Autumn Update

What a gorgeous Autumn day. After being treated like a princess all weekend, I am back in the real world, well rested and ready to face another week of crazy busy long work days.

I actually left work somewhat on time Friday, packed my bag and headed up to the posse camp, where Will already had the fifth wheel set up. I slept nearly 12 hours Friday night and lounged around in my pajamas in the heated comfort of the fifth wheel Saturday morning, looking out at the dark overcast day, drinking coffee with Will, then reading the latest Robin Cook medical thriller. After lunch it seemed like a good idea to get dressed. I finished the book mid-afternoon.

Will and I took a nice long walk, and the sun even peeked out a few times. Why is there such pleasure walking on a path carpeted with crispy, colorful, new-fallen leaves? A cougar was recently spotted in the area and Will had cautioned me to keep my eyes open. As we were about to step down and out of the woods onto the gravel bar along the creek, there was a sudden commotion in the brush by my right foot. Expecting a cougar attack, a piercing scream escaped me, but it was just a grouse flying out of the bushes. That got my heart rate up just a bit!

Nick joined us Saturday afternoon after taking his PSAT and we enjoyed his company. He managed to escape getting put to work this time. The little foot bridge over the creek that he helped with the last time is all done and very picturesque, as well as sturdy.

Last night was not quite as restful. There was a loud banging on the door at 3:30 am, a deputy calling out to Will that he needed to talk to him. I sat straight up in bed with my second near-heart attack in 12 hours, frightened that one of our boys had been in a car accident or some other tragedy. I strained my ears to hear the deputy's report, and I heard him say, "I just wanted to update you on a search that's going on for some missing elk hunters." You wake us up in the middle of the night to report on a search for missing elk hunters? That is not even close to being newsworthy enough for a 3:30 am update. After he left it was difficult to get back to sleep, so about 4:30 we got up and had a snack, me a banana and Will a bowl of cereal. I told Will if that deputy comes back at 6:30 am to give him another update I will beat him up. Then I practiced punching Will's face, (missing on purpose) because I really don't have a clue how to beat someone up. Lucky for him (and me), he didn't show up again.

On the work side of things, my replacement started almost two weeks ago, and I couldn’t be happier with her. God is so good, he gave us someone who already worked in attendance at the high school so she already knew the new program and everything involved with attendance. Woe to those truant and tardy children, I think she will deal with them much more effectively than I did. There are many more things to learn, but she is doing great.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all my new responsibilities, mostly because I am kept so busy just responding to all the things that happen in a day that I can’t get paperwork done until everyone is gone. In addition to the constant phone calls, the counter traffic, requests from the staff of 60+, new things come up that I have to research or call someone to find out proper procedure before I actually do it. So in spite of the extra hours I put in, the paperwork pile continues to grow.

But hope springs eternal. There is no school Thursday and Friday due to parent-teacher conferences, so surely things will be quiet and we will get a lot done in the office. I’m confident that by the end of the week my in-basket and to-do list will be empty. And instead of 6 am to 6 pm, I will start working the normal 7 am to 4 pm again. LOL. ROTFL.