My supervisor shot me a casual email this afternoon saying..."come by my desk when you get a sec". Of course, when it is your supervisor unless you are on the phone with a customer, you have a "sec" right then so I asked to leave the training class and made my way to her desk thinking "oh dear now I wonder what "changes" I need to exercise my willingness to be "flexible" on?" So I put on my "whatever you need me to do, I'll give it my best shot" face and stepped into her cubicle (that's a real "open door" policy). She said, "I have good news, you got your promotion!" I was speechless...yes I said "speechless". I didn't know I was being considered for a promotion!?! Didn't even know I was eligible for one yet! Now I am not talking about an annual raise here I mean a real genuine promotion. Effective November 15th I am officially "already approved" an SFPP Account Specialist and I have this really nice letter of recommendation from my supervisor to her manager telling her why I deserve and have earned this promotion. (I didn't actually read the letter till later in the day) but "wow".
Back to the meeting with the supervisor, when I finally found my voice I said "what promotion?" Didn't know I was up for one? and all that other smart sounding stuff that jumped in my head. She just smiled at my being all flustered and said "look you've been doing the work of a PA2 for awhile now don't you think you deserve this?" My brain kicked in then and I confidently said "yes I do". We'll talk later about what the new title entails and what to strive for from here but "WOW" that was a nice surprise.
Now since I have actually read the letter of recommendation... I am thinking "wait?.. Account Specialists are the ones I transfer calls to now... I'm one of them!?? " and..what's this " she has mastered 4 of the 5 concepts"?? which brings me to the rest of my day... You see I haven't actually finished the 4th concept yet. That is the class I am in training for now and without going into how it all came about I learned today that I am "testing out" of the class tomorrow. In other words, while the rest of the class continues with another 8 days of class before their test I'm taking mine early "because I'm doing so well I don't need 8 more days of practice work". I must say I got myself into this but it seems my supervisor has such confidence that she already has me mastering the topic review when I haven't even finished the class! I could back out of the early test but now how does that look? I just got promoted... and what if I (horror of horror's :0 ) don't pass! On top of that because I have done so well on the previous topics everyone just sort of assumes I will ace this thing. PRESSURE!
For those of you reading this that aren't family and thus aware of the complexity of this job... this isn't a 50 questions fill in the blanks or write an essay type test. It's 50 real insurance accounts with unique problems to each one that I am supposed to be able to successfully research and "fix" in one day. "Passing" is 90% ( no B's & C's). If I make less than that it won't be the end of the world but I will look like a fool for trying to "test Out" early and I would not just get to finish and test again with the rest of the class. I would have to re-take the course not to mention how my supervisor is to explain that I really haven't completed 4 of the 5...
I'll just take a deep breath, believe in myself...after all I've missed almost virtually nothing in 3 weeks of class, definitely pray to be able to use the brain power, memory, and reasoning skills God has blessed me with and give it my best shot.
I just love this job! It's like being on a roller coaster!...gotta go review my class notes....say a prayer for me!
UPDATE: I PASSED! IT WAS A LONG AND GRUELING DAY AND I DIDN'T EXPECT THE SCORES TILL TOMORROW SINCE I TURNED IN THE LAST TEN @ 3:45 BUT ABOUT TEN MINUTES LATER MY SUPERVISOR CAME BY AND SAID " SO ARE YOU READY TO GO BACK TO CLASS OR DO YOU WANT TO STAY OUT HERE?!?!" I WAS TOO TIRED TO CARE MUCH LESS GET WHAT SHE MEANT! THEN SHE PLOPPED MY SCORES DOWN ON MY DESK WITH A BIG SMILE. I GOT A 96%. I SAID GREAT NOW I AM OFF THE HOOK FOR EVERYONE EXPECTING 100% ALL THE TIME. She said she hadn't pressured me, it was self imposed. So I asked about that "mastered 4 out of 5 concepts" comment in the recommendation letter. I said that was pressure considering I hadn't even finished the fourth topic or had the test! She looked puzzled for a second and then realized what she had done. She just laughed then and said "Oh I just had confidence in you" but really she hadn't realized she was counting the topic I wasn't done with. Just one topic to go but that's probably not till after the holidays. YEAH!!
I'll see if I can find it. It was on his blog, and now it looks like he's removed it for some reason. I'll call Linda and get back with you. It won't be until tomorrow probably because I'll be gone most of the day.
I used to be leary of that word, "retreat"... that is something demoninations or maybe liberals did but not "us", right? I've changed my views. I went to one a few years ago and found it to be a great experience and I just got back from the West TN Women's Retreat in Olive Branch MS. It was a salve for my soul! If you ever get an opportunity to go on one you should.
I was able to be built up and edified by people I have known in the past and people I had never met before but whose love and zeal for the Lord was evident in every aspect of their presence. I was able laugh and to cry with "sisters" , my sisters, my family. I was encouraged by them and I hope I encouraged them. We shared wisdom and experiences. We prayed together. We sang together many beautiful songs, some I had never heard and some that were dear to my heart. We heard speakers who admonished and encouraged both young and old in every "season of life" to put aside the things of this life and remember "if you miss heaven, you've missed it all". For a few hours we put aside the cares of this life, we put aside our jobs, our husbands, our parents, and our children. We put aside "church problems", stresses, woeful attitudes, and the weights of this world so we take some time to build each other up, hold up each other's hands, feed each other's souls, so we could go home and bring glory to God by working harder at our jobs, being better wives, honoring our parents, and loving and raising our children as God would have us to do, so we could go back home and pick up our burdens again and know that we do not bear them alone. There are others who share the same burdens, the same sorrows, the same joys, and most importantly others who share our same goal... to serve God and keep his commandments.
I was able to spend almost 8 hours in a car talking & listening to my friend and sister, talking about things near and dear to our hearts, talking about God and the church, talking about our brethren and how we might encourage them to be in peace and love & unity as God would have us to be. Somehow life's burdens don't seem quite so heavy when you give them to God and He sends your sister to help you carry them or sends you to her to help her carry hers. My soul was hungry and I was fed.
If you ever get the chance to go spend time with your sisters in Christ devoting a few hours to concentrating on building each other up, GO!
While we were there, we brought a new lamb into the fold and we sang and rejoiced with the angels in heaven. That was the icing on the cake!
Make sure each step you take is headed in the right direction...and remember if you miss heaven, you've missed it all!
Hello Robbiosmom-My name is Monica Dillard. I live in Nashville Tennessee. My mother (82 years old) has been a life long friend with Hybernia Bobbitt. Hybernia is the grandmother of Marita and Adam Bobbitt that you mention above. When Hybernia's son, Steve, moved she and her husband Gene to Shreveport, my mother had very little contact with her. I took her to the nursing home to see her a couple of years ago. Since then, we have kept check on her through Steve. Since he passed, we do not know who to contact or how. Actually, we found out he passed by Leilani calling my brother but he failed to get her phone number. Would you please email me how to reach them or ask Adam, Marita, or Seth to contact me via my email mdillard1121@hotmail.com. I am assuming you know how to reach them. If not, please respond to me and let me know. These children do not know me. However, they may have heard of my mother. Her name is Goldie Lanier. Thank you for your time. md
I finally went back to work this week after 7 1/2 weeks out on medical leave! I don't know how State Farm survived without me but it seems they did. I wasn't the only one on my team that was coming back after a long absence and fortunately for both of us they let us sort of ease back into things but I guess next week will be back in full swing.
The best news: My daughter Amy's wedding was beautiful! We had a lot of fun, lots of tears, lots of smiles, lots and lots of love! Wonderful memories! If the saying is true that rain on your wedding day brings good luck then she and Jason should be very very lucky even if they did marry on Friday the 13th! Strangely enough even though at times it was raining monsoon rains and hailing, it quit long enough to take the bridal cakes and wide screen tv into the reception site and it didn't rain during the photo shoots, the wedding, or the reception! Yet we had monsoon rain after it had all ended! Anyway hopefully we will get pictures soon!
Congratulations to Amy! I'm sure it was beauitful! Glad you're able to go back to work. I've been meaning to let you know how much we appreciate the support you are all giving us. Hope your week continues to go smoothly.
