Stand in the place where you work...

There are R.E.M. lyrics for just about everything, aren't there?

Today I wanted to show an updated photo of our office.  I know that's lame.  And you wonder if I'm actually doing work here, or just sweetening up the spaces that I have to sit in for designated moments of the day.
I'm doing both I tell ya.
This is the closest thing I've ever had to an office job even though my job actually requires that I spend maybe fifteen hours a week in an actual office.  And this room is the office in which I sit and pretend to work in.  Just kidding.  I work.  I swear it.
My mom is laughing at this because we just had a conversation about my transformation into an "office" person.  She, like me is a teacher.  At my last job my life was divided into 52 minute increments with 4 minutes inbetween, which were to be used for going to the restroom, grabbing a soda/coffee, checking my staff mailbox, and making photocopies.  If you are really fast and wear good shoes and elastic pants, there are many things you can do in four measly minutes.
Now, I have OFFICE HOURS.  I never knew what I was missing.  I have a question?  I can leave my office and go find the answer from someone anytime during the day.  I want a cup of tea?  Sure.  I have time to get myself, and the person in the office next to me one.   The only problem I do have, is that I'm still getting used to organizing my time efficiently.  Maybe I'll set up a timer with a bell in my office and separate each time period into "subjects" that I'll tackle.
9:00-9:52 - Solve world peace
9:52-9:56 - bathroom break/tea break
9:56-10:46 - Talk to God
10:46-10:50 - Grab a snack
10:50-11:42 - Decide which super hero power would best suit me.
and so on.... you get the idea.

I'm not so delusional to think that everyone's office job is so plush and awesome, but I'd like to think that maybe there is an aspect to the workforce I've been missing out on all this time.

Well, back to the subject of our office.  Dustin and I share this space, and we wanted it to be inviting because we have been doing a lot of pastoral care in this space, but it is also where the volunteers find us to talk, ask questions, or grab some advice about a group coming in.

Before

Above is our office when we first got here.  It was actually just used as a hot seat for people wanting to use a free computer, and for the copy machine.  We had to make it more inviting using no money, because we're part of a non-profit and that's how we roll.  So basically we just went around to other parts of the center and stole borrowed items we could use to spruce the place up.

After

This is our office now.  We had shelves from some unused closet put in so we could bring all of the hard-copy resources out of a hidden-away closet, and have them more accessible to the volunteers.  A big part of my time here so far has been organizing these resources so that they are more useable.  I made a few posters to put up with favorite quotes, and we hung up a bunch of pictures of loved ones far away, and of the volunteers.  The rug area in the back has a bin full of toys and old laptops for the boys to play with and "check their email" when they come to the office with us.