As summer departs.

Summer has hurtled past so quickly this year. I'm not quite sure whether it is down to the fact that I've done hardly anything of interest to make the season memorable, done too much and not had time to stop and think or (most likely) the lack of sun and abundance of rain prevented any recognition that summer was even here in the first place. Either way, I can only really think of a couple of main events that have happened since I last bothered to show my face online.

Back in August, a few of my friends from university came back up to Lincoln for a weekend of shenanigans. The group consisted of the usual suspects - Gemma, Amy, Sarah, Lauren and Abbie. We had a pretty great weekend featuring several meals out, a night on the tiles and Sunday lunch at a country house.

We also endured enjoyed work Sports Day last month too. In a nutshell, the entire company gets paid to have the afternoon off and they hire out a sports centre where we spend the remainder of the day competing in various events. It's pretty good fun but the free bar makes it just that bit more bearable. I was in 'The Milky Bar Kids' this year and we came second - not too bad!

Speaking of work, I've also had a promotion. After a bit of swapping and changing, I am now the new Retentions Manager based under Operations. Basically, I have a team of 7 others that are responsible for trying to keep customers that are having problems or are thinking of cancelling. I'm really excited about it cause I have been planning for something like this for a long time (I've been dealing with a lot of cancellations and competitors on my own for some time). It is great to finally have a team to manage and hopefully make a difference. It is being officially announced to the teams this week so I will have to wait and see what happens with that.

Like I have always said to myself - good things come to those who wait.

A new chapter.

So this is it, I've managed to land my first ever job (second if you count my brief stint at the old folks home when I was sixteen but I don't, so you shouldn't either).

I have always believed myself to be somewhat of a lazy arse (yes, that's the official term) but I guess the fact that I haven't yet graduated and have already found good full time work would suggest otherwise. Needless to say, I'm extremely proud of myself. I think it has shocked my dear Father too; I'm convinced that he had been preparing himself with sufficient funds to keep me up until Christmas at least. With my track record, who can blame him?

I suppose that living away for so long has given me a taste of independence that I am reluctant to give up. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being at home - I love the abundance of food and not having to worry about rent and bills, but I now feel a total stranger in the family home in which I grew up. It's a strange feeling, as though I belong here yet I shouldn't be here. My Dad has been amazing over the past year, a year that has been a great struggle both emotionally and financially and I will be forever grateful to him for that. In fact, I genuinely look forward to the day that I am able to repay him for the kindess he has shown and I have assured him that it will happen.

The recruitment process for this job has been a huge pain in my side over the past two months. I first put myself forward back in June, though if I had known that it would prove to be such a long and drawn out process, I often wonder whether I would have ever bothered. It resulted in numerous agency meetings, multiple trips back and forth to Lincoln and a couple of interviews. At one point, I genuinely believed that I had accidentally applied for The Apprentice, that or an episode of Punk'd - either way, both sound entirely plausible. Finally after months of titting around, I received the call yesterday and I start on the 16th. My relief, however, was short lived as they explained that three permanent positions would be given to three of us after three months if we proved to be good workers. It seems they really do hold a love for business based reality shows.

The job itself is a graduate management training programme for a partner to Lincolnshire's Local Education Authority. Basically I am trained for a year or so to eventually manage their marketing department. There are three graduate manager jobs at the end of it and they have taken on three trainees (including myself) so to be honest, it's not much of a competition; I think they've just given themselves the option to get rid of someone if they aren't pulling their weight. I realise how lucky I am to have been selected out of the initial forty applicants as I am only just about to graduate and I have never worked in my life. My CV resembles the Sahara desert, I kid you not. It is flattering to think that their attraction to me has come almost entirely from meeting me, as on paper, I'm about as exciting as a plate of peas. The moral to this story is that, if I can blag my way through life, anyone can. No excuses.

I'd be lying if I said that 2010 has been a good year so far as I can safely say that it has easily been one of the worst but finally I can see things slotting together. The fog is clearing and I'm beginning to get a picture of where I will be in a few months time. I can already feel myself starting to relax, a sorely missed feeling that I welcome back with open arms, no matter how short lived.

It's a new chapter and an appropriate time for a new blog. They say that it's out with the old and in with the new and believe me, I'm determined to do just that.