TheBanyanTree: Re-entry

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I was gone a week and in that time the oak leaves have turned into deep reds
and golds.  The trees are losing their leaves rapidly now and the backyard
is carpeted with them.  It was warmer in Minnesota this past week than it
was in North Carolina, where I could see just the faintest sign of color in
their trees.  On the way down, we had a stop-over in Detroit, and the color
in Michigan was spectacular, just at its peek, I bet.

We didn’t have a freeze, so my flowers are still blooming furiously, but
that will end today when I dump out the pots.  I’m going rake up the leaves
into the garden beds and put away the lawn furniture.  It’s time to think of
Halloween and ghosts and black cats slinking across the yard.

So I’m back home with Ray.  It’s a good feeling.  Our work trip was not a
success.  My co-worker Vicki, who is like a grown-up three year old child,
had a meltdown during her presentation, and decided to scrap everything.  So
we re-scheduled it for mid-December.  We’ll have to go down again for a
week, the client will have to adjust their schedule, too, and of course,
this meltdown costs money, so everyone is a loser.  Vicki with her
perfectionism, her controlling ways, her temper, and her lack of
consideration for people other than herself, really derailed everything.  I
doubt that there will be any repercussions, because we’re too far down the
road to change anything now, but there might be when we’re in a different
place and this presentation phase is over.

But, other than that, it wasn’t a bad trip.  I still ate much more than I
should, but I did work out every day.  Because there are more people on my
team, I was not stuck spending all my time with Vicki, so I felt more
balanced.  I really like one of my co-workers and we get along well, so that
helped make this trip less emotional.  Our team lead, Scot, who has his own
weird things, was drained and looked like hell when we got home last night.
Yes, dealing with Vicki is draining for anyone.

I got off the plane, got my luggage, got my car, and kind of played bumper
cars getting out of the airport parking ramp since most of us use a credit
card to pay for parking and all we have to do is slip the card in the
machine and get our receipt on the way out.  Hundreds of cars were fighting
for the same gates.

Ray had pizza in the oven and I managed to do most of my unpacking before it
was done.  I didn’t say much last night, since I had been talking almost
non-stop for five days, but Ray knows silence can tell a lot of stories.
Now I’m home and raking leaves and washing clothes and going grocery
shopping are wonderful chores compared to babysitting a three year old
adult.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

Men say that in this midnight hour,
The disembodièd have power
To wander as it liketh them,
By wizard oak and fairy stream.
~William Motherwell