Random Act of Gratitude #143: Workplace Community

I know I've said it before, but I like the community in which I work. The staff is like family (even my bratty sister whom I love and adore) and those who come with their ACTUAL families make for a great place to spend one's workday. (Well, most of the time anyway. There are those days ... Haha!) Really, though, one could do a lot worse. I work hard, but I believe in what I'm doing and I'm glad I'm doing it there. Lots of people can't say that, so it would be wrong if I didn't appreciate it.

Random Act of Gratitude #135: One Week Gone

The first week with kids has finished and overall things have gone well. To me, that's something for which one should be thankful.

Random Act of Gratitude # 133: A Lunch in Exchange

I was going to make this entry about my good friend and director John, whose birthday it is, but since I just wrote about him (albeit briefly) a few days ago, I won't dwell too much upon the gratitude I feel for having had the chance to know and work with him over the past several years. He's truly a smashing individual and I'm always thankful that our initial working relationship segued into a great and valued friendship. It's also good that he'll always tell me what he thinks about me when it comes to performance and won't bother buttering me up. Ha!

But that's NOT what this entry is about! Instead it's about the lunch that Sarah provided today as a thank-you for the soup I shared with her yesterday.

On the menu:
* a delicious tuna and pickle sandwich
* some fresh sliced peppers, including the elusive orange pepper
* Big Turk.

Thanks, Sarah. You could have had that bowl of soup gratis, but since your lunch was WAY better than the one I gave, I guess I owe you an Oreo McFlurry or something.

(Oh my! It 09/09/09 today! What makes that even better is that each 9 is made of three 3s! So it's 3x3/3x3/3x3 or if you prefer 3,3,3/3,3,3/3,3,3! Woohoo!)

Random Act of Gratitude #132: A Fine First Day

I keep forgetting that I'm supposed to be back into a daily routine here. Sorry!

Today was the first day of school with kids, and a fine day it was. My class was filled with enjoyable stories, amusing anecdotes, and general good will. A pleasant time was had by all.

Random Act of Gratitude #126: Regrouping

As we prepare for another school year, I have been reminded that I am very lucky to work with great people. Both at the school and at my "other job", I am able to look forward to seeing my colleagues.

Given that one spends hours and hours with co-workers, I really do feel blessed to spend that time with such a group.

Random Act of Gratitude #96: PhotoSue

For one project on which I have been working, I needed some photos of kids.

I had the project.

I had the kids.

All I needed was a photographer.

Enter Sue, who arrived camera in hand this afternoon. She worked smashingly with my gaggle of models (that's right, models come in gaggles), and took my vague ideas of what we could do for each photo and made them better and made them work. I'm quite confident that we ended up with some great shots for the project.

Thanks for taking the time to come out and shoot some kids, Sue!

Random Act of Gratitude #90: An Advantageous Deformity

I'm currently studying the human body with my class and today's topic was skin.

You know, having set myself on fire and subsequently having had two types of skin grafting surgeries has its advantages! We had one of the most engaging and entertaining discussions during Science today as a result. Even the one kid who was adamant that I was grossing him out rather enthusiastically took part in the discussion! Haha! It was a great lesson and I'm pretty sure most of those kids are going to remember the layers and parts of skin!

Random Act of Gratitude #88: Lumber Mill Days

The summer between teachers' college and working was a rather big one. I had surgery. I had recovery. I moved. I had no idea whether I'd be working in my field at all come fall.

One of my post-recovery jobs that year was at a lumber mill. That's right, a lumber mill. Those of you who know me well know how funny that thought is. The job dropped into my lap through someone that knew my parents. Someone was needed to operate a radial arm saw; I needed a job. Hence I ended up doing the job.

It was not exactly my dream job. Thankfully I had to wear this immense sci-fi filter mask so I could sing to myself all day long and not have anyone hear me. (And I'm not sure that it would have gone over well with some of the folk with which I worked if it had been heard.)

Regardless of whether it was my dream job, though, it was yet another appreciated opportunity provided by someone who wanted to help me out. Thanks, Jim, wherever you may be!

Random Act of Gratitude #71: Cross it off the 'To Do' List

I finally finished the program for the spring show. Why I agreed to do it given the timing (overlapping with report writing) is beyond me.

Is it my finest work ever? No. Is it going to 'wow' anyone with its brilliance? No. Is it decent? Sure. Is it done? Yep.

Cross it off the list. Sigh in relief.

(I also returned to "regular work" today to find another bag of delicious potato chips waiting for me, complete with kidnapper-styled cut-out letters spelling my name on the bag. To the mysterious giver of the gift, I offer my thanks! Consider that #71b.)

Random Act of Gratitude #70: Productivity

My "Wednesday Job" was surprisingly enjoyable today, but not for any earth-shattering reason. Put simply, it was so nice to sit down at the computer and work for long stretches and feel a sense of progress being made.

I was talking with Glynnis about how different from "regular days" it is when I'm working on Wednesdays, to get going on things and not be glancing at the clock every five minutes to see how much time's left before I have to pack up and get back to other things. That's pretty much they way things work the rest of the time. Short packages of time to get things done makes it hard, sometimes, to really feel like you've made headway on the piles of work waiting.

Today was largely made up of un-interrupted periods of time to just work away at a couple of the projects I've got underway. I didn't necessarily have to do anything particularly challenging or mind-bending over the day; simply getting through a big chunk of work was pretty darned nice.

Random Act of Gratitude #63: New Laptop for Work

Today I received the new laptop to go with my Wednesday job at the board office. What this means is that my work can travel with me more easily, that I will be able to print from the laptop more easily, and that I won't have to keep going to get that darned key on a mini-hockey stick to swipe one of the loaners every time I'm at the office. Ha!

The particularly nice thing is that some of the projects I'm working on will be requiring a lot of fonts and photographs which I will be able to put on that computer and work with them until I'm done, plus I'll be able to work on things at home, too, away from the network. (On a loaner like I've been using, the fonts I've been compiling would be lost every time I have to trade it in to get a new one.) I know it sounds pretty lame, but it's just going to make things easier all around for working on getting things done, at work or at home. Gerda (my big boss) even got me a swanky backpack laptop case to travel with me. (She seemed concerned that it's not a Superman backpack, but I assured her that I understand and it's fine.)

I won't even get into the joy I feel at the fact that it actually holds a charge for more than five minutes. Haha!

I feel so officially office-y now!

Random Act of Gratitude #56: Lunchtime Companions

Working on it...

My Wednesday job is going well. I quite enjoy what I'm doing and, as you know, I immensely like the consultant with whom I'm working. The added bonus is that other friends and colleagues work out of the same building, though they're not always there when I am there.

Today was one of those days when several of us were there at the same time and a small crew of us headed across to the old Subway for lunch. Even the woman I didn't know at all was entertaining and enjoyable!

Is there anything better at work than chatting and laughing over food at lunch?

(As an aside, Glynnis met with Gerda and I in the morning and in true Glynnis-and-Jerome form, we were horribly divergent. I hope Gerda didn't mind.)

Random Act of Gratitude #51: Employment Opportunities (Part II)

I was ridiculously sick all weekend and wasn't able to post here. Seriously. You know under the weather? Go under the weather, look down, find a soft spot in the dirt, and start digging. When you get far enough for it to be sludgy and gross and dark and cold, climb in. Stay there all weekend. I'm now trying to make up for lost time here.

When a position opened up at the school where I presently teach, I definitely wanted it.

I'd done my student teaching there and loved the school's philosophy, families, and style. I'm not one of those people who think every other school's bad; I just really think that great things happen at the wee school where I am.

In any case, there's always a lengthy series of steps that a job posting has to go through. As a teacher who now had a contract, but not a full-time contract, I had to wait several postings before I was even eligible to apply.

Here's where the appreciation comes in.

The principal at the time was a very strong-willed (in a very good way) woman who kept me up to date on how the process was going and assured me frequently that she was doing what she could to get things to the point where I could finally apply.

Ironically, I don't believe this principal was originally one of my biggest fans. I'm not convinced that I had exactly won her over during my days as a long-haired student teacher and probably not even in the brief interim of supply teaching, either. The staff at the school was behind me, though, and she trusted them and so she supported me.

At long last, the time came when I could apply and sit the interview and lo and behold, I got the job. And whether or not she was originally a fan of mine, she gave me a fair shake and ended up being very supportive of me both then and through the years afterwards, when she went on to be Superintendent of Special Education, even encouraging me to apply for jobs that were coming up under her department. (Obviously I chose to stay where I was. The time didn't seem ripe for leaving.)

So, for your support back in the early years of my career, thanks, Marlene!

Random Act of Gratitude #16: Lunch Table Laughter

My workplace has a small staff. There's nowhere to hide if you don't get along with your co-workers. Thankfully, my coworkers are quite enjoyable people.

Today, during the lunch break, someone outside of the staff arrived early for a meeting and sat down with us while we ate and chatted. I'm sure she thought we were nuts, but that's fine.

We have a long history (which predates most of the current staff) of laughing more than is probably necessary at the lunchroom table. Today is was (largely) Amber who was telling amusing stories about her life (and revealing more, perhaps, than is wise about her personality) and she had us laughing aloud at her shenanigans. (It was suggested, once again, that I should consider writing a sitcom about her life). Stories or just conversations, our topics run the gamut and, more often than not, we have a daily fix of amusement in the process.

How nice to have that type of atmosphere around a lunch table at work.

Random Act of Gratitude #13: An Outlet

Over in dullgloomy, I have a strict rule against talking about work. I haven't put quite as strict a restriction on things here, since things are bound to occasionally occur at/related to work for which I'm thankful.

I'm a teacher. Alright, it's out there. (I feel like I should be in a meeting, sitting in a circle.)

In any case, specific to this entry, I spent the afternoon in a meeting with a group of colleagues -- teachers and important-consultant-types -- talking about the Arts. Not only do I get to work on this project with our Arts Consultant (who is amazing and lovely and great fun to be around), but it brings to mind one of the reasons I am glad that I do what I do for a living.

My job gives me a constant creative outlet. I've worked in jobs that did not provide those opportunities (lumber mill, pipes and fittings factory, to name a couple) and found it difficult. I really need to use the creative side of my brain. Teaching lets me explore and grow all the time. As I work on new projects with my students, I go through the "newness" of it along with them. If I were not a teacher, would I have ever started choreographing, playwrighting, designing, directing, and a hundred other things? I don't know. I'd certainly be doing something to deal with my creative energy, but I'm not sure I'd have so many great opportunities and excuses to do so.

There are many things about my job for which I'm grateful (though naturally it's not entirely a bed of roses), and I'm sure a few others will put in an appearance here, but for today, I was particularly thankful for the opportunities it has provided me to get in there and try new things, pushing me to learn and explore creatively.