A Timely Reward

I am employed again!!! And thus the McPherson household let out a collective sigh of relief, shout of joy, and prayer of thankfulness! As most of you probably know by now, the interview in New Hampshire went well. In contrast to the opinion of those who really know me, the people at Brookstone determined I was, in fact, sane. :) On my trip I went through 3 interviews (including the EVP of the company, the Director of HR, and the Director of Marketing) and was subjected to 2500 (yes, that many!) questions of assessment. The HR folks then called several of my references and spoke to each of them for over 1/2 hour. Then, thank the blessed heavens, they called to offer me the job. As of tomorrow I am officially a District Manager for Brookstone responsible for 14 stores in Michigan and Pittsburgh. While it is over 30% less money than my previous job which will make us very tight financially, the upside is huge. I like the company, I like my job, I like the person I report to, and I like the product. The company is profitable and growing and they prefer to promote from within. If all is a good as advertised, it should be a great opportunity. It will be very challenging, but I am extremely excited about it. Despite being a retail job other than November and December, it will be primarily 9-5 M-F. I get a company car which means Rissa is no longer stranded. She has only had access to a vehicle for a few months of our more than 11 years of marraige. Now we need to do a very delicate financial dance to make the transition and hopefully all will be well. It truly is amazing how close we seem to come to disaster--we apparently have a sick need to live at the brink starting into the abyss--before being able to see the path God has for us. I am deeply grateful for the experience and have learned some valuable lessons, but I would not care to repeat it anytime soon.