Meeting Jen

Mel:

I figured I would start out the Journal with the Story of how I met Jen. She and I will be writing this journal simultaneously. Try to keep up.

My husband got his first job out of college at a plant in Pryor, Oklahoma, in the industrial park. He is an engineer. RAE Corporation makes industrial A/C and Refrigeration Systems. We left everything behind and moved out here to start our lives as newlyweds.

The first time I saw Jen she was the receptionist at RAE, and I was coming inside to use the restroom (no joke). Joe had his final interview that day and we were running late, so instead of dropping me off, we only had enough time to go straight from the Norman Campus to the RAE job site. I stayed in the car. I knew it was going well when I had fallen asleep in the car and awoke 2 hours later and he still was inside at the interview.

But there was a problem, I had to pee.
I waited as long as I could, then rushed into the building, stopping at the reception desk.
I was mortified about asking to use the restroom in the middle of nowhere, and was afraid of making a bad impression for my husband with his wife in tow, waiting in the car.

It didn't make the situation any better when I come up to the reception desk and I see this really attractive women in serious business attire sitting at the desk. I was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops. I was just short of hoping up and down with the need to urinate. Jen was very polite though, and gave me directions to the bathroom.

Thus begins a beautiful friendship.
With urination...
Ha...

Its tough finding a job in a farm based community when you have a Psychology college background. I couldn't find anything worthwhile. And ended up interviewing at the same company my husband works.

I saw Jen again when I came in for the first interview for File Support.
I was nervous, I hate interviews.
I asked to see Shelly, the HR manager at the time. She was in the middle of answering the phone, so I bit my tongue. Then when she asked for my name, I mistakenly thought she meant Shelly so I told her again, 'Shelly'. But she really meant 'my name'. I realized this after the word slipped out and corrected myself, but I was blushing like an idiot at that point.
I'm really shy, and I have this awful tendency to blush when I'm uncomfortable.

I interviewed and got the job regardless, but sometimes you dwell on the little things.

File Support was at the desk next to Jen. So we had a lot of time to get to know each other, but it didn't happen for quite some time.
I'm shy remember?...

The current girl at File support was ridiculous, she trained me. She had one of those personalities that never stops talking, and doesn't take hints. She once explained the layout of a 'parking lot' at her college campus, complete with a drawn out diagram. Who the HELL CARES where you parked at school!? Mindless ramble. Oh GOD, make it stop. In the middle of the drawings and ramblings I look over at Jen and roll my eyes, shes giving the same look.

We bonded from then on.