More waiting, the call and the offer

As the human resource person contacted my references, I continued to wait and wait.  I knew it wouldn't be an issue, because they all agreed to be a reference, and with that I was 99% sure they would say something great about me.

But, I messed up.  I had one wrong digit of a phone number of a reference - and when the HR lady called about it, I went into panic.  How bad was that mistake going to affect me?  I responded with
"How embarrassing, the phone number is xxx-xxx-xxxx". 

I am not sure which references the HR lady spoke to, but I do know that one of my references was about to go away, and emailed her a letter and that she spoke to at least one other person.

After about 3 days, she called to let me know I made it to step 4 - the education verification.  I was confused, I don't know anyone that has verified education.  It was a Thursday...so I knew not to expect to hear back for a few days, but I was running into the time-crunch issue where I had a meeting with a client approaching, and I knew that my future company was having a meeting - and when they got back to me, was I going to be able to make it to the new job in time for that meeting? 

As I was preparing for my work trip, I received a call Tuesday afternoon offering me the position.   I double checked the dates and if I wanted to start working to be there for that meeting at the new place, I had to give my notice at my job that same day.  I typed up something really fast - and headed into the owner's office to tell her I was resigning.  I have dreaded that moment for 4 years - but it was surprisingly quick - I think she was more annoyed that I only gave two weeks for my position and that I didn't warn them I was looking.

Anyway, back to the offer - I was stressed out at work, and while I was super happy they finally called and I had a definitive answer, I wouldn't really even think about negotiating the salary.  The salary they offered me was my minimum on my cover letter - so it was something that I knew I could work with, and it is $20,000 more than I made last January (2011), and $10,000 more than I make now.  I would have liked a little bit more, like if they offered me another 2,000 over my minimum stated price, but it is what it is, my fault for not being assertive enough.

But I also looked at the benefits package, and it seemed just as good/better than I do now. I was most concerned with not loosing my 3 weeks vacation that I have accumulated over the last 6 years - and this new job offers 18 starting after 3 full months, not a big deal, and the medical coverage is equivalent.