Gratitude Journal #24

I had every intention of writing my gratitude post last night. I cannot tell you how many times during the day I thought to myself that I would actually have the chance to write the gratitude post on Sunday evening, like I had been wanting to do. It was a lazy day. There were no plans. I was focused on writing and online stuff that needed to be done. And then, after dinner, I promptly fell asleep. I knew I was tired; I had not realized exactly how tired. And so, the gratitude post for last week comes once again on a Monday morning instead of a Sunday evening.

Gratitude Entry #55 – Summer’s Here!
I know, for most people, summer has been here for a while. Except for the weather here in the Seattle area. That did not hit until Friday. But that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about summer for work purposes. I work, as most of you know, at a University. “Summer” officially started June 16 for students, faculty, and a lot of staff. But not all staff, specifically not fiscal staff.
You see, the state’s fiscal year ends June 30. The state also budgets on a two-year, biennium, cycle. This June 30 was not only a fiscal year end but a biennium end, as well. That means there is a ton of work for fiscal staff to do. We are making sure budgets are not going into deficit, expenses were charged to the correct budgets, and basically putting everything in order so that the fiscal year and biennium close smoothly. Naturally, we cannot complete this work by June 30 because people who work June 16-June 30 do not get paid until July 10. So mid-July is one of our busiest times, especially since faculty may or may not be working, and if they are working, are likely working at a reduced FTE, and being paid on grant budgets. But there is pretty much always one issue that blows up and requires last minute finagling to make it turn out right.
Last week was the week my fiscal staff and I were doing all the last-minute finagling. We are now done with that. This week is the first week of summer for us. And what that means is that things should be less urgent. We can do planning and preparation for the next year. Everything slows down a little bit, at least for a little bit. Because, even though classes do not start until September 25 this year, we start paying faculty, research assistants, and teaching assistants again on September 16. This means that starting September 1, we are back in the ramp up phase for the new school year. So our “summer” lasts about 1.5 months. But they are a lovely 1.5 months, and I am very grateful that my summer is now here.

Gratitude Entry #56 – Lazy Days
Yesterday was the laziest day I have had in a long time. I got up and went to do some writing and meet with the accountability group. And then I came home and just had the time to do what I wanted. I did online writing community stuff, and played some games on my computer, and pondered what I am going to spend to set up a docking station in the office for my laptop, but once I was home, I did not leave again. I did not take the dogs on a walk. I did not do a quick run to the grocery store. I just stayed home and was lazy. We had left over cold pesto pasta for lunch, and left over unstuffed bell peppers for dinner. And after dinner, I fell asleep.
It was glorious. And really, just what I needed. I probably should figure out a way to schedule myself a few more lazy days this summer.