Jennifer Plesko

Well, 2009 and I have kissed and made up. I was pretty irritated to wake up New Year’s Day drowning in my own snot with a fever and a cough. But because I spent a week on the couch, I had plenty of time to search for jobs online. One of those jobs was in my zip code. I don’t have a very big zip code, so my interest was piqued. Then I saw that it was an editor position. Piqued again. Then I saw the pay scale, and I applied.

A couple of days later, I was paying bills and stressing about money, so I decided to bite the bullet and file for unemployment. No sooner had I hit “send” on my application than my phone rang. It was a representative from that job in my zip code, and he wanted to set up an interview. The interview was scheduled for almost two months from the day I was laid off. I think God likes to show off sometimes.

So there I was, three days later, standing in the lobby admiring the fancy offices. I had loaded up on Mucinex so I wouldn’t sound like Bea Arthur with a smoker’s cough. My interviewer seemed just as happy as I was that the office was only 1.8 miles from my apartment. Then I learned that not only do they get out at 4:30 every day and offer great benefits, there is no dress code to speak of. When he gave me a tour, I saw what he meant. I saw everything from jeans to khakis to capris to velour sweatpants. I gave myself a mental high five. My potential work wardrobe had suddenly gotten a lot bigger.

By the end of the interview, my inner monologue was something along the lines of “Please let me get this job, please let me get this job, please let me get this job…” He told me he still had three people to interview, so he would give me a call in the middle of the following week to let me know either way.

Imagine my surprise when he called me 24 hours later and offered me the job. I attempted to sound calm and collected while I broke into The Hammer in the middle of my living room. He told me to take the weekend to think about it, so I humored him. This morning, I called back to accept.

So 2009 and I? We’re cool now. On top of getting a new job, I’ve lost five pounds. So I guess the whole being sick thing had it’s advantages. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for this year.