Kaitlyn Baker's Off Day

Ever have one of those days when you just feel...off? Yeah--I'm having one of those days.

I woke up today to hear dripping in our bathroom. This is a bad sign to hear in our apartment, as we have had a ton of headaches over the plumbing here. Sure enough, when I opened the curtain to step into the shower, I was faced with a large, bulging bubble coming out of the wall near the ceiling, full of water that had leaked from the apartment above us. Great. The joys of apartment living!

In the confusion of calling maintenance and getting our bathroom ready to be serviced, I forgot to put on my engagement ring and AmeriCorps*VISTA pin (things I wear everyday!) I feel weird without them, but that was only the first of the day's weirdness.

When I got out to my car at 7:00 a.m., I found that I couldn't open the driver's side door from the outside. It was stuck. So I had to crawl in the car from the passenger's side, push open the door, and get in that way. Wonderful.

By the time I made it into the car 15 minutes later, I set out for my first solo OBB training. The training lab was located about 75 miles north in Troy, Ohio, in Miami County. Though I had never been to this particular location, it isn't exactly unfamiliar territory; I grew up in Urbana, Ohio, located in the neighboring Champaign County. And somehow I still got lost. My directions and map showed me turning left off the interstate and heading north toward Piqua, but as I eventually discovered, I should have turned right and gone south towards Troy. Fortunately, I had plenty of time to spare for this unexpected detour, but I felt rattled nonetheless.

The weirdness continues. I had 11 counselors enrolled in my class, which was scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. But when the clock struck 9, only 2 people were present to begin the training. Two more participants showed up about 20 minutes later (they were also lost, and they even had a GPS!), so by 9:30, we had only 4 of the 11 participants in attendance. Weird.

The training went fine, but I kept forgetting little anecdotes and factoids that I always like to mention in my trainings. I had included all of the necessary information, but I just couldn't get a rhythm down and I just felt...weird.

After lunch things went a little smoother, that is until it was time for the new counselors to log-in to the system with their new ID and passwords for the first time. Of my 4 counselors, there were issues with 2 of the log-ins. We eventually discovered both problems were due to [their] human error, but Suzanna at OASHF and Ryan at Solutions for Progress helped iron out the wrinkles. (Thanks so much, guys!)

Anyway, by the time the training ended and all of the problems were resolved, it was 4:30 p.m. and I was exhausted. I loaded up my computer, my bag, my 7 unused software guides, benefit guides, and training packets, (and the cart I used to haul all of this stuff), into my trunk, then climbed through the passenger side of my car, and drove away--in the right direction this time.

As I write this, I am sitting on the couch at my parents' house in Urbana. I stopped by for a quick visit (which is also an abnormal occurrence for me because I live so far away) before heading home later tonight. I can't wait to share the details of this very weird day with them over a (hopefully) less weird dinner.

Here's to a normal tomorrow.