First Day

Survived first day back...decided that perhaps, close to 3 weeks off is too long...it was very hard to get RIGHT BACK into the thick of it. Like:

Have you heard the State of California is running out of money? And school districts are having to forecast when we'll be running out of cash? 'Cuz the state is saying they will stop sending our funding sometime in February - and that funding is what keeps us going. So you arrive back from a wonderfully long break - and are reminded immediately 'HOLY CRAP - HOW LONG CAN WE CONTINUE TO PAY PEOPLE??' and spend the morning figuring that out. Then meeting with various people to convey just how long the cash will last. Then spending a lot of time sitting in meetings with all these people and all of us thinking the same thing: why in the heck is this happening? Is this some kind of joke? 'Cuz it's not funny. There are a lot of really stressed out people trying to figure out what to do....and I'm one of them. So get to it, Legislature. Figure it out. Quit being partisan and think of the kids. Think of the employees who need paychecks. This is getting more ridiculous as each day goes by. The only good thing is: we assumed it would all be figured out while we were on break so we didn't lose any sleep over it during our break. And now we're back and it wasn't - so stuff is hitting the fan all over the place today. What a 'Welcome Back', huh?

My new coat was a great purchase...and everyone in my office is coveting it - they are threatening to borrow it to go to the restroom and forget to return it. It's hugely warm and cuddly and perfect for walking 'down the back 40' (as we fondly refer to our bathroom trek in snow, rain, sleet, dark of night). It's great! And stylish. Even my boss complimented me - and he never notices what I'm wearing. I said 'I got tired of being cold'.

And now I'm wearing it at home a lot 'cuz it's freezing in here and I'm refusing to move the thermostat up too much. Though I'm shivering - and I'm ALWAYS on the warm side.

Other than the 'hey, we have no cash' thing, it was a fairly good day. Though you don't realize how many times you type the letter 'y' until you have to hit the 'y' REALLY HARD for it to actually tpe the y. See? That's not a 'typo' - it's a missing 'y' in the word 'type' that I'm stubbornly refusing to fix. To illustrate my point.

J. is traveling to Louisville (KY) on Thursday morning for a funeral - his uncle died and since this is the last family member of his dad's generation on his dad's side of the family, he wants to go to be there for his cousins. So he's flying out of SFO on Thursday morning and returning Saturday night. I miss him already. I worry about him traveling in winter conditions - and I just (in general) miss him like crazy when he's not home...but it's two nights and one of them is a Friday, so we should be able to survive....and I do think it's important to be there for his cousins. They are all wonderful people who we love dearly and we know that losing your parents is hard....

OK - the cleaning crew comes tomorrow so I have a lot of picking up and putting away to do before their arrival. That will warm me up quickly!