Greetings friends! This is a feelings post (you have been warned). Tomorrow I start my new job. Those that see me on a regular basis were shocked to hear I had accepted a new position. It was kind of a shock to me too. I have loved my time with my now previous employer. I was happy, challenged and most importantly appreciated. But then I got a call, an opportunity to work for one of the companies on my list of “Dream Places to Work”. I talked to my boss, he is a coach at heart and told me that I had to at least meet the team and know what I would be turning down or accepting so that I wouldn’t look back and wonder what might have been. I will forever be grateful for the lessons he taught me and the encouragement that he so kindly provided daily.
I did what he said, I met the team, toured the facility, asked questions and finally accepted the offer. It was such a hard choice to leave, if I could work at two places at once, I would have done that. I have been asked a bunch what made me choose to take the offer, so here goes:
1. Opportunity to work with advanced systems, HA and DR that is mature and the chance to learn from it. I won’t lie, I am nervous about learning new stuff, but I also love it, so I am sure it will be good.
2. Opportunity to learn the advanced features of SQL Server that only Enterprise level systems can provide.
3. An awesome team. I have become a bit of a feral DBA, so we will see how this goes. I very much hope that they are understanding of my crazy ideas, weird habits and kind in teaching me how to work with a team again. I also am so excited to learn new things, and be a part of something awesome. I have a lot of information in my brain, but I don’t always trust it, so it is good to have people to bounce ideas off and to gut check my ideas.
4. An awesome boss, his team spoke so highly of him, I knew I would be in good hands. This was also key. I had such an amazing boss already, there is a lot for him to live up to, but seeing the way the team admired and listened to him, plus tease him, helped me see that this could work for me.
5. A chance to learn ASL and make a difference. I have always wanted to learn American Sign Language, now I have a chance. I am super nervous about signing the wrong thing or offending someone (classic Andrea) but I know the only way to learn and get better is to try. Also, I get a sign name, which was kind of the seal on the deal. I am excited to learn what it is tomorrow. Helping people is something that has always been important to me. I make the joke that I am like Mary Poppins in that I only stay as long as I am needed. But making a difference is something that I need. I need to know that I am helping people live better lives, and this is definitely something that helps people.
My princess dresses are also a way to help people. I volunteer work for children’s charities and my personality is a big part of that work. I recently had a discussion with someone about not being just a character. He asked if I should stop wearing the princess dresses because it hides who I am and makes me a character instead of a person. I thought about this question a lot for a few days. I even talked to people about it and asked if they thought that I was more of a joke doing it. But it always came back to me and what I wanted. I feel that me dressing as a princess shows how I feel on the inside but am too shy to show. It is me trying to bring joy to other people. It is a reminder that we all have something special that we can share with the world to make the world better. We can help build up each other and also make the difference in the life of a child. I give a lot of reasons why I do what I do, but at the end of the day, it is because it builds me up so I can keep building other people up. I hope you have felt that love and support and if not, send me a tweet so I can tell you what I see in you.
I spent a lot of time trying to decide what to do. I think a specific song by The Struts made me feel that I had to do it:

I wanna taste love and pain
I wanna feel pride and shame
I don’t wanna take my time
I don’t wanna waste one line
I wanna live better days
Never look back and say
It could have been me
It could have been me

So, tomorrow, it’s me and I am hoping for the best.