Two Down, One To Go...

Hi everyone. I’m HOME! Momentarily, but home. Just for a second, but home. This has been such a hectic month. Travel, brand new personnel system, continued BRAC worries, discontent with my job in general, studying for an exam I’m worried I won’t pass, shall I continue? So far, I’ve been gone for two weeks and I’m off again Monday for what I hope to be my final week of travel for a very, very long time. Hope that you’re all doing well.

Last week, my boss and a colleague and I went to our Columbus site for some very in-depth training on the new personnel system slated to roll out for the DoD agencies “very shortly” (exact time unspecified at this point). About 500 HR Specialists throughout the “fourth estate” (translation: Army, Air Force, Navy, and Defense Agencies) were all in attendance. Because I’m on brain overload and really would rather discuss anything BUT this new system, I’ll keep my commentary short. All I’ll say is that it’s exciting to be part of this discipline at a time when it’s changing as much as it is. This is a system whose time is long, long overdue. The folks from Air Force that I talked with have been under a similar system in a pilot demo for quite some time, and it was interesting to hear of their successes and struggles. This will be a challenge…it’s changing everything that we know about our way of doing business, and it’s changing everything that the DoD civilian workforce knows about how it is managed and compensated. With BRAC looming on the ever-approaching horizon, I am not certain how much of this I’ll really see. I’m still actively looking for other positions, and a lot remains to be seen.

Next week, I’m back in Indianapolis for a review course for the PHR exam. To say that I’m not ready for this class (this TEST!) is the understatement of the century. Why is it so hard to buckle down and study? Even in the rare moments of peace and solitude that my busy life affords me, I’m often so stressed out or exhausted or just too damned lazy to crack open the books. If being gone so much this month has been good for anything, it’s been good for forcing me to study. Quiet evenings alone in a hotel room with take-out food, a highlighter, and my PHR books. We’ll see how next week goes. I truly have vacillated back and forth on all of this. I go from periods of certainty (“This will be a snap! I’ll pass it - no problem!”) to complete panic (“I am going to fail this test for certain!”). One of my colleagues from our Indy office stopped me in Columbus last week and asked me to come and see her next week when I’m in town. She recently sat for this test and wants to give me some insight and help, which is very greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I suppose I’ll keep plugging away at my studies. Continued well-wishes from you, dear friends, are certainly appreciated.

I snuck away from personnel systems and PHR books long enough to check out an AWESOME yarn store in Columbus! Nice, nice stuff, folks. If you’re in the Columbus area or plan to be in that area, definitely check it out. The felting bug is biting me something fierce, and I bought two skeins of a very gorgeous 100% wool yarn called Noro Kureyon that I’m dying to crack open and try out:



I’m itching for a cell phone cozy or small purse pattern that I might try with this new yarn. If you’ve got any tips for new felters, please send them my way!

I cracked open my Patons Canadiana and am working on a scarf/hat/mittens set:



Let me simply say that this yarn is a delight to use. It doesn’t split, it flows between stitches with ease, and this shade (called “Stained Glass Variegated”) is just beautiful. I’m not quite finished with the scarf and hat yet, and, as you can see, I’ve yet to start on the mittens. But I wanted to show you what I had so far.

While I was gone, I got a wonderful RAOK from The Knitting Diva!



What a wonderful surprise to come home to! The BOO stitch marker is adorable! Many, many thanks to Angela for the Halloween treat!

Speaking of Halloween treat, tomorrow is our neighborhood’s Halloween party for the kiddos. Erin’s looking forward to it!

As if all the excitement wasn't enough, my tooshy STILL hurts. Yes, four weeks later, my proverbial pain in the ass continues. Although it's nowhere near as severe as it was, it still hurts me to sit still for a long period of time, and it's not as easy to walk up stairs as it was before I fell. I spoke with a nurse, who thinks that I probably broke my tailbone. She said that it's common with falls for people to break their tailbones and not realize it. Unfortunately, medical technology hasn't evolved to the level whereby broken tailbones can be fixed rather easily. My instructions from my friend the nurse? Don't sit for long periods of time on hard surfaces (NO...you THINK??????) and take pain medications (my Extra Strength Tylenol and I are on an intimate basis) and follow up with a physician if I'm still in pain in eight-to-nine weeks. EIGHT TO NINE WEEKS?! (*sigh*) Delightful!

I’m off to enjoy what’s left of my time with my family before heading off to Indy again. Hope that you all have a great weekend and a wonderful week. Oh, and LEAVE ME COMMENTS, folks! Let me know that you’ve dropped by! (Thanks so much to Keri for dropping by and saying hello!)