TheBanyanTree: Kindergarten Valentines

[Margaret R. Kramer]

This was a tough week for me to navigate.  Two of my former co-workers
turned job offers from my company.  I think they were not ready to leave,
even though it’s so bad there.  I know it’s difficult to change.  They know
the job, the business, the people and the idea of doing something different
is really scary, but why would they want to continue being so miserable?  I’
ll never figure that out.  But they’ve lost me as a contact and my company
as a potential employer.  Neither I nor the company will want them after
turning down this offer.

I didn’t price my political panel event very well and it showed on the
bottom line.  I offered free dinners to all the participants, but I only
expected three or four panelists, and ended up with 15.  So that blew the
budget way out of control.  Plus, the hotel added a bunch of charges after
giving me the original estimate, so that didn’t help either.  We went about
$500+ over budget.  I hate raiding money from our treasury, so I “donated”
some of my personal money to the cause.  My organization’s treasurer and I
went over everything last week and she’s OK with the expenses, because it
was a fantastic event, but I know some of our members are very upset about
it.

This was kind a mid-winter week that drones on.  I got our taxes done.  I
went to work.  I went to work out, except I skipped Thursday because I just
didn’t feel like going.  It was the first work out I missed in six weeks.  I
had my annual mammogram done.  It didn’t snow except for a few flurries.  It
wasn’t very warm, mostly in the 20s.

But on Thursday night, we went to my older grandson’s school for the
Kindergarten Valentines program.  His school building is an old one, right
in the center of St. Paul.  I would say it was built in the early 1900s.  My
ex-husband went to kindergarten there.

The children wore Valentine ponchos.  They sang songs and recited poems.
Parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and family members were all
smushed into the gym.  Camcorders and digital cameras were everywhere.  I
met my grandson’s teacher and principal.  The younger grandson talked
through the entire program.  But he’s only four and doesn’t know better.  It
was delightful and it gave a little red glow to a emotionally exhausting
week.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
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Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

We loved with a love that was more than love.
--Edgar Allan Poe