So since I’m now past the Important Annual Event at work (more on that later), I figured that today I would come home and write another sitcom parody post like I did at the end of March, but unfortunately my planned writing time this evening has been severely curtailed (more on that later, too). So this is going to be a more straightforward wrap-up of a very busy and very productive month.

I need that by Monday, ok?

The first few days of April were fairly straightforward, but Thursday and Friday I was attacked by PIMOs. PIMO is an acronym I made up that stands for “Person I Must Obey”. This includes my boss, my boss’s boss (and so on up the line), people on my boss’s level that don’t technically supervise me but still get to tell me what to do, people on my level who are leading teams or projects I’m involved in, and so on. Sometimes things at work can be pretty fluid, and the various PIMOs don’t always check with each other before assigning lots of different things to the same person. So over the course of two days, in addition to my regular work, three different PIMOs told me they needed:

• A plan to coordinate several hundred people for an upcoming event
• An abstract and outline for a presentation I didn’t know I was giving
• A list of materials and resources to order for new training in a few months

This, by the way, was the inspiration for my posts on productivity. If you missed those, part one is here and part two is here. I got it all finished, but it was one busy weekend.

It’ll be ok. I promise.

The next week, we got the news that there’s going to be some restructuring at work. This happens periodically, and it often creates a lot of drama. I’ve been through this multiple times, and for me it’s covered the entire spectrum. Once it was really bad for me, once it was really good for me, and the rest of the time it’s had its pros and cons. This time, I’m not going to be affected all that much, but some people are looking at serious changes in their job description.

And some of them completely freaked out.

There was some yelling, there were some tears, and I spent a lot of time listening, consoling, and offering advice when it was appropriate (that was the driving force behind this post). Things have calmed down by now, but it was an interesting couple of days.

I can do anything.

A lot of the last few weeks have been taken up by an Important Annual Event (I always hear the capitals in my head). To make a long (and boring) story short, it’s the biggest thing I am involved in every year, and for…five years, I think, I’ve been the number two person when it comes to organizing and running the event (working with a PIMO who is not my direct supervisor but is on the same level), and acting as a PIMO to people who normally don’t have to do what I tell them to (and some of whom still act like they don’t…but let’s just move on).

In the weeks leading up to the event, there are schedules to be made, materials to purchase and organize, questions to be answered, egos to manage, complaints to resolve, problems to solve, and meetings, meetings, and more meetings. There are also a LOT of emails.

The day before (this past Sunday) I was at work setting up the event space (this is why I didn’t get to see Endgame, as I explained in this post) and running around like crazy. Then on Monday and Tuesday I was at work at 6 am and didn’t stop moving until I got home in the evening. It was busy, it was stressful, it was physically and mentally taxing, and I can’t figure out why people kept emailing me when they knew darn well I wasn’t checking my email all day. I also ate a lot of donuts (for more on my donut obsession, see March in Review).

The important thing, though, is that we pulled it off. I’m proud of my team, I’m proud of myself, and I’m really glad it’s over for another year.

In other news…

I had a great Easter with my family, and I got to see a play with my mom, sister, and nieces, and that was a lot of fun.

In my last month in review post I forgot to mention that I read 20 books in March, and I managed to get through 21 in April (one isn’t pictured), mostly burning my way through a couple of series. Some of them I’ve noted to review in future posts…at some point. I’m mostly on track to meet my 2019 reading goal.

So how is May so far?

Well, I went into work today ready to bask in the glow of this week’s accomplishments, but by the end of the day I’d heard from two PIMOs who need some things from me…by Friday. Lol. I’ve decided to get at least one of those knocked out this evening, which is why more episodes of my own personal sitcom will have to wait until next month.

How was your April?