Why I've been a bad blogger and friend

I would like to help you to envision my first third of 2007.

My co-worker, in the nicest terms, bitches about everything. Her computer is always too slow, her daughter is always too self-centered, her work load is always too demanding, her body is always in pain, her family always seems to have problems on Friday afternoon so she has to leave early.

In January, she took on the responsibility of being the Scheduling Team Assistant. She prepares work Visa documents for our doctors that are being placed in practices overseas. She would complain that she has too much to do. Rather than put up with it I finally said, "I'll start being the Team Assistant for all three teams because you seem to be doing way too much." Finally, after six weeks of me telling her that I can take on the website leads and I can do things for the other team and I can work more than the three hours I have been working, she walked into talk to Al about giving me all her work.

When I say all her work, I mean all her work. I started receiving all the doctor and nurse leads from the website, I started doing all the scanning, I started doing all the sorting. In actuality, I was the team assistant for three teams or the whole office.

"I need to request a Certificate of Good Standing from Saudi Arabia. Allison, what time is it in Saudi Arabia?"

"Well, they are on the other side of the planet so I'd say about 12 hours difference. It's night time there right now."

"I don't know how to get this done because I'm not coming in here in the middle of the night to try to talk to someone that probably doesn't even speak English."

"That's your job isn't it?"

Meanwhile, in the Batcave, my brother marries his soul mate in every sence of the word.

Meanwhile, in Wayne Manor, my mother books her flight, hotel and car to go do a residency in Virginia for her Doctorate.

Meanwhile, in the land of the Church (and since I've been really sick of the single scene in my ward), I start attending my family ward and receive the calling of Stake Young Single Adult Representative for the Relief Society side. Yes, I typed Stake. Oh, the irony.

By now it's mid-March. I'm working almost nine hour days and I'm ready to rip my hair out because my co-worker has just had a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. But she still won't shut up.

(insert slam noise here) "My computer is so damn slow."
"Well, my daughter decided that she wants to run away from home."

In the Batcave, there is trouble in paradise. My new sister-in-law, come to find out, has been treated like a doormat her whole life and her sister lied about my mother.

In Wayne Manor, my mother's financial aid falls throught and she is stuck with this plane ticket, car and hotel that is literally 30 minutes away from Washington DC. On occasion I spend the night at her place when I'm too tired to drive home. It gets to be about midnight and she comes downstairs and asks me if I want to go to DC with her and she'll pay for my plane ticket. How can I turn down that offer?

In the land of the Church, I'm introduced to many people because not only am I the Park Stake representative as a leader, I am also part of a multi-stake committee striving to make the Younng Single Adult Program work on a multi-stake level. I'm the go-between for my ward, my stake and the multi-stake committee.

I'm still working nine hour days but now for a purpose. I need to bank as much freakin' time I can before I go to DC so I don't go into the hole on paid time off. Then the projects came.

"Allison, we need to update all the practice discriptions on the website."
"Allison, we need you to write five contracts."
"Allison, we need you to train up this temp before you go on vacation."
"Allison, we need you to organize all the shipping for the conferences we are going to."
"Allison, we need you to check the website leads 5 million times a day."

It's Tuesday. I leave for vacay on Wednesday. The temp shows up smelling of cigarette smoke. Great. I train her up on what she needs to do and then kick her out of my chair because I need to get a load of things done before I go. In the time I'm training her I find that she is on probation for drugs. The judge said to her either you go to jail or you loose your daughter. So she went to jail. Well she was the most reliable person on the planet because she didn't show up the next day. My mom made me promise that I wouldn't worry about work while I was gone, so I didn't.

(Side note: I have no idea why people think it is important to open their lives up to me in the first 60 minutes of knowing me. I guess it makes me realize that my life doesn't suck as bad as I think it does)

While I was on vacation my boss deemed in necessary to hire another team assistant to lighten the workload. I took a lunch every day last week. I haven't done that in weeks. It's only been within the last week that I've been able to see the surface of my desk again.

I know I haven't returned phone calls and for that I apologize but I'd like to make up to all of you by throwing a get together in honor of the International Children's Day in Japan. So bring your brightly colored paper carp and I'll make rice dumplings.

My apartment
May 5th
6ish

Or if you know of any rad Cinco de Mayo get togethers, I'll still make rice dumplings. Let me know what you think.