just working
• Learn the discipline to work extra at home to use for future writing projects
• Enhance my career as it is, with or without writing
• Personal growth
• and the list goes on, and on…

Where am I at now?
I am at the same company, but moved to a new role as a Service Desk Analyst. This allows me to grow in my day job along with my studying. I started my degree February 27, 2012 and am estimated to graduate by mid-late 2014. Thanks to earlier course credits and my entrance exam results, I do not have to take a lot of the required entrance courses like social sciences and humanities. Instead, most of my 2.5 years will be spent learning relevant material like data analysis, management and planning. I’m halfway through semester 2 and enjoying it very much.

• I also now have a 2.5 month old kitten, Oscar who loves to help me with my studies. He loves to play with pens, paper and laptops so he provides lots of entertainment.