I think I'm falling in love!

I've nicknamed him Lenny.  And even though it has only been a week, every day has been wonderful.  It's still the early stages and I haven't yet seen any of Lenny's ugly sides, but I love what I have seen so far.  It's been the best first week I have ever had!

It's like Lenny knows me.  He knows that I have a problem running late and can never be on time anywhere, so he lets me show up whenever I want (within reason).  He knows that I am shy when I first meet people and has pushed me outside of my comfort zone this week to show me that everything is going to be ok.  People are nice. They aren't all judging me.  He has a lot of the same values as me.  He inspires me.  He is really smart.  He is so stylish.  He treats me like an adult and trusts me to do what I need to be doing.  I can already tell he is going to push me in a good way to be the best I can be.

Lenny is my new job!  Yes, it is just like falling in love with a person.  I had butterflies at our first meeting.  I felt lost and out of my element, but it only lasted a little while because my new job felt so much like coming home.  It felt so right.  I think I am falling in love with my new job!  I have actually missed going to work these last two days!

Seriously I had the best first week ever.  I wasn't even sure what I was getting myself in to.  It all happened so quick and seemed to fall out of the clear blue sky.  I got a call about the job on a Tuesday (I hadn't even applied to this job.  They had to read me the job description over the phone!).  I went in for the interview that Thursday and by Monday I had the job offer and on Tuesday (exactly one week later) I said YES!  If that isn't God and divine intervention, I don't know what is.

I started on Monday and I was so nervous that first day.  After checking in at security and getting my official company badge made, the people from the contracting company took me upstairs to meet my boss.  When I interviewed with my boss, I just had this feeling about her.  I knew I liked her.  I felt like we connected.  So much so that I told her about my blog and I would have never done that on a job interview before!  She is so down to earth but at the same time driven, smart, and loves a spreadsheet like I do.  It's like we are kindred spirits.  I've only known her a week, but so far she is just great!

She gave me my computer and had already put some files on my computer, sent me some emails, and wrote up a little "important info" sheet to get me started.  Then she just pretty much let me hit the ground running.  I spent the first week setting up all my stuff that will help me do my job.  I set up my computer, downloaded all the essentials and got set up on all the tools they use.  I attended several meetings.  They do like to have a lot of meetings.  My calendar is already packed!  I met with almost half of my team so they could explain their roles to me.

I started on the best week ever because this week was their North America and Latin America Kick-off week.  Lots of people who normally work remote were in the office so I got to meet them face-to-face.  On Wednesday we had a huge Kick-off meeting at the convention center in downtown Raleigh.  It was really inspiring and a good way to learn where the company has come from and where they want to go.  It was HUGE.  It was like a trade show just for Lenovo!  They served us lunch and most of the managers had to stay for the rest of the afternoon for meetings so my boss told me just to work from home for the rest of the afternoon!

Thursday night our team had a casino night.  They had food and beverages (every soda imaginable, great beer, and good wine).  They had door prizes and we played an ice breaker (we have a big team, so not everyone knows everyone else.)  The managers got up and kind of broke down for us how our team fit in to the company's overall goals and what our specific goals were.  They also announced some award winners.  They have quarterly and yearly awards for the team.  Five of the awards are named after people who inspired those awards and I already know the one I will be going after- The Albert Einstein Award (it is for creative, out-of-the-box thinking which is so ME!)

After that they had casino tables set up to play and had given us all chips to play with.  I couldn't stay though. It was after 8 pm and Cam had been home alone all day with one very quick potty break, plus I was reaching my limit for stepping outside of my shy shell.  I tell ya, it takes me a while when I first meet people.

I spent most of the end of the week going through their website and learning the product lines.  I didn't know much about Lenovo before I started this job.  I had heard of them, but I had never used one of their products.  I thought they just made boring business computers.  Boy was I wrong!  They have some of the best most cutting edge computers out there.  And it's not just for businesses.  They have a whole consumer line too.

I'm already lusting after some things.  I love the laptop I am using for work.  It boots up and shuts down faster than any other computer I have ever used.  It has a fingerprint reader so I just swipe my finger to unlock it and enter passwords while I am on it (much better and faster that typing all of that!).  And it is so light!  I carry it everywhere.  I take it to every meeting and I take it home ever night.  It is just like carrying a pad of paper and maybe even lighter than that.  And I haven't had to deal with this yet, but my best friend uses a Lenovo for work and says it is very durable.  She has dropped hers several times and says it is just fine!  If I dropped my Dell just once I would be afraid it would break.

This is the model I use and I highly recommend it:

The Lenovo ThinkPad X301

They also have very cool laptops targeted more to the non-business side of life.  All with fun features and cool designs and packed with a lot of the power of their ThinkPads. 

Lenovo IdeaPads

But this is the thing I am really lusting after:

The Lenovo A600 All in One

This bad boy not only looks good, but is everything I need for my bedroom!  It is like a HDTV, BlueRay Player, Gaming Console, and computer all in one!  The computer is built in to the screen part so there is no funky tower or anything to look at.  The screen is 21.5" so it is big enough to be a TV for a small room like my bedroom or office and has touch sensitive controls!  And I could blog in bed using this thing if I ever got tired of looking at my small laptop screen!  Yeah, I want one.

If you haven't heard of Lenovo before, I am willing to bet you will over the next few years.  They really do have great products and are on the cutting edge of technology.  And I'm not just saying that because I work there now and happen to be falling in love with my new job!

I know it is early, and I don't want to jump the gun yet, but this first week has been so good.  I have been so inspired and my brain has been running a million miles a minute with ideas.  It is really a place I could see myself being excited to go to everyday and I feel so blessed that this came in to my life!

Speaking of LOVE...check out my reviews of The Day I Shot Cupid and The Five Love Languages on my Bookshelf Blog!