Opportunities and Opulence

It has been very quiet on the blog front but that has definitely not been an accurate reflection of our lives.

Recently, my boss was asked to take on a new roll pulling together various customer and complaints teams within the bank. His success will depend on whether he is able to bring our excessive complaints numbers down. It is a big job and I will be joining him on this new challenge, which we start on Monday. It will be very exciting and although I am slightly daunted, I also intend to take a more active role as his 'right-hand man'.

At the end of last year, I started a professional mentoring programme with two senior level PAs. One is within the bank I work for and the other supports a managing partner in a well-regarded consultancy. Between them, they have over 50 years of PA experience in various companies. I meet them regularly to work on my developments areas. I am not one to sit in meaningless classes just to tick a training box and I have found that mentoring works really well for me. It is motivating and has sharpened my focus on where I want to go in terms of my career.

I have started the ball rolling with my boss and run a few ideas of how I can be a bigger asset to him. So far, he seems as keen as I am and the next step is to turn words into action. I know that I can be the MVP (most valuable PA :-)) on the wider team but I need to invest more time into learning about the new area.

This week, I also had a bit of an additional boost. One of the junior team PAs asked me to be her mentor! To be honest, I thought she was joking at first so I didn't think much of it. I am not sure if I am the right person to be influencing young, innocent minds! She asked me again a few days later and I still wasn't sure if she was serious. I spoke to her team leader who confirmed that yes, she actually did want me to be her mentor ha ha. I have agreed to do it as I know it will help me to grow as a person as well. Our first meeting is in a couple of weeks time so I will keep you updated on her (and my!) progress! Eek.

It hasn't all been work, work, work. I've also had some fun purchasing stuff for the master bedroom. I used part of my small bonus to purchase a beautiful 19th century antique French Fauteuil (that's armchair to the likes of you and me). When I showed my boss the photo of it, he said that now all I need is a Versailles Palace to go with it! Uh huh. I've also got a hand-made painted clothes ladder for our 'not clean not dirty' clothes. I have a tartan footstool on order to put in front of the chair but as it is custom made, it will take another two to three weeks for delivery.

I have also managed to find gorgeous vintage prints and old lace pictures to complete a feature wall over my dressing table. Aside from the Italian mirror, all the other items, including the small carved painted shelf, is from the same lady who has a stall at my favourite antique market. I have collected them from her over the past year or so. I love the various shades of grey, mushroom and cream chalk paints she uses. Her stuff sells like hot cakes so I literally take the items off her hands as she unloads them from the back of her van. P has observed that I am akin to a circling shark going in for the kill ha ha. Hey, that is all part of antique shopping etiquette i.e. you snooze, you lose, baby doll! All of these items are one-offs and I have learnt that if you don't grab them when they are available, it will be a long time before you can find a suitable replacement.


We were busy with visitors in January when we had a big Chinese New Year party and we spent last weekend with friends in Cambridge. It's my birthday (21 again, yah right) in three weeks and we are having a few people over for lunch. Our good friends from Northampton are coming to stay. They are bringing their very sweet and mature 12-year-old grand daughter as she loves the dogs and wants to spend some time with them.

It is miserable and rainy today so I shall be at home making chocolate-chip cookies and dark chocolate brownies. I am bringing them to work on Monday to help break the ice with my new team. All part of my newly-found skills in stakeholder management ha ha.

Have a great weekend, everyone!