Leave of Absence

This week has been quite a roller coaster ride. On Monday, I asked work for a leave of absence. I was really nervous that whole morning, knowing I was about to do something really huge. I thought about what I was going to say and how I was going to approach my boss, and just kept getting more and more nervous. When I couldn't take it anymore, I finally just asked him if we could talk. He saw me carrying a piece of paper into the meeting room, so instead of giving a whole speech, I just let him read it. He didn't say anything for a minute. A really long minute. So I guess he was pretty shocked. He asked a couple of questions, about why I was leaving and why I wanted to cook and the timing and stuff. But it was over pretty quickly. He had to talk to people higher up and they weren't around on Monday. So overall, Monday was an ok day.

Tuesday is when it got more difficult. My boss talked to his boss in the morning and then the three of us talked together around lunch time. They asked some pretty difficult questions. They really wanted to know the reason for me leaving, I guess to see if there was something they could fix that wouldn't involve me leaving. They were also trying to figure out whether I would actually come back or not. So I was pretty sad by the end of the conversation. They both seemed pretty disappointed that I was leaving.

I was at my cooking job that afternoon, and all I could think about was that conversation. I ended up feeling angry about it, that they were trying to make me feel guilty for leaving. I wished that I hadn't even asked for a leave of absence because quitting would have been so much easier. I also hoped that they would say no to the leave because then it would look like I had made the effort to stay but they weren't willing to give it to me.

But as soon as I got in on Wednesday morning, my boss told me that they were willing to grant me the leave, though he did also say that they couldn't guarantee what my job would be like when I got back. I was pretty surprised at that point. I guess overall I'm happy that I got it because it means they want me to come back and keep working there. But it also means that I might have to go back and say that I'm not going to come back at the end of the leave, and that will probably be difficult. But I guess I'll worry about that when the time comes.

Wednesday was also good because the one person who is going to take the leave pretty personally wasn't at work. She was there on Thursday though, and we still haven't even talked, but I know she's not happy about it at all. In the afternoon, I had to send my boss a list of the work I have to do for the next couple of weeks, and he forwarded the list to her. One of the things I wrote on my list was something that she and I had talked about giving to another colleague when the colleague returned from maternity leave. But she showed how petty she is going to be because she turned around and told me that I would have to do that work because it will be too complicated for the colleague and actually said that she never discussed giving that work to the colleague, which is a total lie. So I was pretty angry that afternoon, and I still get quite angry thinking about it now. I knew she would try to make my life difficult, but I didn't think she would be so immature about it.

Friday, I was at cooking, which was a lot of fun, and reminded me why I'm doing all this. The next couple of weeks will probably be pretty painful and busy, but I guess I just need to suck it up for two more weeks because it will all be worth it after that. I can't wait.

P.S. Happy Birthday Jo!