Shnoz

I've had a sinus infection since before we left for Hawaii. I've actually had it since the last time I wrote 'I have a sinus infection'. This thing has literally not gone away. And it's weird - I know it's an infection because of the 'stuff' coming out of my nose - which I won't describe because that's just TMI, even for me. The 'discharge' started getting really, obviously 'gross' shortly before our Hawaii departure - but my schedule (both at home and at work) was far too jammed to wedge in a doctor's appointment. So I took my survival kit - saline solution, Mentholatum, Sudafed and various pain relievers (because yes, there is a major headache factor involved that should not be overlooked) and made it through the week.

But I'm not running a fever (not unusual for me - did I ever mention that I ended up with Scarlet Fever at 19 because I had strep throat only never knew it? Because when I had strep throat, I had a temperature of 99. That's it. Nothing more. Until I woke up after ignoring strep throat for several days and was REALLY sick). Anyway, and I don't really even feel that badly - I do feel exhausted most of the time but that's an everyday thing these days as well.

Guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go back to my doctor and say 'hey, let's try another round of 'broad spectrum' antibiotics 'cuz I really need to quit having stuff leave my nose all day long that is gross and disgusting'. Enough said.

What a difference a vacation makes, in so many ways. At least for the past couple days, anyway. My outlook is cheerier. My workload is still huge - nothing's changed - and yet, I'm fine with it. I have my 'stack' and I keep plugging away little by little. And I make progress on things and keep things moving and keep learning - and that's 1/2 the battle. I know enough now to know what needs to be done. And I've had some revelations the past couple days since returning from paradise that will hopefully see me through the long days ahead until the next vacation (which we're actually thinking might be the week of Thanksgiving and might just involve returning to the Surf Song condo on the beach in Kauai that we just left).

I try to not talk about work much - there's much I could say, and I don't. But an interesting revelation happened today - one that I've suspected for awhile but didn't really have enough information to form an opinion. But now I do. Items are being removed from my 'in' basket. I never see them. And yet the same person who is regularly removing these items from my in basket and into her world is apparently not doing anything with those removed items. She has no intention of taking care of them - she just 'keeps' the various items. And when she's been asked about these kind of items in the past, she has denied having any knowledge of them - until I eventually figure out the process (with the help of the people at our County Office of Ed who are WONDERFUL) and point out 'no, here's what you've been receiving (only today I realized they are not necessarily being sent to her - they are just somehow ending up from my tray in her possession) and this is what should be happening with them', she can't deny that she has them and needs to take care of them.

Now, before vacation, my instinct would be to pull her into my office tomorrow and point out the obvious: you can't take things out of my tray that are being put in my tray so I will SEE THEM and then bad mouth me to whomever will listen that I'm not 'doing' things that need to be done WHEN I'M NOT SEEING THEM. You think? So keep your hands off the stuff in my in basket. ' And please note: even before vacation, I would never take this approach with an employee. I'd WANT to take this approach, but I wouldn't. But I would be all worked up about the 'issue', the incident, the 'why is she doing this kind of stuff' way of thinking. But I'm not. No, I'm not. Because,

AFTER vacation, I'll talk to her in the morning, acknowledge that I'm sure her intent is to assist me and thank her for wanting to help me (I don't think that IS her intent but I'll just assume the best instead) and request that for the foreseeable future, I really need to see all the various notices, etc. coming from our county office so I can understand the kind of information we are receiving . And then, I would like her to allow ME to decide what things I will delegate to her and then we will both know who's doing what. And of course, if she's not sure what to do, we should work on it together and we'll learn what to do side by side. :-)

Pineapple. I'm sure the difference in my 'attitude' relates to pineapple somehow. Perhaps all the cocktails I had that had pineapple blended in? It could also be coconuts. Or rum. Or coconut flavored rum! with pineapple! Gotta stock up on that stuff this weekend to see if it keeps the 'improved' outlook going!