The path to lemonade, part XIII

This story is quickly coming to a close. We started in 1997 and we will almost make it to 2007 in this post.

To review, go here.

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My final days in the air force were really anticlimactic. In fact, a friend had offered for me to live with her in a house for dirt cheap, and since I still did not have a job and I didn't know when I would get a job, I jumped at the opportunity. The military would allow one final move and would relocate my belongings back to my home of record or to a place no greater than the distance back to my home of record (160 miles from where I was). I opted to live with as little as I needed and moved 90% of my stuff into a storage unit and the rest into my friend's house. My official last day in the air force was spent hauling my remaining stuff to my new place and handing back in my duplex keys. If memory serves me correctly, I also went to the Texas State Fair and enjoyed a bounty of fried goodness.

Now that I was officially not drawing a paycheck, I filled out the paperwork to start collecting unemployment. I had dutifully paid into the system for years and I needed some sort of income while I was looking for a job. And boy did I ever look for a job. I mentioned previously that I hired a head hunter to help me out, too. I had all the qualifications, but the job market was disappointing at best.  I treated my unemployment like a job and I would go to a coffee shop near by with my laptop and spend all morning long looking for jobs online, sending my resume to tons of places, updating my cover letters, making calls and doing whatever I could to get an interview. I garnered some interest with a few companies and went on a few interviews, but it was incredibly disheartening to realize that the job market was so tough. I had never had to apply for a job upon graduating from college since I immediately went into the military. It was a strange feeling.

Craig and I continued to see each other when we could. I would fly to Georgia to visit him since he had just spent so much time in Texas. I honestly did not have a clue that he was planning on asking me to marry him. I figured if he was planning on it, he would have done it before leaving Texas. So, while I thought we were in a holding pattern, he was designing a ring.

Around the holidays, I got a call from Baylor HR to come in for an interview. Finally. Finally. I got all dolled up in my suit, had my resumes in hand, had practiced my interview questions in-depth, and was ready with thank you cards. It was time to turn on the charm.  I left the interview knowing it had gone really well, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. After the interview, I waited and waited and waited and waited. I didn't hear a thing from Baylor or HR. I continued my job search.

One day, I got a call from one of the people I interviewed with. I was walking through the airport to visit Craig and I recognized the Baylor prefix. The conversation that happened next is permanently etched in my brain. I was asked to apply for another job at Baylor, but that the job wasn't posted yet. Turns out that my first interview made this individual want to create another position to hire me into, so they were going through the process of creating the job and wanted me to apply. I knew this was a great thing. I obviously didn't get the job I had interviewed for, but it appeared that I was a strong candidate for another job opening up soon.

I interviewed for the new job in December and within a week, I was offered the job!!! I was going to have a job at the start of the new year! I remember I was at Dollar Tree buying a Christmas present from my cats to my roommate's dog when I got the call.

I went home for Christmas knowing I had a job. It was one of the best feelings in the world.