Day Off? What's That?

Yesterday was a long day. We started out the day by meeting for breakfast at 8:45AM. We headed over to the dining hall just to find out breakfast was no longer being served. Our OSD made the decision to go out to breakfast at a local restaurant called J. Christopher's. It was a small place, which meant it had really good food. It was definitely way better than dining hall breakfast would've been.

Sausage and Gravy Skillet from J. Christopher's

After breakfast, we sat down as an extended admin team and did a bunch of ice breakers. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone better, especially the staff members who I won't be working with as closely. We also discussed some expectations for one another, which was extremely helpful. The meeting went really well and we are truly meshing as a cohesive unit (something that did not happen last summer).

We went to lunch around 12:30PM and then had a break until 2PM. I took this opportunity to nap and surprisingly did not wake up feeling like death as I usually do. At 2PM, the core admin team met up to plan out the staff orientation. We nailed down a lot of items and pretty much figured out the entire week. I still have some things to work out for my ResLife breakout sessions, but for the most part we are all squared away. To be honest, I am a bit nervous to lead some sessions, but I'm sure everything will work out.

'New RC'

At 5PM, I headed up to the office to get some paperwork finished and to check on my staff. They were working hard on the staff door decorations (which look AWESOME!) and even made a 'new RC' to hang out in the office.

When it was time for dinner, we went downtown to Trappeze, one of my favorite places in Athens. I was so excited that everyone was able to try their raspberry ketchup and garlic aioli. (SO GOOD!) We did some more ice breakers while we waited for dinner and learned what people like to do for fun. A lot of us have similar interests (hiking, dancing, reading, sleeping) so it is no wonder we all get along so well.

Heaven on a plate

Dinner was mostly silent because everyone was enjoying their food. (Good on me for picking Trappeze!) The only moment that wasn't silent was when Drake came on in the restaurant and one of the quieter RHLs and our OSD began rapping. We were surprised to say the least.

When we returned to campus, I headed back up to the office to make some documents and buttons. (Button flair is a big deal at TIP. Everyone gets buttons for various activities. The staff always has name buttons and random inside joke buttons too.) I made Avenger buttons for all of the extended admin team and personalized buttons for each staff member based on the Avenger they chose to be in our GroupMe texts.

The start of my button flair

I spent most of my night in the office with a few people. My RHLs helped with making the buttons while I continued to work on paper work. (It is never ending, I swear.) My quieter RHL decided to set a speed record to beat for making five buttons. He was a little rusty so it took 1:07. I'm hoping we can get a friendly competition going between the RCs once they arrive.

Around 12AM, I left the office, but still had more work to do. I decided to go to sleep and then head to the office when I woke up.

Today was supposed to be everyone's day off. I told my staff not to do anything TIP related all day, but I couldn't do that. (Anyone who knows me knows that I have to get everything done well before it is due or else I start to get really stressed out.) To avoid having too much paperwork and printing to do on Monday and Tuesday, I started working in the office around 10:45AM. I slept in a bit so I didn't feel guilty about working on my day off when I told my staff not to.

The OC decided to come into the office to work all day too, so I haven't been alone. It's been quite the productive day. I've pretty much finished everything on my To-Do list, which is extremely exciting.

We've decided to have a little staff game night with pizza around 7:30PM. I'm looking forward to some quality bonding time and of course, eating pizza. Even though I spent my day off working, I'm quite pleased with how the day is shaping up.

Tomorrow will be full of meetings, Walmart runs, and last minute items before the staff arrives on Tuesday. Hopefully things will run more smoothly than they have been the last few days. (And even if they don't, it's a learning experience, right?)

My office is a mess until we get a staff lounge, but it's home