It's been a very hectic time since my last blog. With the departure of the established directors and the new replacements taking over at my now "ex" place of work, a sort of chaos reigned, giving the remaining employees a deep feeling of unease and uncertainty. Some simply quit and left on their own rather than wait to find out their destiny - a few went on medical leave for burn out, unable to take the stress of the upheaval. As for myself, I plowed on, my position already abolished, I was asked to stay on for an additional 3 weeks to help with the transfer of knowledge. Those were stressful and unpleasant weeks, but it gave me a chance to polish off my resume, and to start the long and laborious process of finding a new job. That in itself was daunting, to say the least. Employers want tons of experience and know-how, but prefer younger candidates who command an entry level salary. Those that interviewed me were fascinated by my vast experience, but in the end, preferred to hire someone with a lot less experience for less. I say, their loss..
So, on the eve of my final days of work, I came to the conclusion that I would be my own boss. This was not an easy decision, and it was in great part thanks to the wonderful man in my life that I was able to take the plunge. With Gerry's help, I made the move from Valleyfield to Kanata ( a suburb of Ottawa) and set up my new office in what used to be Gerry's guest room.
Moving in with Gerry was by far the best thing to come out of all this. His little town house is now bulging with additional furniture - the closets overflowing with my additions, the rooms littered with all my plants, and I have made it my home. Now, not only have I been dealing with packing boxes, moving, unpacking boxes, but I have been integrating myself as an Ontario resident as well. Might as well have moved to another country- new medical card, new driver's license, new car insurance, new car registration, new bank account ( there are no Caisse Populaire in Ottawa! - not even an ATM). Hours spent at government offices...joy!
In the midst of all this, I registered my new business as: Books & Ledgers etc...
I now provide accounting, bookkeeping, consulting and tax services to small and medium sized companies. I already have a couple of clients, and hope to soon be busy on a full time basis. Working from home certainly has wonderful advantages, but working from home at the same time as Gerry is so much better! We get together for coffee breaks and lunch, and there is no feeling of working alone, isolated from the work force. Despite the fact that we each do a separate job (Gerry is an engineer) we are a team. It's a great feeling.
So here I am, now a resident of Ontario (so long Mme Marois! I won't miss you one bit!), living with Gerry, and setting up my own business. Hey, at least I finally got my hair done - looks great too! Happy a days will most definitely follow...
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