Thoughts from My First Week (Back)? Splendid!

Thoughts from the first week back at the school district:

Everything is the same, but everything is different.  I kind of have that vaguely familiar feeling that you get when you're trying to piece together the events of the previous night after drinking yourself silly.  (Not that I've ever done that...) I have an idea of all the things I'm supposed to do, and mostly how to do them.  I just keep getting little flashes here and there of specifics.  I'm sure it will all come flooding back with time, but for now, there are just little blips of remembrance.

I'm totally in "back to school mode".  I picked out outfits for day 1 and day 2...  After that it's all been downhill, mostly because I didn't get all my laundry done before I started.  Also, the fact that it was 95 degrees for most of last week was stopping me from busting out my adorable sweaters.  That really is reminiscent of going back to school as a kid.  I remember everyone wearing cute pants and fall clothes the first day before we all remembered that it was still August in Illinois and our schools weren't air conditioned.

My boss sent an all-district email reviewing the changes in the department, congratulating the guy who was previously in my job on his new position and welcoming me back.  I got two emails almost right away from teachers.  It was seriously heart warming.  Those two teachers are people who I always had a soft spot for - teachers who I worked with closely for one reason or another.  I always kind of assume that when I'm no longer an active part of someone's life that they basically forget about me.  It made me feel so good that these two teachers in particular wanted to welcome me back.

I had a bit of a reputation in my department last time I worked here.  No, not that kind!  For whatever reason, I was the awkward interaction magnet - especially with the now-retired Superintendent.  We always joked about starting a Google Docs list of all my awkward interactions.  Less than one week into my new-old job, my boss has already mentioned starting a new document for awkward interactions with the new superintendent.  I had honestly forgotten about the joke from before, but then (see paragraph 1), it all came flooding back to me.  So I had to ask her if she remembered how I had to hold the old Superintendent's hand.  Yes, that was a thing, and yes, she did remember.

During a job interview a few years ago, I was asked what superpower I have.  I answered that I have a real affinity for remember people - their names, personal details like hometown or significant other's name.  I'm especially good at remembering what instrument they played, and I can attribute that directly to my time spent working for the Marching Illini.  I've already freaked out new coworkers with my ability to remember the names of her kids (whom I've never met).  I also amazed her/freaked her out when talking to a former teacher from a neighboring school district.  I was able to remember her husband's name and his occupation, as well their anniversary.  I also realized that we have some mutual friends.  What can I say?  I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night, but I'm good with personal details about people.

Overall, I can absolutely say that I am so happy to be back at the school district.  My coworkers and I used to joke that we were so spoiled by our boss that we would never be able to work for anyone else.  I guess we were right!