The edge of something...
This has been a difficult week. I'm not certain why this week became the monster that it was, but I'm glad we're moving past it. I was a little hesitant to share, but I know there are folks that (much like I do) use the net to catch up with friends when there isn’t the chance to see each other in person.
Let me start with the big stuff first. I know about the deaths of 5 people this week. I say know about, because I didn't meet 3 of them, but they were all immediate family of my friends. This affects me, because I care deeply for the people I call friend. The other two deaths were in our family. My wife's Aunt Helen and my Aunt Joyce. A hole now exists where vibrant people once were. They will be missed. We all seem to have managed to get through, but it has been emotionally draining.
Not such a big deal, but was still part of the emotional issues of the week, I arrived home Wednesday afternoon from work and couldn't find Lily. No person, no pack from school, computer not on, shoes not by the door. School had been over for an hour or two at that point. I was right on the edge of panic, but since Shiny was standing right there with me I forced myself to remain in control and apply a little logic. Checked the neighbor's house. Sometimes Lily forgets her key, so we told her just to stop by and ask to wait there where she can be warm. No dice. Neighbor hadn't seen her. Called the wife to double check that Lily hadn't asked to go to a friend’s house and I just didn't get the memo. Again, no.
So I packed Shiny back up in the car and headed out the door. The only logical place I could think to go was the high school, so I took the same route I think her bus takes (just in case she decided to hoof it for some reason). Shiny did add some amusement by asking, "Is it bad if we lose an exchange student? They wouldn't let us have another one would they?" I didn't laugh then, but I've managed to laugh about it since then. Thankfully, when we pulled up to the school Lily was waiting out front. She had stayed late, missed the last bus, then couldn't get back into the school to call.
YES, I know there's this marvelous technology of a pay as you go cell phone. We hadn't figured it all out yet... and there hadn't to this point been a need. Guess that just went higher on the priority list.
This week was also my first time teaching a class. It was a onetime thing - but may reoccur next year. The construction specifiers group I belong to holds an annual prep class for their exam. I passed this certification a few years back and joined the group. This year I was asked to present one night (3 hours) of instruction on construction documents. Not a big deal for most folks, but this is a class of people that (mostly) are already in the industry. I wasn't certain I'd "teach" them anything they didn't know already. A friend suggested the approach I actually ended up using - I'm not teaching anything, I'm reviewing things you probably know already (but that apply to the test). In the end my stress wasn't entirely unwarranted. There were two folks there that had handled other company's contracts with the office where I work in the recent past. I do think the class went off well enough. Perhaps if they ask me back next year I'll be better at it.
So that's the big stuff. There were other things going on that I wanted to talk about but I really think the moment has passed. Hopefully next week will be a little less stressful...