Top 5 (or 8): Reasons why I love my new job

In case you have not seen me ridiculously happy and relieved in the past month, I love love LOVE my new job. It's such a great thing after the hell that was my last job. It's all I could ever ask for (unless I were also making billions of dollars) and here are some of the reasons why:

8) A boss that is super nice, talks to me, great to be around, is an Eagles' fan, thinks that I am amazing (and tells me so), is polite and already treats me like family. His boss came into town, took me to dinner and hugged me goodbye. And from all the interactions I have seen with other colleagues, this is normal. "Treat people well and they will be good to you" is S.O.P. around here. Whoa. This is a new experience for me in Corporate America. Not the toilet bowl I was used to. I thought that I would never get this kind of environment again. I admit that I have been royally spoiled for the bulk of my career.
My grandmother has been really ill lately and it does not look good. This has been really upsetting and as I'm trying to figure out what to do, but still remained focused on my job, he has offered to help out in any way, take whatever time I need and do what I need to do. Why wouldn't I want to give this man and this company 150% of my effort when they're this great?

7) I am downtown again. I LOVE DC. I love living here. I love the atmosphere and the feeling of the city. It's big without feeling big and clean and it's just different than any other place. I hated spending up to 90 minutes one way to drive 15 miles in the opposite direction of fun. Out to "the single most unpleasant place on planet Earth", without decent, quick, restaurants around (I will NEVER go to Cheesecake Factory again), and paying $75/month for parking in an adjacent lot, so I still had to run through bad weather. Here, it takes 20 minutes to drive 5 miles, I have FREE underground parking right in the middle of the city. I have tons of friends nearby for lunch dates, with lots of variety for food choice and location - in the lovely park across the street if we wanted or the penthouse terrace of our office. PLUS, now that I am back in the city, I can get haircuts, pedicures, and other errands accomplished during lunch. I love being back.

6) I now work 1/2 hour less than I used to, but with the shortened commute, I have almost 2 hours of each day of my life back.

5) While I totally love what I am doing, and am learning lots of new things, my boss (and his boss) are always looking for ways to help me move forward in my career as a whole. They listen to my ideas, my contributions are valued and see me less as an EA and more of a colleague. Eat that, Previous Boss.

4) No more anxiety attacks about having to go to work the next day. No more crying everyday because my bosses (all 5 of them) were DBs.

3) I get to run the whole office the way I want. No more being told what to do every single second of every single day. I am trusted. I know what I am doing, my previous experiences are valued. I get to throw away lots of stuff, reorganize everything and start fresh - and these are the key words: THE WAY I WANT.

2) Travel perks. I now get to work on the corporate side of the travel industry and thus, I get tons of travel benefits (how about the 5 star hotel at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome for $100/night? SWEET!) Even though I am not, I get all the benefits of a registered travel agent. This is totally fantastic because how much do I love to travel?? A LOT. And now you want to be a better friend to me, huh?

1) FREE. DIET. COKE.