The longest day known to man (or to Hannah) is finished… the work part of it anyway.  I’m hoping good things for the last few hours of the day.  Before those hours happen, I’ll regale you with tales of the first pesky 14 hours.

I woke up almost when my alarm clock went off (20 minutes after the alarm, as opposed to my usual hour delay).  That was good.  I discovered that walking my dog before the sun rises has perks, which mostly relate to looking disgusting and knowing that no one can see me.  After the glamorous dog walk, I got out the door almost when I intended to, which was also good.  And my must-be-early-for-the-first-day instincts did indeed get me to the staff meeting with over 20 minutes to spare.  Whew.

Over the course of the day, I was given a very small taste of what I’m in for in the upcoming months.  Keep in mind that for the past year and a half, I’ve been advising people about which novels to read and teaching basic computer classes, emphasis on the word “basic.”  And today I was introduced to my new responsibilities over several computer servers and databases and spreadsheets and about a million passwords.

All of that information seemed totally manageable as it was coming to me piece by piece.  But then when I think about the fact that all of those passwords are connected to things that I will be in charge of, and I only know what in the world is going on with a few of them, panic starts to set in.  It creeps up through my toes to my stomach and eventually takes over my brain.  If I can keep it from getting to my brain again, we’re in business.

I think I’m totally capable of figuring this out.  I’m excited about the challenge.  I’m thrilled that I’ll have more freedom in my job in a lot of ways.  But imagine that you are told tomorrow at noon that your entire job is changing the next day without any previous hint of that.  It’s not like you’re being promoted to the next logical step in your career.  You’re maybe an accountant now and tomorrow you’re going to be the head of an oil and gas company.  It’s kind of like that (with less prestige).  That’s kind of discombobulating, right?

Discombobulation aside, I am still excited about everything that’s going on.  Everybody needs to be totally thrown off once in a while.  Yesterday was my day.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that my new office is conveniently located next to the conference room where a bunch of women exercise during lunch.  So as I was scarfing down a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, I was serenaded by peppy music and a healthy dose of guilt.  This new job might be good for me if I can get past that whole panic thing.