Letter 6

Dear friends with other crazy jobs/lives,
There are truly days when I don't remember what went on. Do you have these days? It's so confusing. Today seems like a blur of activity. I know I did a lot of work, I know I accomplished some things and not others, but I can't quite remember it all. Which is why I usually spend parts of my evenings replaying the day. Do you do this?

I vaguely recall getting a chai at Starbucks this morning...I think I had to drive around the block because I wasn't sure if they'd be open that early on a Sunday or not. They didn't have their tip box out so I handed the woman the $1 when she handed me my drink. A truck kind of rode my ass all the way to work - trying to follow me through yellow lights and such. It turned out to be Boss2, which was kind of amusing.

Then I remember a burst-out-laughing moment at our morning meeting where folks started to stand as we were going to present a certificate and I said, "Oh, don't get up folks, sit down," and Boss1 said, "Yeah, it's only Andy." Everyone laughed at Boss1's comment and I laughed at the 2 people still standing looking around at everyone else who had sat down because obviously they weren't listening to what was going on. Ok, so you had to be there, but trust me that was a funny moment.

After that things start to blur. I think I spent a very long time with our finance officials this morning dealing with a problem that came on our plate late yesterday afternoon. I kind of remember sitting at a meeting that worried me about retaining our people. Then things start to clear up...a little.

Two of our senior female leaders spoke to some of our junior members today. It was great to hear how these two started their careers. They talked about mentors and my mentor was sitting across from me and we looked at each other at one point and I was pleased that I had picked him to mentor me. I have other mentors too, but he's one I actually have down on paper and have spoken to about being my mentor.

After that he and I and Jim headed to lunch. We ended up eating with Boss1 and had a great time. During that meal, as I was talking with these 3 higher up people, I thought back to when I was new to this job and how I'd observe others in those positions eating together at lunch. I used to envy people like me who would get to eat and talk with our leaders like that. Boss1 is the head dude at my workplace and being able to talk to him like a...well, human is so refreshing. And while we were talking about various things - work and personal life - at lunch, I just kept thinking about what other junior members would be thinking as they observed us. It was a little humbling. I don't know...does that make sense? Probably not.

After lunch I ran into my friend KB and I helped her find a briefing on Boss2's desk she needed to recopy. I stepped into Boss1's office and asked if he knew where Boss2 was and he whipped around in his chair and uttered a nice sentiment. Apparently, Boss2 sent out an email telling everyone in our section and our building why I had taken last Thursday off. A little birdie, KB, had filled him in on the purpose of that day. So I retaliated a bit but not in a bad way. It ended up being a big joke and we had a great laugh. As Boss2 said, "If you can't laugh at work, you're in the wrong place."

Truly the rest of the afternoon was a blur - various people stopping into my office to talk about issues, trying to sort out paperwork and then prepping for my 2-day meeting tomorrow. I then came home and inadvertently napped for a couple hours. whoops.

I guess what I'm saying, inarticulately, here is that if I don't reply these days I don't remember what happened. And if I don't remember what happened, is my day really worthwhile? Of course, after going through this list...was this day really worthwhile? sheesh...

Does anyone else feel like this ever?