Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Hey People. It has been quite a busy time in the Field household. The kids are back at school, and I have started my new job as a Senior Consultant at MartinJenkins.

School for the kids is a great thing. At the end of their holiday they were well and truly ready to go back to school and to see their friends again. It seems that changes are afoot at School, both the kids' teachers are leaving at the end of Term 1. The kids will be fine, I'm sure the Principal and the Board of Trustees will choose excellent new teachers. Paige and Zach both love their teachers, but change is good, and I'm sure that they will love these new ones too.

Zach is still a Pokemon addict, and carefully plans spending his money on new cards. It is truly bizarre to me that Pokemon is still going strong. It was around when I was a kid. I guess that some things just really appeal to kids like Zach... And not just him, the kids at school are mad on it! Gotta catch em all! Now Paige has caught on - she really enjoys having Pokemon battles with her big brother. I've not quite worked out if she actually enjoys it, or if she just adores her brother and it's something they can do together. Who knows. It's nice to see them playing together anyway.

My new job is somewhat different to my job at MBIE. Every week we run a balance of bringing new work in the door (and maintaining the pipeline of work) and working on projects for clients. In my first two weeks I had heaps of catch ups with people, and was tasked with writing a couple of proposals. This was very different to the induction I had when I started with MED (somewhat shorter and more intense). I'm really impressed with my new colleagues. They are driven, smart and very welcoming. I must be doing something right because I found out on Friday that the proposal that I worked on was accepted by the client. I also seem to have been talked into doing the run leg of the Scorching Bay Triathlon next weekend with a team of colleagues from work. It's only 10 km, so well within my abilities, and it should be fun.

This weekend has been a little quieter than normal. Paige went to a birthday party this afternoon, so Zach and I took the opportunity to go for a long bike ride along the Hutt River. All up we did just of 12 km of cycling, and Zach enjoyed stopping for a play at Avalon Park. We both had a great time (Zach even admitted he enjoyed it). It was really great to spend that time with him. To tell you the truth, this weekend I felt quite lonely, so it was truly great to spend some time actually enjoying my kids, rather than trying to hurry them along. I will have more opportunity for family fun times in about a month because I have book a holiday for us in Port Douglas in North Queensland, but more about that later. Bed time for me!





  

Hello again...

Hello again, readers. It has just occurred to me that it is January 28 and I've not written a post in some time. I have had a busy old time of it over the last month and a bit!

First of all, the kids and I had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Cromwell with my family. The kids and I flew down to Queenstown on Christmas Eve morning. Everyone arrived later that day, there were 10 in the house, so it was a busy and very fun time. Christmas day was lovely and relaxed, and the kids had a great time playing with their big cousins.

We were in Cromwell for almost three weeks. Personally, it was lovely to just relax. If I wanted to go for a run, I could do that whenever I wanted. The kids really enjoyed going for a ride on their bikes and jumping in the lake (even though it was freezing in the water!). I enjoyed the opportunity to go fishing, and to play a couple of games of golf with Dad. Quite frankly, it was just what the doctor ordered. Now I feel fantastic!

Now that I am home and back to work, my mind has turned to the future. This year, there will be a few changes. The first of which is that I have a new job. After eight years as a government official, I have decided to try my hand as a Consultant. Late last year I was approached by recruitment agent on behalf of a private sector consultancy, Martin Jenkins. They were looking for a researcher / evaluator with strong quantitative analysis skills. I had a couple of really great coffee discussions, two interviews, and a raft of psychometric testing. I really excited to be starting there on February 7.

Now, moving on has got me reflecting on the last eight years. Work-wise, it has been fantastic. I started as an Analyst in 2009, and worked my way up the ranks. I was a team manager for about four and a half years, and then decided to move to a Principal Analyst role at the beginning of 2016 (after Melissa died). I have been very, very lucky to work for such a great organisation. They were supportive during the tough times I faced, but also challenged me and gave me opportunities. The people I worked with were very hard-working, but were also fun. Really, I could not have asked for a better employer, or better colleagues.

Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of attending my farewell function. We had a few drinks and some nibbles at work. My manager gave a very funny speech, and there was a musical tribute (trombone, drums and vocals to the tune of the Exponent's "I'll never say goodbye"). It made me feel really appreciated. I really enjoyed chatting with many of the people I have worked with over the years and reminiscing about the past. My team presented me with an oversize novelty card (including messages from everyone) and a voucher for the Rockshop. Therefore, today I was able to go shopping and bought a loop pedal for my guitar (once I have a chance to practise with it I will post a song on here to show you all how it works).

In short, I'm very thankful to my employers and colleagues for the opportunities that I have been given, and I'm very excited to embark on my next adventure as a Senior Consultant at Martin Jenkins. Until next time, people...