New job

So I never got to enjoy that time off - I got a new job almost immediately, at Welch Allyn. I called a former Upstate employee to see if she knew of anything at Upstate and, lo and behold, they actually had a couple of positions open there. (Though they had lay offs in 2012, they were also in the process of consolidating several sites into the HQ and several people did not want to move from the remote sites to upstate NY, hence creating positions that needed to be filled locally.)

They had been looking for what amounts to a research assistant and  hadn't been having any luck, and I fit the bill pretty closely. Almost everyone in the research unit is trained as a nurse, but the "research specialist" doesn't really need that background. And after they talked to me they upgraded the position (from what to what, I don't actually know).

There is actually some decent opportunity for advancement because they tend to promote from within and there is more turnover in the research unit than many of the other units (case in point, the person who referred me has already returned to Upstate).  Plus, they are expanding their marketing research and that's an area where they will need more people in the next couple of years. It would be highly ironic if I ended up in marketing research since I started there (my first "real" job and one that I left because it wasn't what I wanted to do . . .)

I feel insanely lucky and blessed to land a job at a great company, not far from home, and at the same salary I had - all more than I was hoping for!

I got to spend the winter break with the kids, which was fun. I never got to collect unemployment, but that's okay too. I'd rather have the salary and especially the health insurance.

I feel like I dodged a bullet!