Things at
work have been very weird lately. Good, but odd. Odd in that my manager AND my
only co-worker both gave their notice and have transferred to a different
department on campus. This is due in part to KU’s new Changing for Excellence program and their decision to create
centralized business centers rather than have departments handle certain human
resource and financial activities. It does make one a tad bit paranoid when
everyone jumps ship at once but I know them leaving had no reflection on me. This
change is good, in that I am starting a new position within my current
department that will provide me with a clear path for advancement starting as a
Grants Specialist. This is a transition that was put into the works last fall
and is just now coming to fruition. It’s amazing what can happen when you take
the initiative to offer a better solution. Of course, it helps to have
management that listens as well.
Friday I was
given the opportunity to take the afternoon off so Gentry happily agreed to go
with me to shop for a swimsuit. We are leaving on vacation in two weeks and now
that I’ve lost a few pounds I felt I was mentally ready to go the store. Luckily
the first one I looked at and tried on fit perfectly and met her approval. Easy
peasy! Although it was 101 degrees outside, I left Gen no choice but to walk up
Mass St. and go into some more stores. Very rarely do I get the chance to shop
downtown during the week so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. This
kid did not appreciate the concept of window shopping. “What’s the point of window shopping if you don’t plan on buying
anything?” Well I did end up buying
some stuff and she actually apologized on the way home for being so obstinate.
This weekend I finally got my new Galaxy III phone. Two year contracts are the devil and I could NOT wait to get rid of
my ancient Blackberry. This phone will do everything except cook your dinner
and I’m not even sure it won’t! I bet there is an app for that and I just haven’t
found it yet. It has an app identical to Siri on the iPhone so Sydney spent
considerable time asking it random questions like, “What is the meaning of
life? Do you love me?” and “Why are you so stupid?” Then she would ask it to
send random texts to her sister telling her why SHE is not mom’s favorite. Priceless.
Although it
may seem like a small thing, I was finally able to ditch my old phone number
which to me signifies closure to a life that is no more. Since I moved, every
aspect of my life has changed. Maybe this small thing will help me to let go of
the hurt and the anger that consumes me whenever I think about where I was two
years ago, once and for all. At the
least, I took back some element of control.