Back on the wagon

It was only nine months ago that I blogged about a career change, and here I am again, blogging about how I changed jobs. Normally if I saw someone skip through jobs as quickly as I've been doing in the last two years, I'd wonder about their work ethic, but I swear, every move has been a positive one. This change is that I'm now the lead program manager in charge of our Technology Adoption Program, or TAP (formerly known as JDP or even EA for those old timers in the group).

This change is an exciting one for me (admittedly I am easily excitable but hey, I dig what we do here). It's actually a very familiar role for me, since I used to work on the JDP PM team in the Exchange 2003 timeframe - it's like putting on an old pair of comfy jeans. Also, as part of this change, I went back to full-time[1].

I spent a lot of time over the last 7 months evaluating what was best for myself and my family. I am so glad I had the chance to be part-time for a while, because it helped me figure out what I really wanted, what was the right balance. I also liked proving to the management team that a part-time model can work, that you can still be a significant contributor on a team while part-time. Another major contributing factor to this decision was how my son has finally started going to bed later, so I get time with him every evening instead of coming home and immediately doing dinner/bedtime. He's also been thriving at daycare which is great to see (today he is home sick with his grandmother; he kept asking to go to school and was very upset at me that I wouldn't let him go).

[1] Yes, at 31w pregnant. Actually, 33 now. Fun times, eh? Fortunately this pregnancy has been easier on me than the last and the work is energizing. And yes, going full time was by my own choice [2].
[2] Although I had an HR person ask me if I was pressured into making that decision, which was very sweet and I was glad to know they were looking out for me.