Be glad life doesn't come with an instruction manual...Or a to do list.

Today was the first Friday of the new school year. I work for a public school district, and I work year round. The first day back for kids should be just another work day for me. Well, it's not. There are students, parents, and teachers everywhere. The phone rings off the hook and the door never stays shut for very long.  I can start and stop something 15 times, and by then I forget where I left off. I am a planner, a list maker. I have lists for my lists. I like for things to go the way I plan them. Somehow no matter how much preparation I put in, the first day of school is total chaos.  I also have a planner for my planner. I have my calendar synced with my iphone, desktop, iPad, and laptop. Of course, I still have a good old fashioned paper planner, spiral bound with months and weeks. It sits on top of my paper desk calendar. Yes I just said it sits on top of my paper desk calendar. Each new school year I get a new planner. When I opened my planner up to August I saw that each month had a quote on the front of the month. This was the quote for the month of August:

"Be glad life doesn't come with an instruction manual. 

It is way more fun to wing it than follow directions."

You see it's not about the plan, the lists, it's about what you do on those lists and with those plans, it's about the journey. Yes, my office is now filled with people in and out all day long, but when one student walks in smiling and says "Hello Mrs. Penson, How are you today?" it reminds me that they are the reason we are here. A child that may or may not have anyone at home when they get home. Hallways like the ones here in the summer time, empty. I believe with all my heart that God put me here for a reason. To be a part of something far greater than myself. I think that He has a sense of humor in that I work in a school and we do have to "wing-it" at times. I am not a teacher, I am the Director of Public Relations and Student Information. How cool is it that I get to promote some of the greatest products in the world, our students. I will always be a planner, a list maker, but I will always try to remember to throw them away and have fun "winging it".