8/31/10 journal

I know I said I wanted to write in my journal first thing in the morning but I got up too late to accomplish the task today. I also said I didn’t want to write a bitch fest about the office but today really wasn’t bad for being my Monday. So, let me see what I can pull out of the brain at 8pm on a Tuesday after a 10 hour day………..
I’ve been working on a project that was handed to me just about the time I went on vacation in mid August. My boss wants to see how much I know about the analysis reports, how the machines are doing on the floor, etc….I reminded him before I left on vacation I wouldn’t have as much time as the other managers to get this done and he basically gave me the violin scenario and said ya, whatever. Anyway, I am happy to write that I did in fact get my report finished with graphs and pie charts and really nice recommendations as to my interpretation of the assignment; and it was in on time! YAY! It was good to get the brain going before school started again so I’m very happy that is off my plate. I do, however, have another pretty cool assignment coming up as well that involves the staff and their engagement scores. I know the importance of keeping the staff happy and committed; they need to feel like part of the team. So, I have my thinking cap on trying to come up with different incentive programs I can implement to get the staff motivated to a higher level. All in a day’s work.

Back to my vacation….My sister, her husband and two kids flew in from Florida for a week in Maine. It’s hard to believe how fast a week can slip through your fingers. Every day was jammed packed of festivities (and the weather was beautiful) did a pile of day trips, ate out at all their favorite restaurants, made it to the coast and saw tons of family. I needed a vacation from my vacation to recuperate! I was thankful they rented a car this time for their flight was out of Portland. Kind of puts a damper on the last day of vacation if you’re the chosen one to have the drive 4 or 5 hour round trip to get them to their destination. I remember the last time they vacationed here they missed their flight and they were flying right out of Bangor! We’ll save those vacation memories for another story.

One of our day trips/family visits was with my dad which was cool because my new grandson joined us. It was the first time dad had seen the baby since he was born and we were able to get some awesome pictures (4th generation)Speaking of pictures, my grandfather (mothers side)is 100 years old and is coming up from Massachusetts in September for a week. The plan is to get a professional photographer to get 5th generation pictures during his visit. I’m in hopes to get it published in the Bangor Daily, too. It’s pretty rare these days to have the opportunity to get 5 generations into one photo without doing some cropping.

Tomorrow is a new day, work schedule looks fairly mild, thankfully; I’m starting my first on campus class after work on Wednesday nights so I’m pumped. Lots of coffee and an open mind. I’ve got to do some laundry, see you in the morning, hopefully.