Sheesh! What have I done?

Part 1: It was a Thursday afternoon. Our district accountant (Ramona) had been in the Director's (Erich's) office with the door closed. With the DOOR closed! This is an extremely rare event. Erich is an 'open door' man. He's a big guy; young, easy going, sings in his office with his feet on the desk, his gigantic cowboy boots taking up an entire corner of the already oversized desk.... (When Erich first arrived at the school, he had to put blocks of wood under the legs of his desk to raise it enough so his knees would go underneath...you get the picture!)

I could clearly see through the large glass window (he never closes the blinds) that his feet were not on the desk now, but I was so busy with year-end items - special programs, summer school issues, purchase orders, invoices - just normal stuff, and after the flitting thought of 'the door is closed, how weird is that' I blew it off.

The day went on, people came and went, issues were resolved.... Late in the afternoon Erich called a meeting. Erich doesn't call meetings...we do! What is going on? We all sat around the big table in the center of our office. Erich, slouched in his chair and with a strain in his very large but gentle voice, softly announced that our beloved accountant, Ramona, had resigned. She'd accepted a position with the City of Corpus Christi. I could see the fear in his face! Ramona was our backbone. Ramona knew everything. We all depended on her for our daily needs! Ask Ramona, she will know what to do!...and she always did.

A week has passed and we are all adjusting. The nausea caused by the reality of this untimely event has lessened. We will miss our Ramona terribly.

Part 2: Yikes! What have I done? How has this happened?! It wasn't long after Ramona announced her resignation that words began to drift in my direction. Would I be interested in Ramona's position? I have never been one to glide gently into anything...you know, slide easily feet first into a pool of soft blue water; rather, I tend to just jump into the frying pan head first!

I was planning an early retirement in a year and a half. Well, plans change and life goes on - thank goodness for the small things! I suppose I could work another 3 to 5 years with the proper incentive...good, cold hard cash goes a long way!

The nausea is back, my brain is nearly fried from overload, my replacement has been hired, and I am the new accountant. Sheesh...what have I done!