There Will Be Blood… Sweat, and Tears

We’re having a big finance meeting in my office tomorrow. We’re going to go over budgets, talk about shortfalls, deficits, predictions. I don’t know exactly what we’re in for, or how to prepare. But I’m anticipating a bit of “blood” on the floor. In the form of layoffs, furloughs, decreased operating hours, etc. I don’t actually anticipate any of it directly affecting my job, but I’m not looking forward to it. It’s making me sweat. Also making me a bit nervous is the fact that J.’s employer (of 8,000 people) is laying off 300 workers over the next several weeks. I’m optimistic about him being safe, but we’re trying to be realistic. Expect the best, prepare for the worst.

In the middle of this doom and gloom fest tomorrow, however, we will be breaking from the finance meeting for lunch and to watch the inauguration ceremony on TV. I’ve been watching coverage all weekend, and definitely wish I were braver/richer/less busy at work and could be there. I just spoke to a co-worker about it and warned her that I WILL cry during the ceremony. It’s historic, for so many reasons. And, frankly, anything involving two young daughters makes me weepy. So there will be tears. And my co-workers, most of whom I don’t know extremely well, will just have to deal with it.

On a somewhat related note, I have meetings on Capitol Hill all day on Wednesday. It should be very interesting, at least, to be in D.C. the day after the festivities. It may all be cleared up and the logistics will go smoothly. Or I may be stuck in traffic for days.

UPDATE: For those of you who are wondering, I’m okay. I’m not real worried about my job, since as the fundraiser I’m responsible for bringing in money. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to get rid of me. There were a few layoffs this week, which people are taking hard. I’m sure there will be more. Seems like this whole thing is hitting home recently; people I know are getting laid off or are (with good reason) worried about it.

My trip to D.C. was great. It was cool to hear Capitol Hill staffers’ stories of Inauguration Day and I think our meetings were productive. It was a long day, I got back to Richmond about 13 hours after I left, but worth it.