The busiest week of my life

When you're the boss, no one tells you what to do. It was a rude awakening this week when I internalized all the stress that comes with that. Though the boss is the decision maker, no one helps in the decision making. BIG SHOES! As I'm learning to walk in them, I keep my chin up but my desk is covered in post its from the snow storm last week of "Can you do--" requests which I would hurriedly scribble down on an assorted pack of post-it paper. It really gives my desk color!

You shred everything here, because you never know who is going through the trash. In my two months here never has the paper shredder jammed, but I jammed it. With post its. It looks like a party of green, purple, pink and manila confetti spit up all over the floor by the shredder. Remnants will remain until we move out of this Palace, just like Christmas icicles, you can never seem to get them all picked up, inevitably in August you can find a stray the vacuum cleaner has missed 100 times.

Speaking of moving out--I am the move coordinator for our transition from Saddam's Presidential Palace to our New Embassy Compound NEC. I already live at the NEC and it is a fortified area that will include, housing, work space, the DFAC, a liquor store, the Green Bean, and the gym. It quite resembles a prison. There are high walls with a chicken wire border, and security that takes 10 minutes-minimum-to enter the compound. So, very secure!

Anyway, I saw my new office, which is quite plush. Two windows! Despite the hassle of moving, I love organizing and I also love my new office and so I'm looking forward to the move. It will be quite an experience to compare working in a Palace to working in an office building. And I'm not sure how the cabin fever will be since it's about 45 steps from my apartment to work. The world may get very small very quickly!

Also, I'm back on the ball.