Happy Birthday to me! LOL!

Well, it's my birthday today. My birthday's usually suck. But this year, things are off to a good start! I woke up to find a gift for me on my bathroom sink. A beautiful card from Henry and, get this, a box of GODIVA CHOCOLATES! After my little episode this weekend on his cookies, you think he would remember that ME and SUGAR don't mix! He bought these yesterday...I suppose if I eat 1/2 of one a day I will be fine. Ugh. I don't want to get sick, but I don't want to hurt him either. I know he will understand why they are lasting me till Christmas, though. Then, I got my purse and got ready to go to work and saw he put a card in there. I got in the car and opened it and it was a gift certificate to Bombay Company for $200!! YES! That's more like it! Now I can get some cool, beautiful stuff for the house. Then, I got to work and talked to my boss about my job duties. We have our performance reviews coming up next week, and I wanted him to understand where I was. So he looked it over and said, WOW you sure do alot! Yep. So that is why I'm proposing offloading some of my duties to concentrate more fully on my HR functions. I am also requesting a salary adjustment and being made exempt so I can get time under my belt to qualify for a test to get my PHR designation in 2 years. He said he would consider the salary for my review next week. So keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm requesting a huge ($20,000/yr.) adjustment to put me at market for my position. I doubt I'll get it all, but I better get a good chunk for what I do here. Anyway, I'm hopeful. I'm heading to Las Vegas on Saturday through next Wednesday for an HR convention. So when I get back, I will have my review. I also get to see my surgeon next Tuesday while I'm there. Can't wait for that. Whew! That post got long. Sorry!

You've got a lot happening lately! And just think in a couple of weeks you will be a bride! Life is good. I'm so happy for you. The way you asserted yourself to your boss was impressive. Do you think that before wls you would have had the confidence to do that? I find myself much more positive and assertive now that I weigh less. I hope you get your salary adjustment. The salary for HR professionals has skyrocketed over the years. A lot of organizations haven't yet caught up. Have a great time in Vegas. It's a great place to visit (in small doses)!

Thanks, Wanda. I know I have more confidence now. I probably would have been a bit more timid in my approach before. Now I try to appear confident, but I still wonder inside. I wonder how many people fake it like that. I am fighting negative perceptions in my job. One is the role of HR as a strategic position. My boss gets it, but some of the 8 other partners don't. They still treat me as "just an admin" person who they can't "trust", though I've done nothing to undermine their trust in the years I've been here. The value I can bring to this firm is enormous if they would give me some reign to do my job. Some of the partners still hold personnel files in their office because they don't want to let go of that control to someone else. I've been here over 2 1/2 years. I need those files to DO MY JOB. Some of them also don't want me to see a census with salaries. Excuse me, but how can I, as the head of Human Resources, shop for the best insurance deals if I can't even have access to a current census? There has to be an amount of trust there for me to do my job efficiently. It's a bit of old school employees vs. the progressive growth-oriented team approach. I love my job, but sometimes I just wish they would let me do it. We had talked about perceptions lately because it's evaluation time. And people's perceptions are their reality. We have to communicate the mission to everyone and get buy-in to change some of the wrong perceptions. It's something we are working on from the top down, but it takes time.

Happy Birthday Kim! I know what you mean about "birthdays usually suck" I usually get very depressed around my birthday but I think this year will be different. Birthdays always make you (or me anyway) think about where you are in your life and where you thought you would be at this point. Most years I don't see enough progress toward goals to make me happy. This year, I definately have made major strides! Any YOU! OH my, WLS, upcoming marriage, and possibly a HUGE raise! You have everything to make it a VERY Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy yourself and have a wonderful trip to Las Vegas. Hugs, Valorie

Happy belated birthday! sounds like you had a special day