Shopping Lists

More than once this week, I was struck by how much of my life as an administrator now involves buying things or authorizing purchases.  Let me capture my life as an administrator through the medium of items bought:

--Yesterday I signed a purchase order for skinned cats--no, it wasn't for Halloween, but for our Vet Tech program.  There's a shortage of skinned cats, and a back order, so we may not get them for several months.  I tried not to think too much about the implications of that sentence.

--I have approved orders for a variety of office supplies.  No surprise there.

--The day after Halloween I went out to see if I could find Halloween supplies at deep discounts.  I was only successful in finding autumnal ribbon at Jo-Anns.  Our pumpkin decorating event was so successful that I stocked up for next year.

--I was surprised at how quickly Halloween left the stores.  And now it's on to Christmas--what about Veterans Day or Thanksgiving?

--Yesterday I went out for a variety of things:  small litter pans, a fake Christmas tree, materials with which to make a Veterans Day bulletin board, AA batteries, and some paper goods for our Thanksgiving meal on the Monday before Thanksgiving.

--Today or Monday, I need to order the turkeys for that Thanksgiving meal.  I had thought that Corporate might be able to order the turkeys for all the campuses, but it was not to be.

--We also started to plan for our Winter festival week.  We will buy some gingerbread house kits and leave them on tables for students to build and decorate them.  We will have hot chocolate.  We will need candy canes.

I do wonder if anyone above me will say to me at some point, "You know, we did not hire you to make holiday bulletin boards or to plan art projects."  But as long as I'm not neglecting the more academic duties--staffing classes, keeping records, making sure that students are progressing as they should--I think I'll be fine.