the importance of great colleagues!

Bonjour!

We probably all feel this way today, those returning to work or with small children especially, I imagine.... I WANT THAT HOUR BACK! We will all enjoy the prolonged daylight hours, and spring must be on the way... blah blah blah-- but let's face it: it's always a crappy day-after when we lose the hour.

Being exhausted at work today and trying to focus my students (more like pulling teeth) reminded me about the importance of good colleagues. I feel so lucky to have friends at work. Aside from having fun chats in the staff room and exchanging the customary knowing glances when you overhear the wackier kids ask your buddy bizarre questions in the hall, it is so great to arrive to work and share stories from your weekend events.

Over the past two weekends, Monday morning at work has involved reminiscing about our fun together at kooky events. Two Fridays ago, a group of us put together a team and entered a Volleyball tournament, involving pitchers in between games. We got pretty good by game number four! And this past weekend, yet another group of played at my friend Bingo's house (no, his name is not really this, but from now on Bingo is all males and Loulou is all girls.... for everyone's personal safety and out of respect... and now I digress....). He had us over, young and less young, and each one of us brought beers from a different country. You had to sample the beer to earn the flag to wear on our clothes. It was hysterical! We all enjoyed the tour of the tall boys, and increasingly funny conversation.

Clearly, we ended up with a lot of drunken babble, pretty amazing Guitar Heros, late night cab rides and colossal hangovers-- but my point is simple: we had fun and had one extra reason to smile at one another today. Waking up to see my husband's and my chain of little flags on the fridge made me feel like a proud Brownie in my morning fog today.

Salad Girl's tip of the post:
If you haven't yet, get to know your colleagues. These are the people that you see more than your family and no matter how different they may be from you, there are lessons to learn from them. Plan a pot luck lunch, a book swap, a clothing swap, a once-a-week walking group, something. If you are lucky like me, plan a new event with your pals-- boozy or not. I feel closer to these folks now, and, after all, our purpose in life is to connect with one another.
(One addtional tip: do try the beer from Lithuania. YUM!)