My boss was out of town again today, so I found some time to do a bit more unpacking and some organizing. As for the former, I have now settled all I can in my office since the storage is a bit lacking. She did tell me to order a lateral filing cabinet, so I will soon be able to add the box of things that I put back in my car for the duration.

I started working on a press archive by organizing all the articles I found spread amongst several places. I arranged them in chronological order, slipped them in top-loading sheet protectors, and put them in a binder with divider tabs by years. Such pleasure gained whilst tackling this task! The next step will be putting them all into a spreadsheet so that I can start analyzing the organization's media coverage.

I also spent some time with one of my staff, talking a bit about affordable housing and a bit about writing for affordable housing. Friday, I sent her out on an interview (I had wanted the task myself, but my boss wants me to groom her), and she presented the article for the newsletter this afternoon. We slugged through editing it and another piece she did, with several comma lessons. I deserve some award for chocking back my acerbic rejoinder when she actually told me, "When I write, I never pay attention to grammar rules because I write so well intuitively without following any particular rule."

While I have some reservations about some "attitude" I seem to see at times, she was thankful and appreciative of the help and told me that she looked forward to learning from me. I was also thankful that out of the 26 photos she took at the interview, one was actually usable for the newsletter that I am trying to hastily put together.

She is rather good at tackling small things for me. For example, when plowing through organizing the press pieces, I found two folded newspapers and did not have the heart to find the article that mentions my organization. I gave them to her and asked if she would check them out whenever she had a chance. When I got back from lunch, she had found the articles I needed to save. I was thankful for the assistance. I think, perhaps, my one learning curve here will be learning how to NOT do everything myself.

I finished my day by getting two more of the newsletter articles written and set in place.

I had to highs today: 1) I met my former cubicle mate for lunch. I really do miss her company. We chatted up a storm over Chipotle burritos. 2) I attempted to reduce the mass of stuff in my study closet (this is where 3 degrees worth of literacy studies materials are tucked away).

As for the latter, I would give myself an A for effort, but a D+ for execution. I only managed to reduce one of the towering piles by a mere 8 inches (I just cannot part with such good research materials). I did say goodbye to a wooden basket-type box that has a teddy-bear on it, my old day timer, a miniature slide viewer, a plastic fountain, and a piece of old luggage. Perhaps B's daughter E might like the basket.

Frankly, I really do need to let go of all things teddy-bear (except for my old pal tucked up in the corner of my own closet).