An Introduction

Guess it's time for a little introduction.

My name is Jenny. I am a 34 year old living in Aberdeenshire with my husband, our 3 cats, and a 15 year old Moose called Johnny.

I work in an office. A busy department providing HR and Payroll support to a number of Oil and Gas customers. I've been with this team since 2009, though I did take a break in 2011 when I thought the grass was greener with another company. I was wrong, and negotiated my way back after 3 months away.
My role within the company, is to provide technical support. We use a software system called SAP and I am the SAP specialist for the UK. I get quite involved in new set ups and testing that the money that comes out in Payroll is what it should be. I don't do the programming myself, but I like to think of myself as a translator - I take the instruction from the customer, their requirement, translate it to geek-speak for the super-clever consultants, and then test the solution provided by the consultants. Then I sell it back to the customer and explain in layman terms how the solution works - effectively what they need to do to use it.
As well as this, I assist with technical issues in the system - If the electronic timesheet doesn't work right, or something in Payroll breaks. A lot of the customers we have work offshore on rotation, and have tricky set ups, which need a lot of monitoring and updating with new rates and conditions. I report figures to the government for payroll purposes. I provide reports to the customers for finance and billing. Process bank payments. Run payroll for some of our customers. Write "How To" guides. Get called the Jack of All Trades.

A few months ago, I had a bit of a breakdown. Nothing "serious". I didn't try and hurt myself, or anyone else, but I stalled and realised I couldn't carry on the way I was. I had stopped looking after myself, stopped wanting to do anything and stopped thinking about anything other than work. I wasn't me. This was just before our wedding. We decided to take 3 weeks off around the wedding - 1 before to pull all the plans together, and 2 weeks after for Honeymoon. When we returned to work after an amazing 10 days away traveling in Italy, however, it wasn't the fresh start I had envisaged. I was straight in at 60 hours that first week back. And that wasn't "catching up".... That was the expectation. So after a tearful weekend, we decided I would speak to my manager, who despite her high expectations of me, realised I needed to take a step back, and has been supportive with my reduction of hours.

Outside of work, I love to craft. I have what can only be described as a flippant crafting personality - I want to learn it all! My favourite thing is to crochet amigurumi. I'm not very refined, I call them wonky critters... just means they all have their own quirky personalities! I was inspired by my friend, Steffie, who makes "Cuties" and sells them to raise money for IVF treatment. Her Cuties really are adorable, and I have a few myself.
As well as crocheting, I make cards, I stitch birds and mice, I dabble in hand-stamping, and I make models with polymer clay. I made a lot of the decorations for our wedding, including my bouquet which was a bunch of fabric flowers with personal trinkets hidden.

So that's me. That's pretty much it...!

Jenny x