The Waiting Room

The past three days have been a total blur. I had an awful battle with insomnia which resulted in my going to work yesterday with only four hours of sleep. And, I worked a 11 hour day. At least today was just a regular work day, but it was the first day of classes. Every time I would sit down to work on my syllabi, there would be a student in my office begging to change his or her schedule or begging for a grade change because their instructor "gave" them a bad grade or begging to be readmitted to the program because they were kicked out because of GPA or Satisfactory Academic Progress. Basically, it was a lot of begging.

Then, there were the faculty members who were confused about new policies despite a very detailed, step by step explanation of the policy. And, let's not forget administrators who need me to handle all of the world's problems because somehow I seem to know WTF is going on. Before I knew it, it was 5:30 and time for me to go home. I had to sneak out of the building to avoid the evening student ambush.

And the "unbloggable issue" is still there. I've sought counsel from one or two people I know I can trust. Their take on my perception of the situation is in line with my thinking. I am playing this one carefully, making sure to protect myself in the process.

Unfortunately, I had to start a 12 day steroid taper to help me through this stuff. The weather in Elsewhere has not helped either. It is rather cold and damp, which for those of us with RA is a good combination. Tie that in with all the stress and you have a recipe for disaster. I know that sometimes I have to admit defeat and take the "roids", but I just hate doing it. I am seeing my RA doc next week, so we will see...

In the meantime, I am testing waters and seeing what's out there. I really do love many aspects of my job and the majority of the people with whom I work. There is just a lot of crap going on that has got morale so low that you can see dead people. There are a couple of colleagues who have said to me, in confidence, that they are looking around and testing the water too. It's sad because there are so many wonderful and talented people where I work.

Husband and Junior have been the best. Husband is so supportive and know how little things help so much. He made me breakfast this morning and had Olive Garden waiting for me when I got home. And, Junior seems to have picked up where the Boy left off. He gently rests his head on my knee or snuggles real close to me. He also believes that doggie spit fixes everything.

That and Lush products are keeping me sane.