Even at my ripe old age, and even with all this great work experience under my belt - I couldn't help being slightly apprehensive, slightly nervous, and excited on the first day of my new job. I would get to meet my new team, settle in my new office, meet all my new co-workers, and try to figure out what exactly was expected of me.
I arrived at the office exactly 35 minutes after leaving home - and was greeted to an empty reception area ( I was early and no one had arrived except my boss - the company President. I waited a few minutes and then worked up the nerve to go and knock on his office door ( it was open, and I could see him, but he hadn't seen me). He was very gracious and gave me the grand tour of the place, introducing me as we went along to the very few employees that were there. It turns out that the entire editing and sales department were taking an extra day off - so they were all absent, but my own team was mostly there and they were summoned to the conference room so that they could "meet their new boss". I discovered that the majority of employees have been with the company for years and years - my admin assistant has been there for over 20 years, and one of my bookkeepers has been with the company for 32 years! I was told by the employees that it is a very nice place to work and that is why nobody leaves... or almost nobody leaves - my predecessor just left after 10 years of service, but he changed his carreer orientation - was tired of accounting and went to a IT job at another company.
My office virtually hasn't been touched since my predecessor left, and it sound like no one knows what hides in those filing cabinets or drawers (nor do they know exactly what it is that he did - I think....) I am convinced though that I have big shoes to fill and that this position will keep me challenged for a long time to come. Meanwhile, I have my trusty assistant who knows everything to rely on. I will be soooooo nice to her - I have a nice box of chocolate for her when we meet again on Thursday morning.
So all that being said & done, I was given a file to analyse and left to myself in my office. I started going through the filing cabinet to look for information to help my analysis, and left the bottom drawer open- big mistake! I walked out to ask my assistant a question, and on my way back in, file in hand and not looking where I was walking, my foot hit the corner of the metal drawer real hard. Ouch ouch ouch (&#(%&) - luckily, no one saw me, and I kept my "comments" to myself, but I could see that I would have a nasty bruise on my foot. I was wearing my high heeled pumps, and the pain subsided to a dull roar, which I ignored for the rest of the day. When I got home last night, I did what all high heel wearers do - I took off my shoes as soon as I walked in.... and then my poor foot started to swell like a balloon. Today, the top of my foot is totally blue and swollen and I am unable to wear any shoe at all. So much for running for a while :o(. Thank goodness today is a legal holiday, "Fête Nationale", and I was able to hop around barefoot all day.
Tomorrow is a big milestone day for Claire & I. I arranged to take this very important day off with my new employers before they hired me. You see, tomorrow is the Scrapbookerie Proposal meeting of the creditors. Tomorrow will determine whether our re-structuring proposal is accepted or rejected by the creditors. If accepted - hurrah, the Scrapbookerie lives on. If not, bye bye Scrapookerie! Our real concern is the 2 landlords in Laval & Candiac. They have nothing to gain from shutting us down, but they could say no just to be nasty - and they have been nothing but nasty with us to date. I will be there with shoes on (I don't quite know how I will manage that) and hopefully will be able to walk out of the meeting without limping and with my head held high. Wish me luck!
Bonne Chance!
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