Highschool Reunion (not)

So my 15-year High school reunion is coming up in a few weeks. Part of me's glad I'm living across the country with a pregnant wife and can't make it. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my old friends... I just don't like that I have to qualify that with the word "old".

At my 10-year, there were a few people with babies and a few with much less hair. I can only imagine what everyone will look like this time.

And then there's the fact that I was skinny in high school and ballooned up in college so much so that a few people didn't recognize me at my 10-year reunion. Well, I got thin and started dating, then yo-yo'd for a while and lost a bunch for my wedding and now I'm back hovering around my usual 240. Maybe I'll be thin for my 20-year reunion.

In case you're wondering, I went to a private school, so if they had it their way, we'd be having reunions every year to keep reminding us that we're better off for their education and that we should donate to support the coming generation of students. Never mind that it costs more than some colleges to attend high school there.

1 month on the job

So I've now been at my new job for a month and wow do they expect you to hit the ground running. I've already been assigned 2 major projects and at least a dozen different audits and special projects for my Manager and Director. It's good to be working again, though I'm hoping the sprint I'm in currently in will slow to a nice marathon pace... still tough, but not burnout tough.

Trouble is, my Manager gave notice last Friday and is moving back to Chicago where she was transferred from. While not unexpected (she apparently made this plan known in January but was waiting until she had a job in Chicago before giving notice) I had been hoping that I would have been on board a while longer before she left. I'm interested in applying for her position and I think having more experience on the job would have given me more of an edge. Regardless, things are what they are and we now we learn to make lemonade.

Another potential obstacle is the fact that I don't have a Bachelor's degree. My company has a degree requirement for new hires and has recently extended that to in house transfers and promotions. They had to pull a few strings to get me in, and now that I'm there it's looking like I'm in that spot until I get my degree.

The only light at the end of this tunnel is that there are a lot of other people in the company that are in my particular predicament and the upper management in my area is looking into how these requirements will impact our group. I'll still apply for the Manager position though since you can't succeed if you don't try.

Wish me luck.