Sunday, September 13, 2009

We apologize for the interruption

I have been ridiculously busy at work. Overwhelmingly so. We opened the semester last week, but the month leading up to that was ugly. In this economy we were experiencing a record number of appeals based on changes in financial circumstances, all of them legit. So, in addition to my normal level of stress with this job, which includes a balancing act of being an advocate for the students, making sure they have availed themselves of all possible financial aid resources and being a good steward of the institutional not unlimited resources, I got to hear every single day about how someone's parent lost a job. Which only served to remind me that my own life has been directly impacted by this crazy recession.

Yes, the Bob is still without employment. But, as we speak he is still trying to make it work as a realtor. He is doing an open house for a condo right now. It is in Brighton, which is a really popular neighborhood smack up against Boston, so commuters love it. It is priced well, but has only on street parking, which from May to September is alright, but as soon as all of the college students come back to Boston, and the snow flies, SUCKS. So far no one has shown up at the open house, but he is only 15 minutes into it. KEEP THE FAITH.

Speaking of on street parking, if you are say going out to dinner with a group of friends, and you are going in separate cars, and many of the people that are in the group are completely unfamiliar with not only the restaurant you are going to, but the town in which you are dining, it might behoove all involved if you mention AHEAD OF TIME that when we all arrive at the restaurant, we will be seeking on street parking. Why do I mention this? I spent the afternoon and evening with a lovely group of ladies yesterday in Plymouth MA for a bachelorette gathering for our friend Laura who is marrying the fabulous Sheldon. We were going out for dinner, and since I was going to leave from there to go home, I drove myself. And then managed to not get lost while trying to find on street parking in the pouring rain when we arrived at our destination. It all worked out in the end. But that is good information to have ahead of time.

I have done some house cleaning on the blogroll. Took some off I was getting annoyed by and added some new ones. I have found several funny Canadian bloggers so they are represented.

Back to my work story: when all was said and done, we hit a record enrollment. We have always been a small college. We were the first two year college for women in the country. When I started here in the summer of 2000, our total enrollment was 780 students. All undergrad, but by then we had become a four year coed institution. Now we have just over 1500 undergraduates, and 140 graduate students. My boss has been at this college for almost 22 years, and this is such a huge milestone. It is hard for colleges with less than 1000 students to survive, but we not only survived, we are thriving. But we spent a boatload of money to do, and that is MY stress. I don't own the issue alone, but I am the one reporting the numbers. But things will settle down now, and once I get past all of the surveys and reports I have to do over the next month, I will actually be able to sit down and think about how to do this better next year.

For now I need to vacuum. My real house, not this blogosphere house. Dog hair is EVERYWHERE. Anyone want a crotchety old beagle? Free delivery is available in the 48 contiguous states. There is a fee for delivery to Alaska or Hawiaii.

2 comments:

Chip said...

Gee "a crotchety old beagle"... you make it almost impossible to say no.

Dproudmama said...

Aren't all old beagles crotchety? They were a presence in my childhood. Think I will pass thanks. I have seen his shedding ability.