Halloween at the Office

I set up a little treat with decorations for the handful of staff that came into the office today. 

Rainy, Chilly Day

On this rainy, chilly Sunday I made a pot of tortellini soup and baked bread and apple crisp. Yay, Autumn!

Fall Festival

I got home from the retreat just in time to take Korra to the Fall Festival at her school. It was the first time I've been up there since Open House in August. It was mostly fun to see my former coworker friends and students but also a little awkward and a little sad. Small talk with people you aren't that close to anymore is always a little awkward. I was so thankful I wasn't in charge of the activities and it made me feel sad for how many years I did it when it absolutely exhausted me. It made me a little sad to see/hear how tired and burned out some of the teachers were. It made me a little sad that I won't get to do the scary clown story with a group of 6th graders this year. 

I did have a couple of my students from last year come up to me and say that they "took me for granted" which seems to me a pretty common reaction of my students. They didn't often love me when I was actually their teacher but appreciated me a lot more in hindsight. Encouraging but also really hard in the moment. 

Korra had a great time with her friends and I got to be there as her mom rather than a teacher. That was the best part. 

Another Great Day in Helen

Yesterday morning I went on a birding walk with some of my coworkers. 

After that we had a DEI training with such a bad instructor that we voted not to have her finish her session after the break and did the rest of it ourselves. It was actually a really powerful experience that gave me so much faith in our organization. 

During lunch, the afternoon break out groups, dinner in Helen by the river, and then around the campfire until 11pm, I had so many  amazing conversations with my coworkers. They are such cool, interesting, brilliant, hilarious, fun people. I feel so happy to be here, to have this time with this group, to have found this organization. 

Staff Retreat

I'm at Unicoi State Park for the next 3 days for our staff retreat. The fall colors and weather are beautiful.  We went zip lining this afternoon and I'm really enjoying getting to know my coworkers better. 

Suffrage

Today was Dress Like A Role Model Day for Korra. She went as a suffragette.

Big Day

Today's the day I've been preparing for since I started my new job.  My goal was to finish all the sorting, filing, organizing, etc before our office hosts the Annual Member Meeting.  This morning, all 68 employees from 3 offices are here and this evening, 90 of our members will join us in the office for a reception.  I'm really proud of how the office looks and excited to meet my coworkers from the other offices and to show off how nice our space looks.  

Three Out of Four Siblings

My sister is in town for a conference so when one of my brothers offered to come into the city to carve pumpkins and have dinner together, it was nearly perfect! (Sorry, Brian). 

5K

This morning we did a 5K! 

It was chilly but fun!

Nate and I both finished 48th in our age group but I finished 2 min before Nate (and Korra). Korra finished 3rd in her age group!

I Voted!

Office Cleaning

We've been cleaning up the office this week because on Monday we're hosting all the staff from the other two offices and our annual members' meeting. For me personally, it's a chance to show off all the improvements I've made to the office as well as to practice the hospitality that is so important to me. 

We did an extra push for cleaning today- I ordered burritos for everyone for lunch, I set up a "swap meet" table for people to leave things they don't want and take things they do, I made "I helped clean up!" stickers to give out with candy.

I really want the office to look nice and for people to feel comfortable and happy while they're there. 

Today I also finished doing a little makeover on a coworker's office. She's been out on medical leave because of COVID complications since August so we wanted to make her office extra nice. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

Brrrrr!

The last 2 mornings when Korra and I biked to work/school, it was 38 degrees!

Neutered

Like Alex Horne got snipped today. He does not like the cone. 

7 hours

We're pretty comfortable with 4 hours car rides, but when we hit the 6 hour mark (during both the to and from 7 hour ride to my sister's house) all three of us started to lose our minds a littler bit. Whew. We're glad to be home and out of the car (even though we all had a great time visiting). 

Auntie Katie

 Yesterday (while Nate was at his conference) Korra and I spent the whole day with my sister and her family. I bought pumpkin to carve and the ingredients to make puppy chow (muddy buddies). We had a pretty great day. 

90 Day Review

Yesterday I had my 90 day review at work. Yep, I've been an office manager for 3 months now and according to everyone at CTE, I'm crushing it. 

Car Office

We decided to leave for North Carolina 30ish minutes before the technical end of the work day. Of course, that's even someone immediately needs something from me. Successfully used Nate's phone as a hotpot and was able to get it done. 

Tomorrow and Friday I'm technically working from home- though home for the next 4 days is a hotel or my sister's house. Wifi should be a little easier to sort out in those places. 

But Not Floppy Disks

Today I had an appointment to take a bunch of stuff from the office (and a little from home) to the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials.  We recycled old phones, laptops, a huge box of cables and chargers, and CDs.  They recycle almost everything there!  But not floppy disks.  Guess I'm going to have to just trash them?

Pride Parade

 Today Korra and I went to the Pride Parade. It was our first time watching instead of being in it and we both enjoyed it tremendously. We were at the start of the parade route because it's a) closest to our house, b) the parade comes past sooner, and c) Korra realized you get the most and best parade swag. Seriously, we have so much swag. 7 flags, 8 fans, 6 tubes of chapstick, 10 pairs of sunglasses, about a gallon sized bag worth of candy, 3 dozen beaded necklaces, coupons for free Happy Meals, and so many stickers. The parade was a full three hours long but we loved every minute of it (standing with our friends helped). It’s such a joyful experience. I gave out about a dozen “mom hugs” and Korra danced her heart out. 

Fun weekend

Last night we had pizza at Dani & Ryan's. This afternoon we had drinks with a friend and her parents. This evening we're having dinner (and hopefully ice cream) with an friend who is visiting from Seattle. Tomorrow we're going to watch the Pride Parade and then having dinner with a family from our old church. Yay for beautiful weather and time with friends!

Back in the classroom (sort of)

Today I went to the science museum with 2 of my coworkers to lead a 2 hour science class for 9th graders.  It was a small group of kids (12) and they had applied to this program so they were really into it. They built toy hydrogen fuel cell cars that we brought and they thought it was amazing. I dipped my toe into teaching and it was good. 

Carly Rae Jepson Concert

For Korra's birthday we got her tickets to see Carly Rae Jepson. She's very excited but also very impatient. 

Fall Members’ Night

We have a membership at the Botanical Gardens. They had a special members only evening with crafts, live music, treats, and scare crows.  Korra made a glow-in-the-dark firefly and Nate and I really enjoyed the chef demo (butternut squash risotto!)

Perfect Sunday

Yesterday I read in the hammock, took a nap, went on a long family walk, and took a bubble bath.  

A girl and her kitten