Happy Birthday To Me, Part Une...

Hi everyone. Hope that you're all doing well and that you've had a great last several days. Lots been goin' on 'round here. Have a seat...this promises to be a l-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g blog post.

Let's talk happy stuff first.



Saturday night, Curt's parents threw a very exclusive "family only" birthday party for us (Curt's birthday was the 7th and mine's coming up this week). My M-I-L is an AMAZING cook, and she made us a scrumptious homemade spaghetti casserole (YUM). It was a good time on a very COLD night. Yikes, it's been cold here. I am NOT cut out for this kind of weather, and given the fact that I've lived in the midwest for all but three years of my life, you'd think I'd be used to it by now. Ah, that's another blog post for another day. Back to the birthday. We had a wonderful time. Of course, no birthday would be complete without a homemade card, so that's exactly what I made for my sweetie. SU products used include the soon-to-be-retired (and very adorable) "Alphabet Soup" stamp set, Real Red ink, cardstock in Handsome Hunter and Barely Banana, The Tearing Edge, Stampin' Dimensionals, and one of each of the Rich Regals buttons (Handsome Hunter, Night of Navy, Bravo Burgundy, and Ballet Blue). The white cardstock is from Michaels.

Here are the gifts from my husband and parents-in-law:



To go with the Sizzix machine he bought me for Christmas, Curtis bought me an organizer for my dies, which was very needed. You'd collapse in horror if you saw how unorganized my craft desk is. He also got me season five of my beloved "Sex And The City." He told me that he wanted me to have the entire show before it became unavailable commercially. I really, really loved that show, so that's a special gift to me. My wonderful parents-in-law bought us a yummy waffle iron (which makes FANTASTIC waffles...we indulged yesterday morning!). Saturday was a nice night. Sure feels good to be loved by such amazing people.

In the middle of my little photo shoot (taking the above photos), Miss Maggy decided to crash the set. :) Here she is in all her scene-stealing glory:



"What? You don't really think I care if you're taking photos, do you? I want to come over and say hi!"

Now, on to the not-so-good. As you faithful readers know, my agency is scheduled for closure in 2008 via the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) process. It's not been a pleasant experience for me...and that's "me the human" and "me the management official." I'm trying so hard to balance fear with hope and apprehension with faith. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. For a few weeks, I was one of a handful of HR folks working our agency's BRAC website and researching and posting questions and answers about the BRAC and every possible contingency known to man (moving with your work, keeping retirement post-BRAC, etc. ad nauseum). I approached all of this very clincally...very managerially. I recited rote managerial dictates about the BRAC and the agency's position on what we will and won't do and when. I was a management mouthpiece. I thought like a "management official" and not a "BRAC-impacted employee." That all worked fine, and then last Thursday happened.

(Before I tell you about last Thursday, I need to give you non-Feddy sorts a quick once-over about ICTAP. Some folks call it "I-SEE-TAP," and others, like me, call it "ICK-TAP." It's the Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan. How do I sum up ICTAP in less than a jillion words? Basically, if you've lost your job via a BRAC or a reduction-in-force, you can play the ICTAP card when applying for a new Federal job. Basically, if you're well-qualified and, in most cases, two years hasn't elapsed since your involuntary separation, the agency HAS to give you the job, period. It doesn't matter how many other folks are out there. It doesn't matter that some poor schmuck is better qualified for the position. If you're deemed "well qualified" for the job and are an ICTAP-eligible candidate, you get the job. End of discussion.)

I've been putting in for jobs here and there, almost all Federal, and really didn't see any one that just stuck out as a "JEN JOB." At first, I thought I'd be more conservative about my job hunting. Sure, I'd look, but I didn't think I should leap and take the veryfirstjobIsaw just to escape the BRAC. Rather, I wanted to wait until "that perfect job" came open...the one that had "Jen written all over it." Well, that job opened last January. And I applied. And everyone in my work and personal lives thought "Ohmygoodness - if ever there was a job that screamed your name, THIS IS IT!" It was an intern coordinator position, GS-0301-12 (so I'd keep my grade and pay), and the position solely focused on working with interns and students. That's been a HUGE chunk of what I've done in the past six years with my agency. Hell, even some of my current and former interns were ALLLLL about contacting this new potential job and telling them how wonderful I am. I thought I had it in the bag.

And then Thursday happened. They had an ICTAP match.

An ICTAP match. Can you believe it?

Yes, my friends, someone in the Kansas City commuting area was either BRAC'd or RIF'd within the last two years and took this job right out from beneath me. I never had a chance. I'll spare you the long story about how both my boss and I intervened here to try to find out what the hell happened. She and I both kept replaying in our minds over and over that there couldn't possibly be an ICTAP-eligible candidate in this area. There've not been any BRACs until this last one, and none of the two KC agencies affected by this round of BRAC have closed yet. That'd mean that either someone worked for another Federal agency here in town and was RIF'd (which is a strong possibility) or someone was RIF'd from another Federal job outside the KC commuting area and moved here. I believe it was the latter, and to say that I am beyond heartbroken about it doesn't even scratch the surface. I spent most of Thursday either in complete shell-shock or crying. And yes, before you tell me that the job was never mine to have, I know that. But it was such a perfect fit for me. And in the same damned building I am working in now! (Different agency, but still.) It just really hurt my pride. My boss and a dear friend/colleague both said to me separately, "You know Jen, look at it another way. You never had a chance here. There's nothing you or anyone could have done to have gotten you this job. At least you didn't interview for the job and THEN not get it. You were never even in the running." And they're right. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. Oh well. God brought me here, so He has to have a greater plan here. This all makes sense to Him. Hopefully soon, it will make sense to me, too.

Adding insult to injury here is that I myself am a BRAC-impacted employee. Not YET. I mean, I've not been separated yet. But the separation is coming. The BRAC is law now, and there's no going back. However, my agency (and understandably so) has a mission to perform. And work needs to continue in order for our site (and ultimately, our agency) to continue. To that end, the decision has been made not to give ICTAP eligibility letters to us until 120 days prior to closure. Had I had this wonderful "Notice Of Expected Separation" letter, I too would have been an ICTAP match for that job. And I probably would have gotten it, too. And that makes something already painful hurt that much more.

So there you have it. Back to the job hunt board goeth I. Pray for me, folks...please. I need to find a new job and start this new chapter of my life before the BRAC starts it for me.

I'm off. Gonna go shopping and enjoy my day off. Be well everyone!