Work In Indiana

It is with some of the most mixed emotions I’ve ever felt that I sit here and write this post.  You may have heard the word on the street....we’re moving back to Indiana.  I’m almost speechless about what to write.  We knew this day would come, but I don’t think we ever anticipated it being this difficult.  This move is so unlike the last one.  The move from West Lafayette to Hendersonville was intimidating.  We were moving to a city that we had never been to, knew no one, and took a risk with a new job.  In turn, Nashville definitely blessed us.  This time, our moving situation is much different.  We’re moving to a city where we know so many people, whether family or friends.  Even though we’ll still be two hours from home in Indianapolis, this is the closest that Justin and I have ever lived to our hometowns since we left.

So, let me fill you in on how this whole process began.  As many of you know, Justin was named MPV of his district three years in a row and was set to be on tap for corporate.  As with most companies, Dow is one that if you want to continue moving up the ladder, you have to do a stint in corporate.  In August, Justin found out that he was selected to be part of the next interview class for corporate.  He was one of the first from his original interview class to be selected for this.  Justin spent a few days up in Indianapolis at corporate interviewing with a variety of individuals as well as doing a presentation on his territory.  Not only did he deliver an excellent presentation from what I hear, but his creativity made an impression on those who were there.  With some of my help, since he doesn’t listen to country music, each title of his slide was a country song that he was able to relate to what he was talking about.  Anyways, knowing that Justin was on the corporate list, we knew the ball was going to start rolling, we just didn’t know when.  One of his co-workers best described this process as getting on the treadmill and Dow controls the speed.

Here we are, just a month later, ready to take another journey in this crazy life.  Part of me feels like this couldn’t have come at a better time.  What many of you don’t know is that I have been extremely unhappy in my current work position.  On Monday, October 4, I had a really bad day.  Justin called me later in the day after I had already told him about what happened and our conversation went a little like this,

                Justin:  Are you busy?
                Audra: Not really, what’s up?
                Justin:  Are you sitting down?
                Audra:  Yeah, why?
                Justin:  Do you still want to move to Indy?
                Audra:  Are you freakin’ kidding?  After the day I’ve had!

Justin’s old boss, Mark, was the one who called to tell him the news.  Justin has told him about my work situation in the past and what had previously happened that day, and he was pretty sure the promotion was a go, but he still needed to talk to me about it.  I think Mark said it best when he said, “Sometimes you just have to have a bad day for a positive one to come about.”

You might ask what will Justin be doing now.  He will now be a product manager to two fumigants in Dow’s pest line.  When Justin was considering possible career paths for Dow, he had in mind two positions he wanted; one was a product manager and the other was going into Six Sigma.  While he hates to leave Turf & Ornamental, he will still be in the Urban and Pest Management Division where he already is.  I wish you could see how excited he is about this position.  Just watching him talk about it, he starts smiling and you can just see the enthusiasm he has.

Where do we go from here?  It’s hard to tell.  Justin has officially accepted the position, but there’s so much to do.  We have to put our house on the market, we have to go on a relocation trip, we have to buy a new vehicle for Justin, I’ll have to start searching for a job in Indianapolis, we’ll have to find all new doctors, mechanics, salon, vet, etc., make arrangements with the movers, and many other miscellaneous items.  **Sigh**  Do you know I have to take a test to get my Indiana license back? (It’s little things like this that bug me…silly I know!)  Then we have to deal with mixed emotions from those we love.  Our family is thrilled to have us closer, as are many of our friends.  However, we have many friends who are saddened by this news.  It is always so hard to say goodbye. 

With that being said, I’ve always kept a list of things I like/dislike/miss/won’t miss about each state:

·         Moving back to frigid below 0 temperatures and more than a dusting of snow is NOT appealing to me…Justin likes the cold weather, I hate it!  I’d rather have the blazing HOT summer days with 100% humidity.

·         Someone please tell me that Bob Rohman commercials don’t exist anymore.

·         It will be nice to have a warning signal for tornados.  I can’t believe my town doesn’t have any…especially when they’ve been hit a couple of times in the last 10 years.

·         Back in COLTS COUNTRY where I can FINALLY watch a game!

·         It will be nice to be in a state where people know how to drive and rush hour doesn’t suck so bad.---sorry TN friends!

·         Mmmmm…elephant ears!  You just can’t find them in the South which is surprising since they deep fry everything!

·         Words are pronounced according to how they should be.  Example…Lafayette sounds like La Fay ette, Blount sounds like “blunt”, Maury sounds like “murrey”

·         Justin is pretty pumped about attending Swiss Days again

·         I’m not looking forward to finding new doctors, mechanic, salon, vet, gym, etc.

·         I’m going to miss living in such a large city that has SO MUCH to do

·         You can’t get hot chicken, sweet tea, and meat and threes like you can here

·         The State of Indiana is going to take state taxes out of my paycheck…TN let me keep it!

·         I’m going to miss going to NHL hockey games

·         Publix

·         Where else can you go to church and listen to famous people sing special music?

·         The beautiful colors of fall and the rolling hills.

·         Being referred to as “darlin”

·         Magnolia trees

·         But the hardest thing to deal with is leaving many friends behind who have become our family

So, stay tuned here for the most up-to-date information on our move just like when we were moving to TN.  The next couple of months are going to be a whirlwind!

Guess I’ll have to dig out the packed-away Columbia coat!