In mid-January, I found out that the store I had worked in for the last fourteen years was having to close as the landlord wasn't willing to renegotiate a new lease from May this year. It was defiantly a shock to be told that news on a conference call with the rest of the store team and a few people from head office. It took a few months for the news to sink in, as we were on furlough from work and not seeing each other daily. There were initial hopes of reopening the store from April 12 after the most recent lockdown ended, for a closing down sale before closing down the store and sending the stock and anything else to the head office.

All the stores in the company would all be reopening into the spring/summer season and as we'd be closing would there be much point in reopening for a few weeks at that point only to close a few weeks later, and as it turned out, another store needed the stock for reopening, as they were being rebranded under a different facia of the companies stores.

In the wake of finding out about the store closure in January, after being there for almost fifteen years, the next few months were spent trying to come to terms with that news while being out of the store on furlough. It took me a few months for me to be open to looking for a new job but I did begin looking in late March. On April 7 I found a job that sounded suitable for me so I applied for it. On April 9 the manager of that job called me for a chat and he subsequently invited me for an interview after I finished at church on Sunday the 11th. On Tuesday 13th, I had a call from a lovely lady at HR who wanted a chat with me, she then offered me the job over the phone!!!!!

She told me that the manager had wanted to offer me the job on the Sunday at the interview but wanted HR to check my paperwork and as the manager was off on the 13th HR called me to offer me the job!

Another job that ended happening so quickly! It was the same with my last two as well. It's such a relief to have got a new job now. *breathes out a sigh of relief*. After I'd calmed down, I called my mum to let her know and then I told a couple of the ladies at church that I'm in a WhatsApp group with. I put my Zach Williams playlist on and danced around my home in celebration of my new job. I'm so excited about it and I'm finding that I'm putting exclamation marks after everything that I'm writing and that I can’t stop smiling!!

I also told some friends as well as the Discord group that I'm in for The Master's Fam as a couple of them had prayed for me after the interview on Sunday, they were so nice and pleased for me, it's such an amazing group to be part of.

I've been off work since new years eve when Lancashire went into a local lockdown before the nationals one on January 4th, so it's defiantly going to be a bit of a shock to the system being out of the house for five days a week and speaking to so many people again, all while learning new products and systems.

When the lady from HR called me, I had been in the middle of practising vlogging so that I had some footage to practice editing again, as I've not uploaded a YouTube video since January 20th. It had been a few months since I’d done any and while I was vlogging I was very aware that the end product of the video would likely never see the light of day. I’ve not even seen the footage back yet as I only had a chance to transfer it into iMovie with the plan to edit over the subsequent days. I never got around to editing the footage because the next few days of getting a new job were a whirlwind of excitement, gratitude and trying to buy suitable smart black trousers and shoes for starting work that coming Monday.

My last scheduled video had gone live two days after I’d found out about my job of fourteen years coming to an end, and as a result, I stepped back from doing a lot of things, including posting on my blog and Instagram as frequently for a little bit. But as I’ve been posting more regularly to Instagram recently, I want to continue with my YouTube channel as back in January I’d had other videos that I was planning out.

I’ve spent the last twenty-five years selling outdoor clothing and equipment to walkers, campers and climbers. I’m now selling mattresses, pillows and beds. There is so much for me to learn that it is quite daunting, but the store manager doesn’t expect me to be selling much at the moment as I’m only two weeks into the job. This weekend is a Bank Holiday and we’re anticipating being busy so we shall see how I do with everything.

I am loving it so far and the biggest noticeable difference is that because I am no longer working in the city centre and not having to deal with shoplifters my anxiety at work is nearly non-existent! I have more of a nervous excitement now instead of dread before leaving for work and also while being there. A big gamechanger and an amazing change for me.