7 Quick Takes Friday #59

See more 7 Quick Takes Friday contributions at Jennifer Fulwiler's Conversion Diary.

This has been a week that I choose not to repeat. Golly, the stress level rose to the top of the barometer and broke through. Colleagues, too, had the opportunity to share the stress, but whatever rises, ultimately drops, so things, in most cases, did get better.

1. Money had its moments this week. Down and up. First, I got the bill for the few minutes that I used the cell phone to call from Qatar and, mostly, to respond to some urgent emails: a $900 bill for less than a week in the desert outside Doha. Then, I found that my merit pay this year was only $400 for the entire year. Accepting that as being a matter of my organization not having much money to spend and hoping that my employees were given more since they need it more, I was astonished the following day to find out that this was just a salary increase and that I will soon receive a cash bonus of $3600, just about the amount that we desperately need to fix our deck and paint the house trim, which has dried out and is starting to deteriorate. Yippee!

2. Two days ago I was casually reading some posts on Facebook and found a comment from my nephew's wife that her divorce would be final on June 2. Say what?! I sent her a note and asked her if I had read correctly, and she said yes. Apparently, my nephew has hopped into bed with another (married) woman and is about to have a second son, with this woman and not with his wife. His wife filed for divorce. I have, indeed, been traveling too much. All of this has been going on for some time. (Of course, she is not in the habit of consulting me on her love life, as is the case with my own children, i.e. all those children I raised for all or part of their lives.) I am proud of her and my nephew that they have resolved everything amicably and with respect in order to give their six-year-old son a sense of security and love for both parents.

3. Today was the most miserable of the days. I learned that one of the senior leaders (above me) got into trouble for not doing his portion of a project that we have been working on together. So, he told the CEO that I was the one who had fallen through on the project. I was shocked, but there is not much I can do because of the relative statuses of all involved. I just have to relax and assume that the CEO will eventually find out the truth on his own. Life is like that: truth does have a way of ultimately coming out.

4. To add insult to injury, the CEO referred to a major reorganization at our big pow-wow this morning and looked directly at me. I know he has significant respect for me (after all, I just got that very nice bonus), but I certainly wish that he would consult with me about any reorganization that will affect my division and my employees. As it is, I will have to wait until the pieces start falling into place. I brainstormed this afternoon with my most trusted subordinate. We are planning for several possibilities so that we can have the best possible outcome for our employees. I will land on my feet. I am a permanent employee, and unless I really mess up my work (hopefully, unlikely), I don't have to worry about moving into a similar or better position than where I am. However, the employees who work for me are used to being empowered, and none of the other divisions empower people. Sometimes, I feel quite isolated in a sea of peers and bosses. Well, God put me in this job, so I assume God will control where I end up. (Note: Pow-wow print for sale from Lydia Dillon-Sutton.)

5. All these stressful machinations were accompanied by meeting after meeting. At least, two long meetings every day occupied my working hours all week. Since I find it difficult to sit still, I truly overloaded on meetings this week. When I have a lot of meetings, I end up having to do my paperwork in the evening. This happened every day this week. Boring! Tiring! I fell asleep on the couch every day, checking my personal email.

6. There was one bright spot at work: lunch. Thursday's lunch was much more successful than my last business lunch when I met with a colleague at a local fish restaurant -- except he went to the one on the north side of town and I went to the one on the south side (20 minutes apart). This time, a Greek colleague I have not seen in four years returned from Greece, called me, and we met at the local Greek restaurant. The only thing better than eating Greek is eating Greek with a Greek!

7. Cats are great companions. I think Murjan, who is a very sensitive cat, must have felt some of my stress. All week he stayed at my side every minute I was home, meeting at the door, wanting to be petted or have his belly rubbled, snuggling against me, curling up on my lap, licking my face. He created an easy de-stress environment for me. I rescued him in Jordan a few years ago, and he rescued me from my stress a few days this week. Life is balanced!

Wishing for you a balanced weekend!