11 March 2005

the last 11 days...

This has been one helluva period of time. Nothing stopped moving. Every time I turned around there was something else being thrown my way.

The most innocuous thing was the FY06 budget. I thought I had until April 16th to complete it. Then an email came saying it would be due April 1st. No problem. Then another one came saying March 17th. A little problem. Finally, the AIO emailed and said we had to meet on March 1st with a first draft. When we met with her, she said, "Nope. It has to be done before you leave here!" BIGGGG Problem!

What happened was that I didn't have all of the data needed. When I was handed a 6 page memo with instructions that were very precise, I was totally wigged out.

I tried to get it done that day, but it was impossible. I had to start over from scratch. I said I'd have it done the next day. I was well on the way to doing it. I balanced on the second try, began loading the state funding, and the G.D. network kept going down. The technology gods did not want me smiling.

After the network came back up I finished loading the state funding --- only to discover that I couldn't balance because since the day before salaries and benefits had changed on all employees. I was over-budgeted!

That was Friday and not only did I have to figure out where I was off, but I still had to load the federal funding source and I was positive that if the state salaries & benefits had changed, the federal would be even worse because NCLB has assinine requirements.

There was no way I could redo the state budget. I called and got a "reprieve." They knew there was problems with the network. Finally, something was going my way. I told them I would have it finished on Tuesday since there was not school on Monday.

Here is where the best part comes into play. At 6:55 am on Saturday I left for three days in Las Vegas with my friends. I left the entire budget behind me and didn't think about it at all except to tell my friends how ridiculous the entire thing was.

We had a great time in Las Vegas. We stayed at the Bellagio, ate fantastic food and went to see Cirque du Soleil's "Zumanity." It's called the "other side of Cirque du Soleil" because it is about sex and nudity. It was hilarious.

There was one spectacular part after another. The prison tango between the two men was one of the most beautiful dances I have ever seen.

End of the story? I returned late Monday night, went into work late, finished the budget - both parts - and had it into the office at 4:00 pm. I went to my Self Expression & Leadership class that night also.

What did I learn? Everything works out just like it is supposed to work out. I didn't loose my cool - well, the first time the network went down I had a few choice words - but whatever happened, happened. This is a far cry from how I used to handle things. I was totally present all of the time and accepting of what I could and could not do. I made choices and I was happy with my choices.

What else can I say? What do I attribute this transformation to?

landmark education...

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