A Day in Hanna's World

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Broadway Saturday - Kinky Boots

Sunday afternoon, we meet again. Really, where does the time go? :) It's already super close to July now. Only one week left in June. So crazy. 

Yesterday, Saturday, was a fun day. We took the train into NYC in the morning and had lunch at "The Perfect Pint" before seeing the 2pm show of "Kinky Boots". What a great show. We had been meaning to see it for a while but there are so many shows on Broadway it's hard to make the time and money to see them all. But when Brendon Urie (from Panic at the DIsco) was announced to star in it we finally decided to go see it. I am really glad that we did because it was a truly great show. Very inspiring & heartfelt as well as funny with great music and dance numbers. Would recommend it in a heartbeat.

After the show we stopped into a restaurant/bar on our way back to Grand Central. Had another snack and I had some yummy Frozen Rose. Delicious. Later we took the train back and met up with our friend John at a local place for another couple of drinks. Fun and busy day all around.

Today we slept in late which was nice. Then went for lunch to Oxford. At 121 now. Had lunch and now just hanging out and relaxing with some wine. Nice, relaxing Sunday afternoon.

We will see what next week brings at work. I am sure it's supposed to be super busy. But it will be followed by a 4 day weekend. Management decided to give us Monday, July 3rd off as well as the 4th so we will have a 4 day weekend for the holiday. Really excited about that!!  Well let's get through this coming work week and then I can enjoy my four days off. :) 

Letter/Mail Update: Received letters from/owe replies to: Kimber/Canada, Eunice/Malta and Caroline/Scotland. 

Posted by Hanna at 03:29 PM in Food and Drink, NYC, Performances, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, June 04, 2017

Work Praise and wait it's already June .. how did we get here?

Made it through the week and the week actually ended on a very positive note with some nice praise. The company conducts post-move surveys to see how we are doing,  as well as help assess the work of our partner companies (movers, temporary housing, etc). It's always nice to get good scores but it's even nicer to receive some special comments that get recognized company-wide.

"And another super comment for another Hanna. She was “very prompt” and she responded on weekends. Super job all around Hanna!

 I had a lot of questions during our first few calls and Hanna had no problems answering all of them and making sure I had all the information I needed. Hanna was very prompt in response and also accommodating. I got replies on occasions I would not have expected (weekends). I wanted to relocate as soon as possible, and Hanna made sure that happened for me."

So there you have it. If you receive surveys from any companies you have dealt with, please do remember to take the time to fill them out. It can make someome's day. :) And potentially help them in their career. :)

Yesterday, Saturday, we went for a walk to get some outdoor time in which was nice. Then we had lunch at 121 in Oxford. 

Today, Sunday, we went to the movies to see "Paris Can Wait" An indie movie starring Diane Lane and Alec Baldwin, set in France. It sounded like such a promising concept but the movie was underwhelming to say the least.  Oh well. Can't win them all. :)

Well tomorrow is already Monday again.  Let's see how this week goes. 

Letter/Mail Update: Received letters from/owe replies to: Michelle/CA, Eunice/Malta, Lotte/Denmark and Caroline/Scotland. 

Posted by Hanna at 05:51 PM in Food and Drink, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)

Monday, April 10, 2017

More nice weather - finally recovered from the stomach bug

And it's Monday again. No idea how the weekend went by that fast but I guess it always happens that way. I am just glad that I am finally feeling better. This stomach bug/virus thing I caught last weekend turned out to be a really nasty little bug. I thought I was feeling somewhat better by Tue/Wed but then it came back with a vengeance and made me feel crappy again for Thursday and Friday. I finally recovered by Saturday so at least got to enjoy the weekend this time around. Really glad that seems to finally be over and done with now - ugh, just horrible. 

Well let's see what this week brings. This past weekend we had a vet appointment with Bailey (our newest cat). She's such a little thing. It was her 3 month check-up after her surgery (getting the mammary tumor removed) so they wanted to do blood work to check on a few things. But because she is such a little cat and has very low blood pressure they couldn't get any blood from her paws so they had to sedate her to get some from near her neck. She ended up staying at the vet for a few hours, just to make sure she was doing ok. Should get the blood test results today - fingers crossed everything comes back fine. We shall see. 

Another busy week at work ahead. Summer is our really busy season and I am not sure how that will go just yet. I guess we will see. Will just hold on, buckle in and go along for the ride. All I can do really. :) This week on Friday I have a 1/2 day for Good Friday which is nice. We are heading up to Burlington, VT for 2 nights for Fr and Sat so I am looking forward to that. It's not a super long trip but it will be nice to be away for a bit. A change of scenery is always nice.

I guess that's about all the news here from my end for now. Going to get ready and head to work in a few. At least it's a nice sunny day today. I am still waking up and not quite ready to face the day but it being nice and sunny out definitely helps. Last week we had a couple super dreary, cold and rainy days where it was dark all day. That was just super depressing and not motivating whatsoever. Combined with the fact that I wasn't feeling great due to the stomach bug .... yeah ... this is definitely much nicer. I think tomorrow it's supposed to be even warmer. Maybe I'll bring my book and read outside during lunch. :) 

Letter/Mail Update: Received letters from/owe a reply to: Bianca/Germany, Eloine/NY, Nina/WA and Eunice/Malta. 

Posted by Hanna at 07:08 AM in Cats, Outdoors, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Snow, Grammy's, work etc

Made it through the first full week at work after the training. It's a bit weird having an actual caseload and files of my own. I know I am being eased into this but it's definitely still a bit overwhelming at first and an adjustment period. I helps that I truly enjoy the field and the company overall. I am a perfectionist at heart though so not knowing everything and having all the answers can be a struggle for me. I had been at my old job for 14 years so I had encountered most questions and scenarios and nothing all that new or different could really be thrown at me. This is a different and new experience and I just need to be patient with myself, which isn't always my strong suit. Well, next week is a new week so we will see how it goes.

Thursday we had the first big snow storm of the season (we have had smaller storms but nothing too significant), dumping about 14 inches of snow on us. I was lucky that I was able to work from home and didn't have to venture out. Definitely a plus. 

Had some more snow over the weekend but hopefully everything should be ok for the morning so I can get into work without an issue. Ugh, I am so over winter. I really am. 

Had a relaxing weekend and slept in both days which was really nice. Yesterday we went for lunch at 121 in Oxford and today we met up with friends at Square 1 for lunch. Then caught up on a few shows we had on TiVo and are now watching the Grammy's. Nice relaxing night. 

Let's see what next week brings. I should be meeting a friend for lunch on Tuesday. Tuesday is also Valentine's Day. I have to close that day (work till 6) so not sure what we are doing yet for dinner. Friday, Feb. 10, was our wedding anniversary (16 years - so crazy!!) and we had a nice dinner at Rizzuto's. Next weekend on Saturday (Feb 18) we are going to see "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway for Mike's birthday. Should be a lot of fun. 

 Letter/Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Bianca/Germany and Tiffany/OK.

Posted by Hanna at 09:10 PM in Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, February 05, 2017

Back in CT and regular day to day life

Arrived back at JFK on Wednesday night. The rest of the stay in Pittsburgh went fine. Sunday we had breakfast at a close by diner. Sharon and Susanna got their nails done and did some shopping while I spent some time at Starbucks drinking Earl Grey and reading.  

Monday to Wednesday was new hire orientation which went by pretty quickly.  We left the office around 2.30pm ob Wednesday to head to the airport. 

Thursday and Friday went fine.  It's a bit weird being back at the office again.  I was assigned one own file as well but haven't had any real work on it yet. Guess that will be next week's project. 

Friday night I took the train down to NYC and met up with my friend Jana.  Went to see "The Great Comet of 1812". I had already seen it back in October when it was in previews but it was a lot of fun to go back and see it again with my friend. 

Oh and in other good news I passed the test we had to take during our training with a 97, 1% higher than the previous highest score in our office. So that's pretty cool.  

Well, we will see how next week goes, assuming I end up having actual files of my own to work on. I will update when I know more. 

Letter/Mail Update: Letters went out last week to: Celia/MA and Carmen/Malta. Will be mailing a letter tomorrow to: Eloise/NY. Received a letter/owe a reply to: Bianca/Germany and Tiffany/OK.

Posted by Hanna at 04:24 PM in Performances, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Pittsburgh Update

Hello from Pittsburgh. :) Already a week gone by more or less. I got here last week on Sunday and it's Saturday evening now. The week went by pretty quick as we kept busy all week during our training. A lot of it was presented by my manager but there were also a bunch of guest speakers and presenters from different departments, talking about their functions and importance.

It was an interesting week and definitely a lot to take in. We had training from 8pm to 5pm every day except for Friday where we had our test in the afternoon. Fingers crossed for the results. I am pretty confident that I passed (we only need a 70 to pass) but really I am hoping for a good score. I probably won't find out for two weeks until all the tests have been reviewed and graded. I will update once I know more. 

We have been trying out different restaurants each night as our hotel (the Hyatt Place on Campbells Run Rd) is very close to a bunch of restaurants, a mall and various stores. So far we went to Cadillac Ranch, Bahama Breeze, Longhorn Steak House, Burgatory, The Downey House and Sada Sushi & Hibachi.

Today we ventured into downtown Pittsburgh and went to the Andy Warhol Museum which was really cool. Hadn't been there before so I was glad to be able to check it out. Definitely worth a visit. Afterwards we had lunch at a brewpub across the street from PNC Ballpark. And eventually made our way over to the incline so we could take some pictures of the views from Mount Washington. The weather was a bit dreary and gloomy and also pretty windy/chilly (but I guess it is January so what do you want?) but the views were still nice overall. Took an Uber back to the hotel and been relaxing for a bit. Wrote a letter, read a few chapters. At 6.30 we are going to meet up again for dinner downstairs. Getting hungry again so I am definitely looking forward to that.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow, Sunday, yet. I guess we will figure it out and talk about it later. Plenty of museums, malls/shops and other stuff around here to keep us busy I suppose. Then on Monday we start our new hire orientation until Wednesday, which is the day we fly back on. I am sure the next few days will fly by pretty fast as this first week went by pretty quickly as well. Missing Mike and the cats but not too long until I am back now.

Letter/Mail Update: Letters have gone out to: Celia/MA and Carmen/Malta. Received a letter/owe a reply to: Kimber/Canada and Tiffany/OK.

Posted by Hanna at 05:34 PM in Food and Drink, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, November 13, 2016

A new life in the world of relocation

Only a week since my last post but I feel I need to make three separate posts to get everything from the past week covered. I will split it into three posts so not to create one completely cluttered and super long post. 

So here we go. I have one week at my new job under my belt. Started this past Monday (Nov 7) and made it through week 1. I really enjoy the new job and company but as with anything new it can be quite overwhelming at first. For anyone who hasn't been following along, the position is for a Relocation Specialist. For anyone unfamiliar with that term, basically it's the task of moving people and their belongings to a new residence. There are both domestic (inside the US) and international (across the world) relocation types. Most times it's corporations and government agencies that transfer their staff or have packages for new hires that help them relocate to the location of their new job. Relocation specialists basically assist individuals, couples and families in the process of moving. Depending on the client package this can cover various things: Arranging a move for their household goods, setting up temporary housing, arranging language and cultural assistance, immigration and other settling in services.

The job definitely seems very interesting but also intricate so there's a lot to learn. I spent the first week picking up some of the basics but there is still much more to cover and learn. Luckily I have a mentor assigned to me who is showing me a lot of things, going over various policies, terms and ways to do things. So that definitely helps.

I really like the international aspect of it. And even domestic, dealing with different states and locations across the US. I think long term this will be a good career choice for me. I enjoy learning about different cultures and the world in general.

It has been slightly strange being at work without Mike. Since moving to the US, the only job I ever had here was at the same company as Mike so it's weird having a job and him not being there. But of course I will get used to it. So anyway, just a quick update to keep everyone in the loop on what's going on with me and the job search/work world. Mike is still on the lookout for a new job but I am sure something suitable and a great fit will come along. Just have to be patient.  

 Letter/Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Eloine/NY and Bianca/Germany.

Posted by Hanna at 02:56 PM in Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sunday, November 06, 2016

Autumn Weekend

Had a nice lunch on Tuesday in Montreal before heading back south. Spent the rest of the week catching up with some errands and various other things since I start my new job tomorrow. Can you believe it? Time really has flown. It feels like all the applying, interviewing and searching took forever but in a way it also feels like just yesterday when I still worked at my old job.Where did the last 4 months go? Crazy. 

I am excited to embark on this new adventure but also a little nervous. It's been such a long time since I started a new job. 14 years. But it's definitely neat to be doing something new, learning new things, meeting new people. Send me positive vibes for my first day tomorrow. :) I will update once I have a few days under my belt, latest by the end of the week.

Yesterday, Saturday, we took advantage of a relatively nice fall day and went for a 5 mile walk. It's one of the places we regularly go to during all seasons as it's a paved trail (border of Cheshire and Meriden, CT) so it's fine most of the year. The only time you really can't go is after it's snowed a lot as they don't clear the trail. But once the snow has melted some it's usually fine and even rather pretty walking by the frozen lake etc. So we had a nice walk followed by a yummy lunch at Flipside in Fairfield. 

Today the weather is sunny but cooler and windy so I am glad that we went for our walk yesterday. Today we went for a yummy diner breakfast at Elmer's followed by a stop at the liquor store for some wine and the grocery store for cheese & crackers. Going to relax, hang out on the couch, catching up on our recorded TiVo stuff, snacking on cheese and crackers, tea and wine. Should be a nice relaxed afternoon/evening. 

Then tomorrow it's off to work. I start at 9 tomorrow. Will find out my permanent hours when I go tomorrow. But I do know that I am only going to be working Monday to Friday which will be nice. At my old job I worked a lot of Saturdays which wasn't the end of the world but it will definitely be nice to have a regular Monday to Friday job. Well I will update more as the week goes on.  

Letter/Mail Update: Letters went out on Wednesday to: Carmen/Malta, Celia/MA and Nina/WA. Received a letter/owe a reply to: Eloine/NY.

Posted by Hanna at 02:02 PM in Food and Drink, Outdoors, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Job Hunting & Interviews

Can't believe that it's already Thursday this week. Somehow this week has flown by completely. It's been a whirlwind of phone interviews, in person interviews, back and forth with the staffing agency and whatnot. 

Of course it's a good thing that my job search is now progressing into the interview state which is making me happy. I applied to various jobs over the last few weeks, both on my own and through a staffing agency (someone I used before at my old job when I had to find employees for my department), hoping that those applications would turn into interviews. Of course not everything did but things are moving along. I pretty much interviewed with one place or another, either over the phone or in person, every day this week. Another interview today at 1pm. And one more set up for Tuesday next week so far.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that one of these things ends up panning out. I do have a favorite among the jobs but I don't want to post about that here just yet. I don't want to jinx it. Let's see how things go first. Job hunting and interviewing can definitely be pretty stressful. It's interesting in some ways too though. Intriguing to see different businesses, how they run and operate etc. Having worked at the same company for the last 14+ years I haven't done a lot of job hunting or interviewing so it's interesting learning about all the processes. I have only been on the other side of it, interviewing and hiring at my old job for my department. 

Well, let's see how things go. I will keep posting as things progress.  This coming Saturday we have another vet appointment scheduled for our cat Mindy. Let's hope I can get her into the carrier this time. Fingers crossed for real for that! I bought a new hard shell carrier that's top loading so hopefully we can get here into there a little easier that way. 

The weather has been pretty nice. It feels fall like today. Brisk blue skies, a little breezy and cool. Supposed to get warmer later, mid 70ies F (23C), so should be pretty nice. Maybe we can get down to the city one of these days, pending how the job search and interview schedule continues. 

Letter/Mail Update: All caught up with my mail at the moment.  

Posted by Hanna at 10:42 AM in Weather, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, July 10, 2016

Work News and other stuff

It's Sunday, another week gone by and things have changed quite a bit. But let's start from the beginning.  

Monday was the 4th of July and we were at work but got out around noon. Afterwards we checked out a winery not far from the office in Newburgh (Glorie Wines) for some wine tasting and then had lunch near the water at the River Station Restaurant. Had a nice afternoon. 

Tuesday we went into the office as normal but things went sideways from there. I haven't really written much about what's been going on at work. I think I did write that our company was recently (early May) taken over by another bigger company. Everything was fine at first but let's just say it started to become clear relatively quickly that our future there might not be so bright. 

Well to cut a long story short. The office/branch where Mike and I work is being closed down and we were laid off. I finished out the week working for my old boss to tie up some loose ends. And Mike is doing the same until the end of the month. 

It's obviously not ideal but it's ok. One door closes and another one opens. We will land on our feet and find something else. Going to spend next week reworking my resume and looking at various job sites. 

On a more fun note, today Mike and I went for a quick walk at a park in Southport followed by lunch at Flipside in Fairfield. Going to be hanging out with my friend Jana later at night.  Already have a date set up to meet up with my friend Falguni on Tuesday as well. Going to try and see my friends while I have some extra time on my hands. Might as well enjoy some of this.  :)

Mail Update. I received a letter/owe a reply to: Emilia/Finland. 

Posted by Hanna at 02:49 PM in Food and Drink, Holidays, Wine, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)