What a great day! It was Sheri's first day at the new job and I was slightly anxious that things were not going to work out, but they did wonderfully.

My first anxiety was that there might have been a miscommunication between her, the recruiter and the employer and that she would show up to work and they would say something like "Mr. Smith will be in conference room B for your second interview." The recruiter didn't speak English as a first language and was very difficult to understand on the phone and was a soft-talker. After her first interview they said if they liked her they would call her back for a second interview with the head boss, but when they did call it was to say come to work. Something just didn't seem right.

My second anxiety was that her group would be a repeat of the group she was in when we first moved to Chicago. She felt like an outsider and they did not go out of their way to make her feel welcome. If that was the case and she dreaded going to work every morning, and Sunday nights brought on depression, I would feel the anxiety just as much as she does, maybe more. After one day she thinks everyone in her group are all good people with similar personalities and temperaments and all about the same age. She really felt good about the whole thing.

I didn't know on her first day if she was going to have an opportunity to call me and fill me in on how the day was going, so I made a little code list she could use to call me, tell me the code, and hang up whenever she had a free minute in the restroom or breakroom. I couldn't stand not knowing if she was dying a slow death all day. This is the list:

A Doing great! People are nice. I think I will enjoy the work.
B OK. A little nervous but I am hiding it OK. Nothing bad or uncomfortable.
C As well as can be expected. It will take me a few weeks to get comfortable.
D Uncomfortable but I will live.
F This sucks. Can't wait to get home.

She called me after being there an hour and said she was at level "C". Great! I thanked God it wasn't a "D" or "F".

After about another hour or so she called back and she moved up to a "B". Awesome!

After lunch she called again and she inched up to a "B+"! I wanted to do a little jig right then and there. The rest of the day stayed at "B+".

Just that would have made it a great day, but we went out for a great celebration dinner which made it a really great day. We never got around going out for a celebration dinner for the contract job she started in November, the start of my new job in January, or her birthday, so tonight's dinner covered all of these.

We went to one of Sheri's top five favorite restaurants if not her favorite: Sullivan's Steakhouse.

We started off with their signature lettuce wedges with blue cheese chunks and tomatoes. (I actually think these are the real reason she loves Sullivan's. These are her favorite.) We also had a nice loaf of hot bread and iced tea.

She couldn't manage a whole steak so we split a 16 ounce New York strip. We also split an order of creamed spinach and an order of au gratin potatoes. We decided to stay for dessert and coffee and we split an amazing crème brulee. Everything was fantastic and was the perfect end to a good day.