Re-entry–Zoë Elizabeth and “Holy sticky notes, Batman”

Jeanie:  Juli-Ann and I left Santiago on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 2.  We felt sad–always hard to say “goodbye”, especially because we have no prospects of returning–but, hope springs eternal, so we “nos vemos, si Dios quiere” (we’ll see you, God willing) as we made a last round of hugs.

Uneventful trips home–Juli-Ann to Omaha and me to New Hampshire.  Here is what, rather who!, I had waiting for me:

Zoë Elizabeth, Jeff and Alyson's new baby. Jeff and Alyson are adopting her. Zoë was born in Ohio the day before I left and didn't come back to NH until mid-January so I had not yet held her!

 

In spite of the thrill of a new grandbaby, re-entry was hard as always.  First, I am always TIRED!  More importantly, the problems I leave behind don’t solve themselves, the unfinished tasks don’t do themselves, and new problems and tasks accumulate while I’m gone.  And organizing/prioritizing all that can be a nightmare.  So, what do Juli-Ann and I do when we have a big confusing organizing task?  Pull out the sticky notes! 

Holy sticky notes, Batman!

I started going through all my lists, all my emails from the past 6 weeks, etc. and put one task on each note.  Then I arranged them by catagories (NHPHA work, follow-up on the DR project, misc., etc) and prioritized within each category.  “Finish the final blog posts” is one I am about to cross off.  I recommend this technique highly!!

 

Thanks to our readers!