It's complicated

Last December the powers who be decided to divide up all the staff and kids from my school into 4 other schools, leaving my school building empty.

Then the powers who be decided to move another whole group of kids and staff to take up home in my school building. (confused yet??)

I didn't much worry about any of it as I was staying in my lil corner office in the same school. I had to pack up all the paper work I had on all the kids and their families and make sure it got sent out to all the right schools.......... but really it wasn't a big deal.

I enjoyed my summer... relaxed.. and honestly didn't think much about the start of the new year... it would happen regardless of what fussing I did.

So I went into school yesterday relaxed and unstressed and ready to start the year. The janitor met me in the parking lot. He had said he was gonna phone me... with the bad news. BAD NEWS??!! how could there be bad news this soon into the year???!!

Well .... none of my equipment or supplies went anywhere. BUT... all the equipment and supplies from the group moving in did go somewhere..... to a back room in my school. 100 boxes of "stuff". ONE HUNDRED !!! And my job is to empty those boxes and integrate the "stuff" with my own.

My first question was why in god's name did they store all those boxes in a back room - why ... WHY??....... hadn't they moved them into my huge (almost as big as a gym HUGE) space???? Now I had to schlep all those boxes from the back of the school to my area........ does that make sense to anyone ????

I was lucky - a couple of strong muscled young guys were hanging around with nothing much to do. They watched me schlep a couple of loads of boxes ... and then they appeared with dollies and offered to do the schlepping - god bless their lil hearts !!

I spent 5 hours opening boxes. I think I got 10 done. I am trying to approach this experience much like one approaches Christmas presents - mounds of boxes with no idea what is inside. Because someone in their infinite wisdom decided I really didn't need exact information of what was in these 100 boxes. It might say "art supplies and office supplies" and inside I might find some scrap art paper, a handful of thumb tacks and pounds and pounds of other stuff, everything from a lost dinosaur to a handful of lego.

Somewhere in those piles of 100 boxes is the paper work I absolutely MUST have to start the year. Somewhere. My bet is I am gonna find it in the last box and it will probably be marked "art /office supplies".

Add to the boxes - the problem of no staff list has been set up - so I basically have no idea who is coming to work with me in a week. Add to that problem that the new cabinets that are going to hold the "stuff" from these 100 boxes are leaning against a wall and have NOT been bolted down - and no one seems to know where the carpenter is........ and seeing as everyone is unionized - no one else is gonna bolt down those cabinets. Add to that no one can find my computer.. my phone doesn't work ... and because of the boxes I really can't get into my office anyway!!

I like a challenge ...........but this is beyond challenge....

It is complicated !