"How has the world treated you today?"

"Leaving . . . on a jet plane . . .  don't know when I'll be back again . ...

Well, I do, actually. I'll be back to Columbus on Sunday, November 28th at 8:30pm, and Madison on Monday, the 29th at 7:00pm. Approximately.
Today continued the trend of details. Mind-numbing details. I'm excited to get on a plane and not worry about the details of preparing for and getting to South Africa.
Then I can can worry about the details of being there.
Ha ha.
My 3:45AM alarm is very close, so this will be short. But in case I don't post while I'm gone, I figured I should add one more entry before I go.

So I thought I'd share the question a woman asked me this afternoon . . . "How has the world treated you today?"

I, of course, being in a hurry to get everything done, quickly just said "good." And then she asked it again. So I stopped, and paused. And gave her the same response. :) Because the world has been good to me today, but I thought it was a good question to ponder. And so I share it with you . . .

"How has the world treated you today?"

Details.

My good friend, K Savvy, has been helping me understand that some people are better at details than others.
I am somewhere in the middle. Well, I think I'm in the middle.
With some situations, I'm perfectly fine not knowing the details. But for others, I like to know a lot.
This is pertinent to life right now, as I prepare to travel to South Africa.
I leave in 3 days.
No less than 14 days after I moved, and 9 days after I started my new job.
So . .. my life is all about details right now.
I am traveling to meet a friend, who will be guiding me around his country.
I'm quite fine with knowing general details about the itinerary, as I know that things will change, and I mostly think that a general schedule is fine.
Except that it feels like it has been pulling teeth to get an updated/concise schedule.
To be honest, I recieved a long version, which had a boatload of information that my friends and family here don't need. Like descriptions of Kruger National Park (where I will be for a couple of days) and Sea World in Durban. Very sweet, but also kinda random. And not what my mom wants to know.
Also? It was significantly different than the last, 1-page version.
*sigh*
Just thinking about it makes me crazy. And my desire for more details is no doubt driving my south african friend equally crazy. But at least I am owning this? Ha ha.
So I will not digress. Too far.

Back to the details. Today I'm trying to pull together what seems like a million little details to prepare for my trip. So I thought another "in the last hour (or day . .. I'll cheat a little this time), I've . .. "
1. Put together a 2-page contact/travel/flight/host/general South African information document for my friends and family. This might have taken all day.
2. Registered my trip with the state department. There's a cool travel program, for anyone who is traveling abroad, go to http://www.travel.state.gov/
3. Contacted my "old" bank to let them know that I was traveling out of the country, and could they please make a note on my account so I could please buy things while abroad? Please and thanks. [Not to be confused with the new bank, who I have already informed.]
4. Written out cheat-sheet of addresses for a few folks so I can send some postcards from the motherland.
5. Started pile of stuff to put in carry-on. Pile currently includes: iPod, iPod charger, cute-new-journal, neck pillow, bag of snacks and travel kleenex.
6. Started another "things to do before I leave for SA" list.
7. Tried to buy a bus ticket (to take to O'Hare, where I will fly to Columbus to get onto my original flight). [Side note:Why on earth did I think this was a good idea? From a budget perspective it was fabulous . . . but . . . now that I've realized that I need to get on the bus at 5:00AM on Wednesday morning to get to O'Hare in time (the 7am shuttle gets there an hour before my flight. I only have a carry-on. It COULD work. But I'm not risking it. So  . . 5-freaking-AM flight it is. Lame.)] But I have to print the ticket. So I can't do it at home. Argh.
8. Flipped through SA travel guide.
9. Freaked out because I feel like I have a million things to do.
10. Reminded myself that I have, in fact, already packed my "real" luggage, so . .. that's off the to-do list.
11. And then we get back to the details. The little stuff. That can add up and make a person crazy . .  so, left to do are:
  * Make copies of passport and drivers license
  * Print off airline tickets, specifically return-tickets, as to gain entry to the country, you have to prove, in fact, that you are also going to leave. :)
  * Email compilation of travel information to list o' people who want it
  * Call health insurance to see if I am covered in case - God Forbid - something happens to me while I'm gone
  * I'm sure there are other things that I should do. But I don't know what they are. Or even if they exist. I might be fine. OR? I could be forgetting something I should have thought of.

Details. The devil is certainly in them. I'm looking foward to getting on the plane(s) and enjoying the vacation instead of worrying about getting there.

Winning Small Battles

Since I moved here, a mere 10 days ago, I have been on a search for one item integral to my life.
Cream for my coffee.
International Delight, Chocolate Caramel, to be exact.
I have visited five different grocery stores to find this damn cream.
In the meantime, I have purchased two other flavors, from two different brands.
Both suck.
I'm sure they're great for other people, but  . . . well . . . I like what I like.
I'm a creature of habit.
And amidst all of this other change in my life, I need some consistency.
And decent cream for my coffee.
Coffee, which is imperative to my brain functioning at the level it's needed to this week.
So, until now, I've had to suck it up and have mediocre coffee.
But . . . no more!
Success!
After finding a Chipotle (also a major feat), and satisfying a 3-day craving for some chicken tacos, I also decided to venture to find a Half-Price Books. Which had a Copps grocery store next to it. I figured, "what the hell, I might as well pop in". And low and behold . . .
International Delight, Chocolate Caramel Creamer.
In the gallon-sized container, no-less.
Praise the freaking Lord!
Seriously, people. I'm so sick of looking for this I contemplated stocking up.
On cream.
For my coffee.
As a reminder, I am soon to leave the country for 12 days.
But that's beside the point.
At least for the next 3, while I'm here, life can go back to some semblance of normalcy.
I can make a cup, or two or three, of coffee in the morning.
And enjoy it.
Hooray!

In case you were wondering . . .

those little silver pieces of cardboard that come with your microwave/frozen pizzas? Yeah . . . they're kinda important. Don't, for example, microwave your pizza without it. It's less than ideal. Hypothetically.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I celebrated my first week of work with a nap on the couch and a frozen pizza. I thought about going out to dinner, but was so exhausted the couch seemed like the best place for me. At home, alone. Don't get me wrong - this week has been great! I've met most of my staff - everyone from my managers (the folks who directly report to me), the childcare staff - teachers, assistant teachers, student teachers and teaching assistants (apparently, in fact, there is a difference between all these!), the facilities and capitol project group - mechanics, maintenance, custodians, painters and the grounds crew, the leasing/assignments folks, the community services staff - who handle the programming and resident manager staff, and who run the main office, the office staff . .. . needless to say, there's a boatload of folks. And I'm going to try my darndest to learn and remember their names. ;) Baby steps. Hopefully it won't be too hard. They are all fun and welcoming and genuinely excited to have a new director. I think. Ha ha.

Everyone is quite concerned with the recent election of a new governor. We are in our second year of furloughs, and no pay raises, and . . . well . . . as a new resident  of WI who only remotely understands this, it's a little scary. Gonna have to put some time and energy into thinking about staff morale. People are scared, and anyone who is close to retirment (of which I have many of these folks), are thinking about jumping ship now before the new governor/state makes changes to their retirement plans. Then the question becomes - will we get to rehire? Can we get it done "in time"? Will there be a hiring freeze? What the . .. !!

Welcome to my first week!

In addition to the political fun, and meeting great people, I have also mucked around with the budget (it's that time of year! Gotta find out where we are with capitol projects so we know whether or not to continue to set aside money for them in the future, or if it should be used somewhere else.) Do I know anything about this? Not really. :) Not yet, anyway. So I will continue to read a lot. This week I have also done some safety planning/threat management for a family, figuring out how to decide whether or not to rehire a lead custodian position, reading the files/documents my boss has given me (which I have thus deemed "important"), and ensuring my staff that I will, in fact, continue to come back to work the next day. In addition, yesterday I found myself saying to my office coordinator, "this might be a silly question . . . but . . . what's my phone number?" Yep. That came in second for the blog-title.

Baby steps. Lots and lots of baby steps. It was a good week. I've learned a lot. Now I need to pick paint colors (for both of my offices) and find a place to live. Minor details.

Advice from Dad . . .

I used the fire hydrant analogy with my dad when he asked me how my first day was.(Yes, I am nothing if not consistent. You find a good metaphor, it's best to stick with it!). His response? "Take sips, not gulps of info. Don't want you to get indigestion or drown." Love it. Kinda perfect. So, I'm for once, trying to take my dad's advice.


So I only brought home a few files to sort through for the evening. I'm hoping that if I have a glass of wine with it I'll be able to absorb some as well (the information, not necessarily the wine - though that will be good, too).

Drinking from a Fire Hydrant

No, for real. I am. I've heard this phrase a lot. And used it quite a few times myself when training new staff members. Not until today have I fully understood what the hell that meant. And it feels like an understatement of the century.

The first day of work was great, but exhausting. My staff is fantastic and kind and welcoming. And there is so much information to take in I'm not sure I will ever feel like I know what the heck is going on. Despite this general feeling of overwhelming-ness (yep . .. totally just made that up), it was a good day. And I'll even go back tomorrow. :)

After work I rushed to the local credit union to get a bank account. Success! My brother should be proud of me! I'm quite pleased with my decision, and the woman who helped me tonight (putting her in the office 30 minutes after the bank closed) was fabulous. Though it made me think . .. hmmmm. Could we be friends? How strange that I think of this stuff. (Some friends with whom I handed out halloween candy will NOT be surprised by this, and yet I am. In case you're wondering - I wanted to invite the neighbor to our little wine-party-on-the-porch-while-handing-out-candy-extravaganza. I felt bad he was sitting by himself while we were drinking wine and laughing hysterically. Oh - did I mention that he wasn't actually MY neighbor? Minor detail.) But I digress. So . . . I wondered . . . when she says, let me know if you have any questions (banking or Madison-related)- does she really mean it? Would she be someone fun to go grab a drink after work with? Will I now wonder this about every person I come in contact with who remotely seems to be around my age? I'm afraid so. *sigh* But what's a girl to do?

So, because I haven't done enough reading, I am going to try and start deciphering which of the 43 health insurance options I want. This task is quickly going to become the bane of my existence - I wish someone could/would just pick it for me and I could be done with it. I have a lot of "real" reading to do for work, and I should get to that as well.

Progress

Don't get excited. I don't have a place to live. Yet. BUT . .. Tonight I navigated the streets of Madison and found a Target. Hooray! This was not as easy as I feel it should have been, however, it happened nonetheless, and I am quite happy for it. Also? Made it home from Target. In the dark. Using side streets. Hooray for progress!

Today I also met a new friend. He introduced me to DB Infusion Chocolates (http://www.infusionchocolates.com/). Amazing. I tried the Cashew Carmel, Cider Carmel (yep . . . I'm a sucker for carmel) and, waiting for me to try is the Pomegranate Malbec. Also had some Mayan drinking chcolate. Amazingly delicious. He kindly bought me some Hot & Spicy Cheese bread from Stella's bakery (which he got from one of the local farmer's markets). It is delicous. I could seriously eat the whole damn loaf. But I'll save a bit of it for tomorrow, when I will drive downtown to find a snazzy place to live.

In addition to all this fun, I also made the decision to invest in a Madison Street map, in lieu of a gps. I've decided that I want to actually know where the hell I'm going, and the only way to figure it out is to drive and pay attention to where I'm going. So I'm learning this new town the old-fashioned way - with a map and a lot of U-turns. :) Wish me luck. I'm confident I'm going to need it.

Per usual . . .

This week has been .. . well . .. surreal. On Monday, I went to work at my old job, for my last day of work. It was a very busy day, too busy to be sad. Tuesday, I watched total strangers pack up all my belongings, and load them into a semi truck. After saying goodbye to my friends, and dropping off my keys, I hit the road, staying the night in Indianapolis. On Wednesday I drove to Madison, my new home. Hooray for making it safely! Thursday I caught up on sleep, and found a grocery store. That brings us to today.

This morning, my new boss was kind enough to drive me around downtown, near the capitol, the place I think I want to live for awhile. It was very helpful, as I was able to put the area, and some of the places I'm interested in, into context - where they are in relation to campus, the capitol, and the lakes. And they we went to lunch, where I thought it would be nice of me to pay for both of us, since the man has fed me dinner for the last two nights, helped me unload my car, and driven me around for 2 hours. So I took the bill, and laid down my debit card.


Which, of course, the server kindly shared with me, they don't take. Neat. I had some cash, but not enough to cover lunch. So my new boss bought me lunch. He found it hilarious. And now, I suppose, so do I.