TGIF and TGTO (Thank Goodness That's Over)

Warning, quite possibly boring work stuff ahead.

First of all, it's Friday, and that is almost always a very good thing. Second, the three major projects that have been hanging over my head for the last several weeks are finally completed! Hooray! Let there be rejoicing in the streets or at least in my classroom. I'm practically skipping down the hall.

Project #1 was a very tricky combination of organization, politics, and just plain work. I hate these projects where you don't have any real authority over the group because they are your immediate co-workers, but you are still expected to motivate them into finishing the work. We are finished (at last) and I don't think anyone even hates me (mild resentment maybe, but not hate I don't think).

Project #2 dealt with the extreme incompetence of a vendor. On the good side, the district, my co-workers, and I were in agreement that the Publisher sucks. This meant that there was no hostility or political wrangling (we left this end of things to our admin) between us. However, the logistics of collection, re-numbering, stamping, and distribution of books were intense. The publisher screwed up and had to re-send the order THREE TIMES. My arms and shoulders are still sore from delivering all those books to classrooms.

Project #3 was not so much a project as a political negotiation. As department chair (yay! another position where I have no authority, but I'm still responsible getting people to do things) I'm supposed to "guide my team" to select a person who will serve on a certain committee. This committee has a quite a bit of power, so several people want the job. Eventually, all but one of our team agree on one candidate, Mr. X. It seems like we've made a good choice. However, the lone holdout refused to believe that we aren't putting her on the committee because "she really, really wants it." We are only allowed one representative, and she is NOT a good choice. I tiptoe veeeery quietly off to my boss and lay the situation out for him. He sends out an email saying "since you can't choose, I will choose for you. I choose Mr. X because he needs to do more leadership." I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

I haven't stopped sighing (in a good, relaxed way) since. It feels SO GOOD to be out from under all that stress. The normal work days seems sort of like vacation by comparison. Now it's Friday, and things should get even better.