HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY RORY!

My former student/fashion design major just left. We had our first wedding dress meeting. I'm so excited that she can help me do this. It means a lot to me to keep things tight, as in having friends and family contribute to the process and necessary components.

Meanwhile, I'm over the work thing. I vented my frustrations. I called the situation out, and I feel much better. I'm going to be just fine with it all.

Last night I spent several hours working on the "Pit of 100 Trials" in Mario Paper. You literally have to complete 100 levels of bad guy battles without any save options. Wouldn't you know it. I get to room 99 and then I die. For serious!

Update on previous post: no one lost an eye!

There are some changes happening at work. I have a temporary divider wall to allow (e:Rory) to visit me in my home but that will be coming down next year because we need more space for students (my end of the hall currently houses me and 2 contingency rooms). No divider would mean he couldn't live with me once we're married because the country's moral codes don't allow co-habitation in this setting, even for married couples.

That combined with the fact we're running out of space has lead to the decision that RHDs are being moved off campus to community housing. This is unheard of in my position but until our new facilities are built, we are in a pickle. It means we would have to move back to a campus apartment whenever we're on duty...all of us sharing one apartment. I'm both pleased and annoyed by this. Pleased because it means nicer accommodations and lower noise. Annoyed because who wants to uproot their life one week a month (or more depending on vacation schedules) to live in a shared space?

The bigger changes are that people are leaving. A fellow RHD couldn't hack it so she's outie, and I'm totally cool with that. So I knew we had to find a replacement. I helped interview several while I was in Seattle. What I didn't know until I got to Seattle is that my supervisor has also decided to leave. She's been here for 3 years so it's cool. You can only sacrifice so much for so long. I just assumed they would post for that position like all our others and someone would replace her. That is not so.

The other day I was called into the big cheese's office along with another fellow RHD who has been here since the start with me to have a briefing. The low down is, my supervisor's position will be taken over, with some new responsibilities, to her existing equal. The current equal will be promoted. The remaining coordinator position will take over the other responsibilities, which are probably the least fun of all the things you could do in housing - assignments, billing, maintenance, etc.

At this briefing they say they would rather promote from within instead of having to open up the search outside. So, basically we have the opportunity to apply for it. Now comes the part of weighing pros and cons.

Pros:
Chance for a new challenge
Shows upward mobility on my resume
Increase in pay grade
On-call duties marginal compared to RHD position
Opportunity to supervise other professionals
Freedom from petty conduct issues that plague my desk
Work hours much more in line with my future spouse's
Not having to move back and forth to campus while on duty

Cons:
Interaction with the students (for the fun stuff) will greatly decrease
Participation in staff training would decrease substantially
I'm not a morning person so a 7:30am start time makes me cringe
The tasks are purely administrative
My fellow RHD and I are both qualified- if he applies as well it would boil down to a popularity contest which I would lose, and that irritates me on principle
Although I would be happy for him, I cannot say 100% that I would be 'resent free', especially if he then became my supervisor

Other thoughts:
If I don't apply, do I lack ambition to move upward?
Another position, for which my fellow RHD would be most suited for, is possibly opening up next year, definitely the year after...would he get this one, then switch to the other?


Ultimately I want to be happy in my work. There are things I would miss about what I do right now, but I think professionally it would be a wise move, and personally, it would help (e:Rory) and I lead a slightly more 'normal' life in our first year of marriage.

I just needed to talk out loud.

So we have these Friday programs called "Friday Night Lights" which our CDAs conduct. It's meant to give residents something to do on the weekends on campus. Sometimes they are separated by gender, sometimes (as long as it's outdoors) they host a joint program.

This week's (and I'm of course on duty) is a 'cowboy' theme. Get this. Country music (Oh My Gag), BBQ, dressing up in 'cowboy' clothes (I'm still unsure what this is going to look like), and shooting bow and arrows!

I almost shit myself when I first saw the program proposal. I mean, first, what do bow and arrows have to do with cowboys? More importantly, I don't want to lose an eye! I asked a lot of questions about who will supervise, what type of arrow, etc. etc. I was informed there were appointed instructors and the arrows were blunt tipped wooden style. So I approved it on condition of a strict protocol for safety and if at ANY moment I see someone being a prick, I'm shutting it down.

Today I finally SEE the arrows. They are aluminium and pointy sharp as hell! What have I gotten myself into?

Wish me LOTS of luck!

Promise, last blurb about engagement and wedding for a while! The date has been finalized.

Mark you calendars for Saturday, October 31st! Yes, it landed on Halloween and I didn't plan that AT ALL. But hey, when you project what would make you most happy, all the universe conspires to make it so!