change is good. i've had to keep telling myself that every time i've had a mild panic attack while dwelling on all of the changes happening in my life right now. i've been sort of quiet about it all, but everything is in place and i feel comfortable telling everyone now.

i quit my job last week. i have been an office manager/travel arranger/accounting admin/general behind the scenes do it all lady for the past four years for a really great company full of really great people. i've watched the company double in size, move locations, have supported the staff and celebrated with them. i have seen coworkers come and go, get married, have babies, and have formed relationships that will last a lifetime. i am leaving behind friends, my own huge desk, daily snack time, a beer fridge, a steady salary, a company matching retirement account and being on my own health insurance policy for a future filled with unpredictable part time jobs. and i couldn't be happier.

since i've been in culinary school for the past 5 months i've learned a lot. a lot about food and cooking, the culinary industry and my own strengths and weaknesses and how they will eventually come together. i've also learned that going to school part time on top of working full time and also managing a personal and family life is really really hard. i've neglected some of my reading for class, have pushed away some of my friends, and have become stressed and easily irritated at work. i decided a few months ago to start thinking about working part time while i finish school, and things just happened to all fall into place in the last couple of weeks.

i have signed a 6 month contract with a caterer to help her get her business organized and poised to double in size next year. i'll be creating a recipe database, organize and take photos of her food, help with some marketing, employee training and occasional food prep. it is such a great opportunity to learn a catering business from the inside out, and i can't wait to start. i am also going to be working for a shared use kitchen, a inspected and certified commercial kitchen where entrepreneurial chefs can go to make food for sale (rather than illegally making it in their home kitchens). i also have a few other occasional opportunities that i am working on to fill the gaps. a few of these positions have the potential to turn into something more secure once i've graduated at the end of the year, but for now i have no idea where i'll be come january. but i'm convincing myself that the change is good and it will all be ok.

i'm really looking forward to learning from all of these opportunities, to learn more about myself and where i want to be. and to have a weekday or two off each week to study, relax, and cook. and see where this change will take me.