The Wrong Side of Tuesday

Today turned into a challenging day.  Full of regret after my decision yesterday regarding the new young lady I recently met and and hit it off with and then told her I didn't think we were a good match, I woke up from a fitful sleep with about 10 minutes to get ready to work if I wanted to arrive on time.  I made it, but the tone for my Tuesday was set.

I had an afternoon management meeting, followed by a budget meeting which ran overtime.  This left me with very little time to get to the school to pick up my daughter.  However, my boss announced at the end of the budget meeting that we needed to meet back in 15 minutes to discuss some furlough issues regarding our employees.  Unfortunately, many of the affected employees had already left for the day, including all of my managers, leaving no one to cover for me at the meeting.  I would have to go to the meeting.  But I had to leave to pick up my daughter.  What to do?  I left.  My boss called my Office Administrator (OA) and asked where the representative was from our office.  Then my OA called me.  Sounded like I was in trouble.  When I called my boss, she wasn't very understanding.

Bottom line is that I had to choose between my daughter and my job.  My daughter will win that one every time, but it really isn't that simple.  Obviously my job is important, too.  I have a responsibility to my employees, as well as to the mission of our organization, which is to provide aeronautical charts and publications to General Aviation pilots across the US.

I explained the situation to my boss and I hope that this will prompt a future discussion.  Part of the problem is half of our organization is in the Central Time Zone, while my half is in the East.  The work day pretty much ends at 3 p.m., but since it's only 2 p.m. for the folks in Central, they tend to forget about us.  That's the problem.  Anyway, I'll be praying about this situation.  As a Christ-follower, I know that handing my problems over to Him is the answer.

Another issue that came out of today is the fact that we didn't get a chance to visit with my in-laws after my mother-in-law (MIL) invited us to dinner yesterday.  The snow kind of messed up those plans, so we didn't get a chance to see them, but she called tonight and said she wanted to see us before we leave for our Spring Break.  The problem is we're running out of days and we have a lot to do to get ready for the trip.  That's not a good enough excuse for MIL. I still have to get an oil change, do laundry, get a haircut, shop, pack, clean, eat, shave da beard, clean the hamster's cage, get the dog groomed, wash the car, pay the bills, go to work, and finish off our planning for the trip.  But we'll do our best to drive alllllll the way out to Damascus to have dinner with them.  My wife was an only child, and my daughter the only grandchild, so it's important for her to see them.

So, yeah, it was quite a day.  Vacation can't come soon enough!