First week of 'real' work...

This whole selling business should be interesting.....

I went to go to see the movie 'Miracle at St. Anna' last night. Excellent movie, but very tough. Kind of like a 'Saving Private Ryan' movie. There are still a lot of scenes that are playing in my head over and over. I'm not sure how many of you have heard of it, but it takes place in WW II and focuses on the black regiments deployed in Italy. If you eventually go see it, just be aware that half of the movie is subtitled because they kept it 'real' by having the German soldiers speak German and the Italian civilians speak Italian. I love that, though, because it makes it feel more authentic....

It was a nice break from thinking about work, even though it was tough to watch. My first week was ok, but I can tell that this is going to be a difficult transition from the types of jobs I've had before. All I wish for, at this point in time, is that no one throws a book at me or grabs me and throws me outside! Both of which have happened to others in the company...can you believe that?! They tell me that my first year will be the most difficult...so if I can make it through the next 11 months, then I'll be good to go :)

The leaves have starting changing here, and it's awesome! I'll take some pics as soon as it stops raining (ugh).

Later gators!

Pomp and Circumstance

Well, it's over. Officially. My 3 weeks of training have come to an end, for which I am extremely grateful! And, I managed to nab the Valedictorian honor...which I'm really proud of since I was the only non-sales person in the class :) So now the real fun begins....the actual job starts this Monday. I went out into the field last Monday and managed to get 5 appointments for next week (one other person got 4, 6 others got 1 appt., and 2 got zero...so I won that contest ;D ) The only thing is that now I have to do 5 presentations. I really feel like I'm just jumping into freezing cold water before sticking in a toe or two to test it out. But I guess that's the best way to learn, right? If all goes well, I could get my first sale next week, which would mean a gift from the company :) I like the sound of gifts! (Although, I really like the sound of money more :P )

We took a class picture, which turned out nice. But then the photographer asked us to be animated for the last one. So everyone sticks out one arm as if to say 'Welcome!', and what do I do?! The crane from Karate Kid....I'm not joking. I even blocked out one of my classmates with my right hand while doing it! I laughed so hard that I could barely breathe! The guys gotta big kick out of, too. The trainer -the last one on the right- probably got really tired of me talking about it, because she just gave me the only copy of the photo (which was supposed to be hers) on the last day as a 'gift'. Too funny!

One more week to go...

So, for those of you in suspense on whether or not I made it to Connecticut without getting lost....I made it there perfectly fine (like everyone said I would!), with a huge thanks to my GPS. That thing is freakin awesome!

The first 2 weeks of training have been unbelievably intense. We're flying at about 500 miles an hour with all this information, and then leave class to do about 2 to 4 hours of homework. I didn't work for 3 months, so my body is really hating me for making it get up at 6 am and working from 8 am to 8 pm! Something I will have to get used to now that I'm employed :) There are 9 people in my class, all of whom have sales experience. There's only one other girl, too, who actually lives in CT and drives to the hotel every morning. So, it's basically me hanging out with a bunch of guys. They're a fun group, and we have a lot of laughs, so it's not complete torture. But, it's just so exhausting!

Before I forget, I have to say 'Thank you' to all of you who wrote to me on my birthday!!! You all made my day! I had a rough weekend before, to say the least. It finally hit me that I moved, and don't have any friends here yet, so I spent the whole weekend depressed. And then I had to drive back on Sunday for training, and to prepare for an evaluation in front of the class. I was a wreck! I seriously felt like I was going to throw up. In the end, I asked to go first, and ended up doing well. The trainer was grinning ear to ear after I finished because I had told her how bothered I was to do the role play in front of everyone, and in the end I did well. I was just happy to sit down in my seat, but it took me another 20 minutes before my body temperature went down from 367 degrees to 98.6. The real fun will begin this Thursday when I have a 'final role play', from start to finish of the sales call - 1 hr. 20 min. - with either my manager or another high up management person. The big positive there, though, is that I do NOT have to do it in front of the class. However, we are still evaluated....

So, now I'm preparing for tomorrow....big day. I have to go to my office in MA, sit in on the usual Monday meeting, and then go out BY MYSELF to potential new clients to introduce myself and to try to set up appointments for the week after. This is such a different type of job than the ones I'm used to! At least I'll be by myself so I don't look like an idiot in front of my manager.

Aaron had a rough week, as well. One of the kids he used to teach was diagnosed with leukemia about 2 years ago, and he just passed away last Tuesday at the age of 10. I actually met him 2 weeks ago when we stopped to eat at Friendly's....he had just come back from the clinic, and he looked like any other skinny 9 year old. Smiling and looking like he had another 80 years to live...but he had a rough go of it last weekend and died 2 days after his 10th birthday. I hate hearing about kids dying...makes me sad. So Aaron is going to the wake today and funeral tomorrow....it will be a hard couple of days for him.

Let's see....what else?? My niece, Lucy, turned 2 the day before me (7th) and Maddy will turn 3 tomorrow (15th). My step brother is also celebrating his 15th birthday tomorrow, and Aaron's birthday is Friday (19th). So, September has been chock full of birthdays....lots of Virgos in my family!! And then I have some close friends that celebrated their birthdays, too, so I apologize if I didn't give you a shout out on your special day! I have almost no internet access there, unless I want to pay, so I wait til the weekend when I'm home. But it doesn't mean I didn't think about you!!

There are so many of you that I would love to talk to right now! I wish I didn't have time constraints or time differences getting in the way......by the way, NINA BREITFELD...I tried calling you yesterday. I will try again today, but if I don't catch you then plan on me calling next weekend :) You are a difficult person to reach!

Ok, I'm off to prepare for my 'Meet and Greets' for tomorrow...wish me luck! I really hope no one slams the door in my face or has security escort me out of the building!

I miss you all....big, big hugs to all of you :)

P.S. - MIRA...guess what has started already?? PUMPKINS!!! The autumn is almost here!!!! I've started taking some pictures already ;)