Accepting invitations

I'm certain I've talked about this before, but I'll say it again: I'm an introvert.  This wouldn't surprise my closest friends, but it might surprise my acquaintances, primarily if for them -- extrovert = outgoing & introvert = recluse.  This is not the way I define introversion vs. extroversion.  For me, the simplest definition is this:

1. An introvert's energy is drained by social situations (a.k.a. introverts need to recuperate after a party).
2. An extrovert's energy is replenished by social situations (a.k.a. extroverts are energized by a party).

So being an introvert does not mean I'm awkward in social situations, or that I have social anxiety, or that I can mingle at a cocktail party.  All it means - to me - is that I need to amp myself up for a social gathering and then wind myself down after one.  If I have a free evening, I'll likely have a relaxed night alone or with a few close friends... that's where I get my energy.

Anyway, because social gatherings drain me, when I get invitations to them, I usually lean towards "no".  For example, yesterday I was hosting a work event in a different city, and one of the women who was attending invited me to stop by her house before the event.  My instinct was "no, I'll just chill at a Starbucks alone before the event," but then I thought, I know this woman quite well.  She is always very kind to me, and I enjoy her company, and she has been so kind to invite me to her home.  It maybe wouldn't be rude to decline, but it would be the right thing to do to accept, so... I will!!!

And I did, and it was a really lovely visit.  We had a cup of tea and chatted, and I'm glad I did it.

Learning to do the right thing, get out of your comfort zone, etc.... it seems to all be part of growing up.  I'm learning!

A message to '05 grads.

I went for a nice walk and a cup of coffee with an old friend yesterday.  We haven't seen one another much over the past... hmm... probably 5 years.  We worked at camp together back in the day, but have connected a few times lately and as a result set up a coffee date.  The weather was gorgeous, and it was a wonderful outing.

We both graduated from high school in 2005, meaning we've been out for over 6 years now, both with an undergraduate degree under our belts.  Our discussion was a lot about what's happening for us now and what's next?  

We talked a lot about living with expiry dates.  By that I mean moving somewhere or doing something with a particular end date.  For example, I signed a contract for my current job, committing to 2 years with the organization.  I moved here knowing that it would only be for 2 years, unless plans changed for some reason, but I had some sense of when I'd be "free to go", so to speak.  Both of us agreed that this is a nice position to be in, because it means during the tough times that there's a "light at the end of the tunnel", and also that while you're doing one thing, you can simultaneously dream about what's next and have some sense of when that might happen.

We also talked about our lives not being what we expected.  We both have some parts of our life that we were thrilled with, and other parts that we didn't really imagine having.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that I feel alone in my current way of life, but I guess I didn't realize that the way I feel about my life is the way most people my age feel.  My big thing is that I've got a great job and a great life, but the town where I'm living doesn't quite meet my needs.  But then my friend and I also discussed that many of our friends who live in Toronto are working at jobs they don't really like or don't get paid much for or aren't relevant to what they really want to get into, etc., etc.  Maybe the moral of the story for us '05 high school grads is that we can't have it all... yet.  We've gotta decide what our priorities are - is it great work experience?  Is it a great place to live?  Because right now in life we maybe can't afford to balance all of our priorities - both financially, and in other ways.  Maybe we don't have enough experience yet to get our dream job, maybe we can't afford rent in a big city unless we're getting tips as a bartender/server.  It could be a lot of different factors, but the bottom line is that we're 24 - we don't need to have it all; we just need to be patient.

So that's the post!  It's nice to gain some perspective and realize that you're not alone.  I should remember to check in with fellow '05 grads 5 years from now and see where we're at.

Hanging Pictures

I don't know if all you other recent university grads are like me, but one thing I've noticed about no longer being a student and/or feeling more like an adult is that I have these funny mini-revelations scattered throughout the week.

Case in point - I took my lunch hour today to do some errands.  On my way to errand #1, I thought, "Wait, what?!  I'm taking my lunch hours to do errands and my first errand is to go to the hardware store to buy some picture hangers to hang a new piece of art in my apartment?!?! ... ... ... What?!?!?"

I don't know about you, but this happens to me all the time!  I know it's just a simple errand, but sometimes these things really smack me in the face.  I mean, it's so domestic, and so... every day.  I almost hesitate and think, "Can I actually do this?"  "Isn't my dad supposed to come up some weekend and hang my pictures for me?"

But, if there's anything I've learned from these past 15 months in small town, Ontario, it's that I am resourceful.  I can make do with what I've got, I can handle my life completely, and I can do whatever it is I need to do.

So... from picture hanging to learning to drive to booking flights to Europe to servicing my car, I can and must do it, and I will, and every time it'll be a smack in the face until... until it isn't anymore.

I wrote a post last year in October entitled "23 is not old", which described my delight at finding that despite what I began to think after 4 months in the working world, I was decidedly not old.  I realized this after Laurier's Homecoming Weekend 2010 when I partied my face off student-style.  I decided to enjoy Homecoming in the student way, as many of my friends were still students at that time.  

I went back to Laurier for Homecoming Weekend 2011 this year, but decided this time to enjoy Homecoming in the alumni way.  I spent all of the Saturday in Waterloo and attended the WLUAA AGM in the morning, enjoyed a pancake breakfast in the quad/amphitheatre, went to a concert and luncheon hosted by the Faculty of Music, caught a bit of the football game, and then went to the "100 Alumni of Achievement" event at Bingeman's in the evening.  I enjoyed every moment of the day, saw some friends and former colleagues, reminisced (a little too early for that, perhaps, but who cares?!), and showed my purple & gold pride.  Then I drove back home.

Did I have some big "23 is not old"-like revelation?  Nope, I just enjoyed myself and the new experiences I can enjoy as an alumna.  It was a great day!

~~~

In other news, I am feeling like a grown-up more these days.  I still party when I can, but with age comes more responsibility and independence, and sometimes I look at my schedule/to do list for the day and I think, "when did I grow up?"  For example, tomorrow I've got to book my flight for an upcoming trip to France and Spain, and then I need to take my car in for servicing.  These plans are so different from the ones I had back in early 2010, and I feel the weight of the responsibilities, but then again, I also feel the joys.  I mean, I own a car.  I'm going on a trip to Europe.  It feels weird and it feels different, but you can be sure that I'm not complaining.

Beloved Lists!!!

I just had a really successful and satisfying time & stress-management moment and therefore I wanted to share.  I don't mean for this to be a career blog... or at least I never meant for it to be, but if that's sort of how it's evolved then that's okay with me.  The main mission though will continue to be to discuss what my life has been like since I graduated; what I miss, what I don't, what I'm doing, what I'm learning, what I've carried on with me since graduation, etc.

But the truth is that most of my life is my career right now.  I'm in a small town with not a lot going on aside from 9-5 Monday-Friday.  I'm okay with that.  If I carry this blog on with me for a while, then maybe we'll see how things change when I'm (inevitably) back in a big(ger) city.

Anyway, without further ado...

Another big event coming up for me - a week from today.  This has involved months of planning, countless emails, a whole new vocabulary, lots of details... you get the picture.  As per usual I've gotten caught among all the details and I'm trying to climb out of it all.  Once again, as per usual, I've made list upon list of things to do, but even those lists - my beloved lists!!! - are contributing to the problem somehow because there's just SO MUCH TO DO!!!

I couldn't take it anymore.  I had to intervene.

So I created a new list.  I condensed the other lists and then made a column of when these things needed to be done.  They were either today, this week, or next week.  Lo and behold I realized that there were only SEVEN things I had to do today.  Praise the Lord!!!  I can absolutely get those 7 things done today, and I might actually find that I have time (considering it's 10:30am) to do more tasks, thereby decreasing what's left to do tomorrow and for the rest of the week.

#satisfying #efficient #destressed

Volunteering

It's been over a month since I last posted here. My 1-year anniversary at my workplace has come and gone and I had plans for a grand 1-year retrospective entry, but never got it together. Rather than procrastinating my next entry by failing at putting that entry together, I thought I'd just post now that I have something relevant on my mind. Maybe I'll do an 18-month retrospective later on instead. No matter, here's the entry.....

I've lived in a small town for over a year now. Actually 13 months and 1 day (not that I'm counting). I can't remember if I've named the town before, so I'll just leave it nameless. Anyway, this town doesn't offer a lot to me aside from a fantastic workplace. I love what I do, so I do it 40 hours out of every week, and then I spend weeknights willing away the time before bed, and weekends in Toronto, enjoying what a metropolis has to offer - friends, action, things to do.

However, all work and no fun (weekends excluded) make me a dull girl. More than that, after 13 months, it's really taken its toll. It's hard to see the joy in life when you go from 8 hours at work to 8 hours at home to 8 hours of sleep - rinse, repeat. It sounds pretty depressing, right? And I'm not depressed! I'm a positive, optimistic person, but that is deteriorating with this small town life. And it's not the small town's fault - it's mine!

Back at Laurier (this is Life After WLU after all), activity was easy to find. You could find it with your friends (who were everywhere), in your student house/apartment, in the pubs and bars, and most definitely on campus. There were dozens of opportunities to do stuff - whether it was being holed up in the library "studying" while actually catching up on mtv.ca, hanging out in the Terrace, working at your on-campus student job, or - my favourite pastime - volunteering. I can't remember what the exact statistic is, but isn't it true that Laurier has one of the highest student involvement rates out of Canada's universities? And isn't Laurier one of the only universities that actually interviews for its volunteer positions because they are in such high demand? I held 5+ volunteer positions while at WLU. In fact, I was doing volunteer work more than I was in class, I'm pretty sure. I loved it!!! It wasn't just to pad my resume, it was my social life and where I learned and experienced all sorts of new stuff.

I lived, worked, ate, hung out, volunteered, and went to class all on one city block. Now that I've transported to another city town, I realize that the plethora of easy-access volunteer opportunities doesn't exist here. They don't just jump out at you. It's not that they're not there, but you have to look. I took that for granted while at Laurier, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth looking for now that I'm here.

So - did I waste 13 months? Maybe in some ways, but not entirely. Plus, I can't look back and get frustrated with myself over what I haven't done. What I can do is look forward and see what I can do now. So - I'm going to volunteer! I've found my first opportunity and I'm dropping my application off today. I'll keep you posted!

MHD

It's been a while since I last checked in to this blog... over a month and a half, to be exact. It's been a busy 1.5 months though, so I'm glad I was focused on my work. Now, though, the summer is here and things have died down for a bit. In my field - at this institution, at least - summer is a time for catch up, cleaning, planning, and generally ramping up for the next "year" (September-June). However, before I could get planning and ramping and amping myself up, I needed a little downtime. I organized and cleaned, I did a few personal things, I got to some things I'd put off, and then..... I got bored..... and restless..... and annoyed that I had nothing to do..... and then I started to feel under the weather and sad and depressed.....

So you know what I did??? Yesterday I took a day off. It was a sick day because I wasn't feeling too well, but it was also a mental health day. We need those. Our mental health is as important as our physical health, but too easily and too often it gets neglected. If you need a day off for the sake of your mental and/or physical health and it's an okay week to do so (a.k.a. you'll be less stressed and not more stressed by a day off), then go and do it!

Thanks to my MHD, today I feel rested, happy, energetic, and ready to get back to work full-force. Today I've been productive, gotten some projects done, organized my office and inbox, and generally have contributed to my workplace. Now if that wasn't worth taking a day off, then what is?

Lessons Learned Part #1

You're not here to make friends.
Building friendships with colleagues, volunteers, etc. is a great perk of a good job and workplace. That said, it's not why I'm here. So, when it's a question of pleasing the group of people I'm with versus doing the right thing for my office/institution - I have to choose the latter. Being liked vs. being respected can be a tough situation to navigate, but I choose respect.

Sometimes you just have to move on.
You know that one topic in a meeting that causes a lot of debate/conversation whether it's positive or negative? The topic isn't always the same, but the situation is - people get excited, the conversation goes on and on, but in the end: nothing is decided. It's important to not let those discussions take too long when you know the outcome. Sometimes you just need to interrupt the debate and move on.

Just keep pushing.
If you have an idea that everyone agrees with and a colleague promises to execute but it never happens? Just keep pushing. 9/10 times it's just because he/she forgot, but don't let your timidity get the best of you. Bring the topic up again when you get the chance, and probably out of sheer embarrassment he/she will make it happen.

Pick your battles.
If you feel a tickle in your throat and want to stay home - stop and think: do I really need to stay home? Do I want to save this sick day for a sicker day? Did I work from home already this week and could therefore stand to spend another day in the office? If the answer is YES - pick your battles and head in to work.

Somewhat abitrary to do list.

Just a quickie post for y'all today.

Does this ever happen to you at your job?
You have an extremely long to do list (literal or in your head), growing longer by the second, but it's all related to the same project. This project has a time deadline that could potentially pass you by before you cross everything off the list, but it might not matter that you miss a few things. Either way, the project is going to be over, so you may have missed a few things, but it's over, so those items are going to disappear from your to do list either way.

I'm in the middle of a project like that right now. It's going to be over tomorrow evening at 6:30, so I'm scrambling to get all of this done, and I'm stressed like crazy, but I know there's a huge sigh of relief in my near future no matter what, so I know I'll be okay.

Maybe I should call it a "try to do" list.

Emails.

Sidenote: I now know the extreme pleasure and positive impact that having one of your colleagues making coffee for the office makes on your day, or even week. It's all about simple things... not just in the working world, but it certainly helps keep the Monday blahs at bay.

On to something else...

I have now tried 3-4 times (unsuccessfully) to write a blog post on emails. I think they were all unsuccessful because I was overwhelmed by all I had to say (and maybe my writing got interrupted by emails). However, I'm going to now forget about those posts and just try a new one on the same topic. I don't know exactly how I'm going to approach the topic, so bear with me as I try to put it on the screen.

Maybe I'll start by telling you why I want to talk about emails.

Why emails?

• I would venture to say they are the primary form of communication in the working world.
• Perhaps they are the primary form of communication everywhere.
  
• Last week I sent 132 emails in total. Emails are always on the brain - being sent, received, popping up while working on other stuff, etc.
• My main reason for writing about emails: I believe they're the primary form of communication, but not perhaps the most efficient form.

If I haven't said this before, I'll tell you now that I'm an introvert.

**EDIT: Got sidetracked... no wonder this post has taken a month to write.

Anyway, as I was saying... I'm an introvert, and I don't really like talking on the phone. I don't mean I don't like talking to my girlfriend, friends, or family, but colleagues or strangers? I hate it. I'd rather talk to those people in person than on the phone. There's something about the phone for me... it gives me anxiety. It's not just a casual act for me. Anyway, moving on... I dislike the phone, and you can't always meet in person, so I love emails. With emails, I can take my time to think about what it is I want to say, and then figure out the most efficient and concise way of communicating that in written words. It's a lovely form of communication, and I use it a lot, but the reason I want to talk about it isn't because I love email...

...it's because I think it may be flawed.
Or maybe that's not the right way of putting it. It's just that not everybody loves email as much as I do.
Or maybe that's still not the right way to put it... it's that it's maybe not the best way of getting in touch... yeah, that's it.

By the way - I recognize that it's ironic that I mentioned I love to find the most efficient and concise way of communicating with written words and yet I just wrote "Or maybe" twice in the past paragraph. However, this is a stream of consciousness-style blog post. Like I said, bear with me...

Continuing on...
My boss, for example... or your boss, it doesn't matter... busy people get lots of emails. On the "busy people" scale, I would rate myself as a "medium-low". I'm just starting out in my career, but I'm not in an entry-level position. I'd say I get about a quarter of the emails my boss gets... but that's just a blind assumption.
Anyway... my boss/your boss. She/he gets tonnes of emails... maybe 100/day. Here are some things I can say about this boss:

• She/he probably doesn't read every single email that comes in.
• She/he may read an email from me, but not see the need to reply.
• She/he may see the need to reply, but forget - because there's more important stuff to do, or because another email came in and distracted her/him, or the classic - "I'll get to that later", but never does. Not because of bad intentions, but just because she/he gets swamped with other work.

Lastly, and this is something that didn't occur to me until recently:

• Your emails are not emails that she/he looks out for.

I don't look out for emails. I get emails, and either reply to them right away, reply to them later, or don't reply at all. I didn't realize until somebody said to me recently "I'll have to remember to look out for your emails" that people have emails they look out for and emails that don't really catch their eye.

But imagine if you got 100 emails a day. Or if that doesn't seem like that much to you, then imagine... I don't know... 500 emails a day. If every day you got 500 emails, I'm guessing you'd have to strategize a bit on what to respond to, what's important, what can wait, what can't, etc.

Now, I don't really like the idea that my boss doesn't look out for my emails, and maybe that's not true, but I guess I'm still relatively new here (on month 10, I think), so I'm maybe not on his or everyone else's radar. That doesn't have to do with me personally, just the fact that I'm still working to make my presence known.

But anyway, that's not the point. So let's say I send my boss an important email, and for a variety of reasons I don't hear back. Maybe I send him an email again 1-7 days later (depending on importance/urgency) and I still don't hear back.

What do I do then? Do I send a 3rd email?
NO.

I better pick up the phone and speak to him.

Or better yet, I don't send the 2nd email. If I don't hear back after the 1st email, I call right away.
Or better still - I never send an email. I just call right away.

Now of course this very much depends on urgency, importance, time-sensitivity, content, etc., but I'm learning (at least with my boss) that the phone is the way to go. If you can chat with him instantly, he'll tell you what you need to know. I've been putting this discovery to practice, and it's made an amazing difference! I should've put it to work months ago, but you've gotta build up the confidence, right? It takes time, but the developments are wonderful as they happen.

(Oh by the way - I should mention that my boss isn't in my building. Otherwise obviously speaking in person would be ideal.)

Anyway, I think I've said all I wanted to say. Working is such an amazing and great learning experience. I'm loving every minute!



P.S. Check out "Millennials & the Workplace": a post I wrote on my other blog (Sugar & Gravy) about multi-generational workplaces and the changing expectations of Gen Y.

St. Patrick's Day Blues

St. Patrick's Day... a religious holiday to celebrate the Saint, Patrick, but taken over by green-clothed university students who need an excuse to skip classes, drink the day away, and make fools of themselves.

If you think I disagree with this behaviour, you're wrong... I straight-up miss it.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't entirely miserable yesterday, but I did spend a bunch of the day reminiscing on the epic St. Patrick's Days I experienced throughout my 5-year stint at WLU. 1st year my roommate and I drove to London to party with our friends at Western, 2nd year we threw an enormous party at our student house..... Each and every one of them was so fun!

Yesterday I worked on investment reports, tidied my office, and typed up meeting minutes.

There's no question about it, my life has changed.

But it's not about questions like, has it changed for the better or worse? It's just about reflecting on the great days I had in university, and the different, but equally (if not more) great days I'm having now that I've graduated. Okay, so I didn't drink a drop of alcohol yesterday... bummer. But I also didn't wake up this morning and feel the stress/anxiety of upcoming exams, essay due dates, or any of that other stuff. I'm glad I had those experiences, that fun, that anxiety, that craziness... but I'm also glad it's over.

It's a transition period... and I'm figuring out a way to make it work. It's not always easy, but it's inevitable.

Philanthropy

I was just checking my Facebook newsfeed and saw the following link posted by one of my former colleagues at Laurier: http://www.wlu.ca/tagday

You can click the link for more info, but here's the gist of it: Tag Day aims to raise awareness among current students on how philanthropy impacts your Laurier experience. Impact isn't even a big enough word... Laurier wouldn't exist as it does without philanthropy. If alumni, parents, students, foundations, corporations, and friends of WLU weren't donating money to the school, the Laurier experience would be extremely different. You would likely still learn and get an education and a degree, but your experience wouldn't be enhanced beyond that. I'm sure that's okay with some of you, but for those of us who did the bulk of our learning outside the classroom, we should be darn grateful for the donors who improved our campus, activities, opportunities, and so on...

I have spent most of my time blogging about work since I started this blog, but there's more to Life After WLU than just work... there's perspective, for one thing. Graduating offers you a chance to look back at your experience, and (in my case) think: "Damn, that was a good time." Not just because of the parties and free-time and less responsibility (although that was great), but because of things like chilling in the concourse, going to a student service group meeting, engaging in a great discussion, applying to sit on a board, taking part in a campaign, etc. That was what made my university experience great.

Now, I have an advantage... I worked in the Development department when I was a student at WLU, and I've continued to work in fundraising since I graduated. I completely understand the need for and impact of philanthropy in educational institutions. I also recognize the importance of current students at those institutions understanding how philanthropy impacts them while they're there. Otherwise, students graduate, become alumni, and feel no obligation to give back.

It's important to give back. Think about what you've been given, and then when you have the resources to return the favour, do it. Even if it's a small amount, it makes a difference.

Yes, I'm preaching, but I really believe in this. Students will jump on an opportunity to criticize the way the university spends its money, and that's fine, but when you graduate - put your money where your mouth is.

20th post -- checking in

Hello readers! It's been a while since I last checked in, so I thought I'd pop by and bring you somewhat up to date.

The last time I posted I was talking about Project Burden. Thanks to the strategy I implemented (see post), what was once Project Burden is now partially complete, and barely a burden. Once I found the time to tackle it head-on, I realized that it wasn't worth stressing about. Isn't that always the way...

That being said, part of the reason I found the project to be a burden was because it didn't seem to fall under our office's responsibilities. It didn't seem to push our agenda at all, nor result in anything worthwhile for us. Therefore, I proposed that we give it to another department to manage. I didn't do it because it was a pain or burden, but because after I started working on it, I sort of wondered why it was in my portfolio.

My superiors agreed and accepted my proposal. I guess that's part of the working life, too... recognizing those sorts of things and having the confidence and conviction to propose an alternative. It's not easy, because especially early on you feel the need to say Yes to everything and do as much as you can to impress your superiors. However, sometimes it's just as impressive to know when to say No and when to come up with alternatives. Food for thought.

In other news, things at work have ramped up over the past month. I'm keeping very busy, engaged, and productive. I don't get stressed a whole lot, but the days go by pretty fast and it's hard to get work off my mind when I get home some nights. But, I'm just taking everything day by day, learning from every experience, and trying my best! Seems to be working okay so far!

Project: Burden

Agh... there's this project I have that is a bit of a pain in the ass. It's not really urgent, and it doesn't exactly fall under our office's umbrella, but for some reason it's become my responsibility. However, because there's no urgency, and because my boss doesn't care about it, I don't really care about it. Since I don't care about it, I rarely do any work on it. Since I rarely do any work on it, it's just this annoying burden I carry around and keep avoiding. Ugh.

So... my plan is this: I'm going to pick a day next week where I don't have much going on... maybe just an afternoon... and I'm going to tackle this project. That's what I'm going to do!

Great success!

The big day has come and gone and I still can't believe it's all over. My stress level last week was unparalleled, but all it was about was one day. One day. One day that was gone in the blink of an eye. Actually, that's not true. That one day was one of the longest days of my life. Truly. I was stressed for most of the day, too, making sure that everything was in order, that everything went smoothly, that everyone was having fun... I was on my A game, sure, but I was also barely breathing. It was intense.

Before I tell you how it goes, I'll tell you what I learned.

• There's no such thing as perfect. Do your best to have everything organized and ready to go, but don't expect perfection, because it'll just stress you out.
• It's not so much about creating something that has no mistakes. It's about dealing with those mistakes when they come up, and dealing with them with professionalism and poise. Take a deep breath, confront the mistake or issue head-on, and do your best.
• When a big project is complete, or a big event happens, you might not feel completely satisfied immediately after. Give yourself a few days to relax and de-stress, and then you might find that you're able to be more objective about it. It's hard in the moment, or right after the moment, to look at something. Give yourself some time and space first.
• When you are able to look at things objectively, be sure to take a moment to be proud of yourself. No matter how it went, you can say you did your best and that you learned from it. That's something!

So, now that I've had nearly a week to reflect on the event -- I'm thrilled with how it went! I've definitely received some constructive (and even critical) feedback, but I've also received a lot of big thank yous, congratulations, and other compliments. I feel really good about how things went, I can tell the attendees had a lot of fun, and I can see that my superiors here are impressed with how it went. That feels good!

I mentioned that I thought if when this event went well, that I'd feel sort of launched into the next, I don't know, level of my career at this particular institution. Do I? Yes. It just so happens that in the week before and after this event that I got 2 cool things:

1. A company credit card.
2. My own office.

Between having gotten those 2 things + having pulled off this big event, I feel like a whole new employee. I feel a bit older and wiser, a bit more experienced, and I want more in terms of taking more initiative, thinking of some new project ideas, etc. I feel like I'm ready to ramp things up a bit. I'll let you know how it goes.

IT'S GAME DAY!!!

Quick entry before I start getting ready...

So... since November, and maybe before, I've been organizing an event for work. I work in fundraising/alumni relations at a school, and this particular event is an enormous hockey tournament, the proceeds of which go towards a bursary that helps a deserving student attend the school. Over 100 people are coming to the tournament today - alumni, parents of current and past students, and other friends of the school. It's kinda a big deal.

The organization for this event has been ongoing since November, as I said, but this week was the big one. I was constantly sending out emails, making phone calls, receiving phone calls, reconfiguring the schedule, finalizing the schedule, sending out the rosters, organizing the dinner, etc., etc., etc. The work didn't stop and I was experiencing a level of stress that I've never before experienced. I mean, seriously. I collapsed on my couch after every work day, just trying to find a moment where I wasn't thinking about work, and more particularly, this event.

The day of the event has finally come. I woke up early, had a good breakfast (and lots of coffee), and now I'm about to get ready. I head over to the arena in 1.5 hours. The event goes from 8:30am this morning until about 9:00pm tonight. I will be on my "A" game that entire time. I have to be. BUT - when 9:00pm comes, I will have survived. 15 hours from now, I will collapse on my couch once again, but this time it won't be with stress - it will be with relief and, I hope, pride. No, I know I'll be proud.

I just recently hit the 6-month mark at work, and I couldn't help but think, "How am I doing so far?" I felt the need to assess how I'm doing in some way, to kind of move me forward into the next 6 months. I think today will very much be that feedback. When I make it through today, I'll have the reward to my effort that will launch me into the next phase.

Here goes... Wish me luck!!!

YES.

There's an event in London ON this Thursday that my boss is going to. Last week my colleagues asked if I was going as well, and I said I wasn't, plus I added that I no longer care to go any more southwest than Waterloo ON.

That same day my boss stopped by my desk and told me that next week (this week) is going to be pretty busy for him and he asked if I could go to London in his place. The colleagues who had asked me if I was going were within earshot as I replied, "Of course! I'll be there!"

They thought it was pretty funny that on the same day I had said I was absolutely not going to London that I subsequently agreed to go, and it was funny. However, who am I to turn down any request that my boss makes (within reason)? I'm at the beginning of my career, keen to gain experience and knowledge, and advance forward to the next level. If my boss wants me to go to London, I'm going! Plus, it means a day off work and a long train ride. Personally I like long train rides.

So, London here I come!

Holidaze

Coming back to work from a two-week holiday is like diving into the deep end without taking a big breath first. No matter how you prepare mentally, and even if you've been checking emails while you were away, it's still a shock to the system.

Thankfully my colleague, who was sent from heaven, made me some coffee this morning. That was a good start.

I've got to approach today with a strategy. I think my strategy will be to take the focus away from TODAY and think more about THIS WEEK. It'll take some pressure off this single workday to instead utilize the entire week to get up to date, up to speed, and back on track. I must also remind myself that no problem is unsolvable and no mistake is unforgiven. On top of that, my best approach is to take things one step at a time, set myself goals for each day, and remember that no matter how stressful the day, it always ends!

I shall reward myself with an evening filled with MTV Canada and sitting on the couch.

Let's go!!!