First, thank you all for the warm welcome. I hope my entries are entertaining enough that I will have regular readers. I know I look forward to your postings.

Happy Tuesday and another day at work survived. It was hard to return to work after being off for 10 days. I was so tired this morning that I forgot half my lunch and ended going for fast food. I did remember breakfast so there's at least that.

A few of you have asked about work and suggested that you all could offer advice. So I am going to take you up on it.

I have been with the same company for 29 years with most of those years in a position that required frequent travel. At age 51, and the kids getting older, I decided to get off the road. I applied for a new position and while I wanted a promotion, I was offered a lateral transfer because I "would be receiving other benefits in form of bonus pay." Well that didn't happen. I am now working on a 6 person team and I am the only female. I am also the longest tenured but most junior in the team. Over the last several years, I have worked with 3 of the 5 men and always enjoyed the time. Now, I am odd person out. I am not included in lunch outings and not asked if I want to go "grab some coffee." When they have to show me around the new systems, it is as if it is a big imposition. I sit in my cubical with little interaction while they all talk about their weekends and home improvement projects. I have interjected into the conversation but silence is returned or they turn back to their computers. Others on other teams have noticed the cold treatment and and I have followed their advice but there has been no change.

I am at a loss. I have a countdown going to my earliest retirement point. I remind myself that I am home for dinner with the family every night. I remind myself that I shouldn't care that they don't like me, that I like me and I will continue to do my job to the best of my ability. But it's sad and lonely. I am slowly making friends with others in the office. That will help eventually.

So going full circle, when I forgot my lunch, I walked over to the food court to pick up a chicken sandwich. I ended up walking by the guys eating their lunch. I just smiled, waved and went on.

While I had an unplanned expenditure, I kept the cost down by only getting the sandwich and having water to drink. It was healthier than doing a meal with fries and a soda. 😄

Any suggestions on improving workplace stress would be greatly appreciated.

Happy New Year!

I am a long time reader and am finally giving this blogging bit a try.

A little bit about me: I am fifty-something, happily married for 13 years. I have 2 kids (1 daughter and 1 son) and 3 cats. We recently moved to a new state in order for me to have promotion potential, but sadly, I don't like my working environment. Love the new town and kids seem to have adjusted but...

Financially, my family and I are in good shape. Our only debt is our home. While we have savings and retirement money, I want to save more for the kids college education and continue to save for retirement and plan for a new (new to me) car purchase.

I hope to make this blog about my life and financial thoughts and decisions.