Early Season

September always tends to be a hectic month. Working in the arts, September is historically the time the new season opens. Most of the deadlines for Government funding falls in September. It's the beginning of a new school year (which, for the majority of my life has been the case with me. It's the time when the miles start adding up for the long practice runs in preparation for the fall marathon. And, most importantly, September means that Football is here!

Since starting the new job and having a hellish commute to and from work and everywhere else my life takes me, I spend on average 3-4 hours a day in the car. So, needless to say, i'm feeling a little bit of a time crunch getting everything in - and it's still 4 weeks before life really starts picking up. I guess you can say i'm starting to get a little anxiety ridden and trying to mentally prepare myself for what I have to tackle.

A little update on the job front:

4 weeks into the new job, my Assistant Director gave notice. She and I work together just fine, but she had been approached by another organization before I began working there that presented her with a better opportunity. I respect that and honestly, even though i'm sure she's great (I haven't really had much of an opportunity to find that out yet), I was questioning the structure of my department and if it was positioned as efficiently as it could be. So, I have the opportunity to make some changes to the infrastructure and mold it somewhat into my own department. At the same time, more work will fall on my shoulders.

As much as I disliked my last job, it was still easy. I had forgotten the responsibility it takes to be a Director of a department and the "outside of typical work hours" that you have to put in, particularly in a theater, with opening nights, special events, board meetings, etc.

This is going to be tough for me - already today I came across a few conflicts of future board meetings that conflict with my Biology class and trying to plan events, one of which they wanted to hold the same day as the NYC marathon. I had to speak up about that one - I had begun planning for this race in January 2006 when I registered for my 9 qualifying races to be guaranteed entry in the November 2007 marathon. I begun training for this in May - I just won't miss it for anything. This place i'm working at is very flexible and understanding - yet, at the same time, I know i'm held to a higher standard because of my position. So it's going to be a delicate balancing act in the coming months.