Getting Crafty

I have never considered myself a crafty person. Actually, I actively avoided anything craft-like for a very, very long time. I would rather someone else craft something for me or buy something rather than embark on the painful, frustrating process of crafting something.

However, last Christmas I was dating someone who valued handmade gifts above anything else. I decided to embark on a project for her because I knew it would be meaningful, not only because it was handmade, but because it would be the first crafted thing I'd done in about a century. Through talking with Jen I realized the root cause of my craft aversion...

Growing up with a fantastically talented artist mother I saw examples of stunning art all around me. Our house was mostly filled with her artwork and the woman is talented beyond measure (take a peek here). In addition to being an artist she's also the most talented handiworker, crafter, DIYer, project creator ever. Check out her blog. As someone not at all confident in her artistic or crafting skills and as a ruthless perfectionist who was raised to excel in all things attempted, I long ago decided that I was never going to be anywhere close to as good as her at doing any sort of handiwork so I decided why bother? In my mind I'd have an image of what my finished project should look like (something my mom could easily do) and when I got done it would look like a blind orangutan had completed it and the defeat was always crushing. So crafting became my enemy, and like all enemies of mine it ceased to exist in my mind.

While talking with Jen about this she pointed out that really the only person this was impairing was me, and maybe I ought to try DIY-ing some stuff for myself and with low expectations. I was skeptical but decided I would try it.

I decided to tackle home made snow globes in Vos water bottles. I saw the idea in a book at Barnes & Noble (can't remember which one...some photography DIY book). I also can't find any pics of my finished projects and rather than delay this post I found this person posted a blog post about them and a couple pictures. Mine were a bit different though. I decided to put pictures inside rather than random snowflakes or some other winter scene. I gave myself several weeks of time to complete the project because I knew there would be bumps and snafus along the way and I know myself well enough to know that I would get frustrated and pissed off plenty along the way and adding a time crunch would only serve to be defeating. I ended up working on the project nearly every day for 2-3 weeks! I had to make several revisions along the way as my idea translated into reality and I realized certain things wouldn't work. What I ended up doing was creating 6 snow globes. Five for my closest friends in Chico and one for Jen. I wanted to practice on my friends' globes before I attempted the most important one. The final product consisted of three pictures of the friend and I which I digitally stitched together into a long strip and some sort of friendship quote/image that I glued to the back of the strip of pictures. They turned out really nice and even though they weren't the original idea I had pictured, I was very pleased with the projects AND the experience. I got a little boost of confidence back in my skills...

But naturally, life gets busy. I didn't craft anything all spring as I was just trying to work and manage a chaotic personal life. But this summer I decided to try something new! My good friend Nandi is an amazing tie-dyer. I asked her to teach me how to tie-dye. I can vaguely remember tie-dying a shirt or two as a kid, but hadn't attempted anything else since then. For the past month I have been working on improving my skills and loving EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE. of it. I found something I could enjoy and am pretty good at it. I think one of the things I like best is that tie-dying leaves a lot of room for errors. You never exactly know what something is going to look like when it's done; it's just the nature of working withe tie-dye. I still get annoyed if I accidentally drip a dark color spot on some place it wasn't supposed to go, but I'm working on not being all fatalistic about it. It's life; move on.

This past week my mom came to visit and wanted to learn how to tie-dye. I was really nervous about teaching her. If Picasso asked you to teach him something crafty you might also feel a bit of pressure ;) To my relief it went not only well, but it was a lot of fun! She was a great student who was very attentive and asked a lot of questions and made me feel like I knew what I was doing! Whew! I'm not ready to be all gung-ho Martha Stewart, but I also don't feel like I want to slap small children when someone asks me if I want to craft something! Progress!

Some of my lovely tie-dying:

My very first tie-dye piece completed!

A onesie I made for my nephew!

Some groovy capri yoga pants I made for my sister

Reconnecting

We reconnect now

Who knows what the future holds?

Better than before

How I Looked for a Job

As I mentioned previously, I often make decisions in random spastic ways, and this pattern has usually served me well and I alluded to the fact that my new job search was somewhat similar to the way I had chosen my undergraduate university.

All is ready to be revealed because I got a job offer and I accepted! Yay, yay, yay!

So one would think that with higher and higher levels of education you would you have more choices in the world available to you. That's kind of true in some ways, but not so much in others.

You see, there's only so many places that a person with a PhD can work. And the job openings for those people don't open up often. So when you go out to look for a job your choices are somewhat limited. You go where there are job offers and that often means you have to do a nationwide search. And that's what most PhD students do.

That's mostly what I did...but with some limits. I know that the economy is bad right now and just getting A job anywhere I can should be my goal. But in the words of one wise person, homie don't play that. I really cannot be expected to move just anywhere. Besides the fact that I am generally picky about my surroundings, I have actual real-life concerns like is my family going to be discriminated against or worse, hate crimed? Why in the world would I choose to move somewhere more backwards and conservative than Indiana? And while we're at it, why do I want to live anywhere uglier than Indiana and farther away from civilization?

So I needed a plan. And here it is:

Oh how I love MS Paint

Anywhere in the "Not Even" zone would be immediately passed over for consideration. Generally speaking, these are very conservative states where my family would be in danger and/or highly undesirable places to live anyway for a multitude of reasons (ratio of city to farmland, distance from the beach, plethora of Southern twang, etc.). Now I'm sure some cities in the zone are "just lovely," but frankly no amount of convincing on the part of a native is going to convince me I would want to live anywhere in the zone. So I didn't apply anywhere where jobs were listed in this area.

I heard from a lot of people that this was a fool-hardy decision; I shouldn't limit myself so much. Well guess what? I applied for 52 jobs outside of that zone. FIFTY TWO. That's a lot. I was sure I'd get SOMETHING.

And guess what?

I did. Suck it naysayers.

And not only did I get A job in the desirable zone, I got one of my top choices in my very top zone of ideal living.

I accepted a job at California State University-Chico on Monday. My heart is singing on the highest mountain-tops. Starting this fall I will be a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Chico State. I've never been so happy in my entire life. Once again, random strategies for world domination have worked in my favor. Go me!

Validation

At home, Ange & I share the household duties. Mainly, she does the major stuff inside the house (sweeping, mopping, etc.) and I do the major stuff outside the house (run errands, most of the shopping, etc. ). Now, I know I am far from normal. And I am under the firm belief that non-normal people tend to attract other non-normal people, and in fact, mostly crazy people and crazy situations to them. I know that when I walk out the door in the morning I will get more than my fair share of crazbos trying to make my life difficult. I accept it and sometimes all I look for from my partner is a little validation. A little "sorry you had to deal with that." Usually I don't get it and instead get a list of reasons why I am probably misinterpreting the situation, overdramatizing the situation, or reasons I should give the person sympathy. Which of course I don't want to hear any of those things.

But times...they are a changin'.

My most epic struggle has been with the maroons who work in the Pharmacy at the Work Release Kroger around the corner from us. We started using this pharmacy because A. it was close to the house, B. we now have several dogs who are permanently or intermittently on drugs in addition to mine, and C. one of Ange's good friends used to work there. When I first started going there, if Ange's good friend wasn't there it always seemed like the most random ridiculousness would transpire. I would try to tell Ange about these situations but she apparently she did not want to believe that everyone besides her friend at that Kroger was a complete idiot. It was always someone else's fault, or a mistake, or I was imagining it...but never that everyone else was a nincompoop. I don't know if she was trying to stay loyal for her friend's sake or if she thought I was being my usual dramatic self, but whatever it was, I was just wrong and over-reacting.

Now here's the most delicious part: now that I am in Africa for 5 months Ange has to do everything herself. All the errands, pill picking up, grocery shopping, etc. All by herself. So now she gets to see the craziness I deal with on a regular basis. After experiencing the idiocy of the Kroger Pharmacy with her own eyes for the eleven-dy-ith time she in fact apologized for ever having doubted me. She realized they were completely incompetent and nuts. She apologized under the agreement that she never have to do "my jobs" again. I said I would be glad to resume interacting with the loonie tunes outside world under the condition that she give ME the benefit of the doubt in the future and realize that people are just plain nuts and love to torture me when all I want to do is run in and out of the store and when I bitch and moan instead of telling me why I might be wrong to say "I totally understand and I'm sorry you have to deal with that." Ladies and gentleman, we had ourselves a deal. Validation has never felt so sweet.

My Visit to the Library

Apparently if you want to confuse people just try and "hang out" in the library. Well at this University at least. I'm trying to get more exposure around the University...exposure as in people know I'm around and though always the strange white lady not so strange that they can't trust me or talk to me. Not like I'm exposing myself. Just wanted to clarify. Ok, moving on.

I thought that today I'd go to the University and "hang out" e.g. get some work done on my laptop, put myself out there as someone who is working but a part of the University community. One of the first ideas I came up with was to head to the library and park myself there and observe and be observed. Sounds simple right? Students use the library, presumably, so I'd see them and they'd see me!

Well apparently that was my first mistake.

I mention to F that I'd like to go to the library and if he could just point me in the right direction I'd be happy to wander over. Well he grabs someone who was walking by (whom he knew) and said "S please take Lindsay to the library and introduce her to the Head Librarian." Ok, no biggie. Always good to have a formal introduction. So we head to the library and head to his office. After S introduces me to his secretary and explains why I am here she goes into the Librarian's office to tell him I'm here and what I want. He calls me in and I sit down. We talk a little bit about why I'm here generally at the University and why I am here at the library. He doesn't seem to understand the concept of "hanging out" (even though I expressed it differently, because I would rarely if ever use that term here) and tells me that they do not have very many public health resources available but I am welcome to check out whatever I find interesting. He said normally he would request a letter from the President's Office to allow me to be in the library (how's that for formal?) but since he saw me at the Staff Development Training and S brought me over on behalf of the President he will assume I already have his permission. Whew. Then he tells me he is a very busy man and will not have time to be available for my needs so he is going to call the Reading Room Librarian. Thank you so much sir.

The Reading Room Librarian comes to fetch me and we go down to his office. It takes about 10 minutes of discussion for him to understand what I actually want from him (really, nothing. Just a place to "hang out!"). First he tells me I can use his private office. No, that wouldn't give me exposure. Then he tells me that discussions are not allowed in the library. Ok, that's fine. I won't have any discussions, I'll just park it and work. But he doesn't seem to think that is a great idea. He asks if I have fliers that he can pass out so people know why I'm here and they can direct people to me. Um, no, that's a little formal and I'm not quite at the stage where I want to speak with anyone specific. I just want to HANG OUT, BE SEEN, and OBSERVE! I was trying to explain the concept of "just being seen" but it took a while for him to either understand what I was really looking for or to believe that is really all I wanted. Finally he seemed to either give in or give up and brought me to the "Digital Room" which is like their computer lab in the library. Great, fine. I can get some work done. The only downside is that it is tucked back in the office area and has only 6 computers and they don't allow flash drives to be used. Sigh. The person in charge of the Digital Room however is very nice and says he can scan my flash drive (for viruses) and make an exception for me. Super. Then he realizes I have my laptop with me and says he can give me a cord so I can hook my laptop up directly. Even better.

So here I am. Only one other person has come in the room, but at least I am blogging and getting some other stuff done. It's always funny when you have these unintended cultural mix-ups/confusion. There are always things I am expecting and know I will have to work through, but sometimes they come up and bite you unintentionally and since I'm a good sport and used to this sort of thing it usually turns out fine and just gives me a good story. But for those of you who are less experienced traveling internationally, just a lesson for you to think about if you should travel abroad and find yourself in a similar situation!

The most valuable lesson I've learned (so far)...

So I went back over to Imagination Prompts to find something new to write about and after clicking through a few dumb ones, I got this question: What is the most valuable lesson you've learned in your life?

Immediately I had an answer, and even better, an answer I think is important for people to learn and consider and it's not something that's always apparent and it's often hard to do. My biggest life lesson is this: Never burn your bridges. Now we've heard that saying a million times I'm sure, but what does it really mean? I think there is the obvious, but then there are some nuances that you have to remember.

Overall Message 1: Don't be a jerk to anyone that you've had some sort of personal or professional relationship with in the past.

You never, ever will know when your paths will cross with that person again. Whether it's for a job recommendation or opportunity in the future or something else, you just never know. Even if someone has been a beast to work with or for and you really feel like saying something mean and nasty on your way out the door, it's just a better idea to be pleasant and cordial. It might feel great in the moment, but what other benefit do you get by "telling someone off?" Uh, probably nothing. If they really were a jerk, I'm willing to bet that they don't care what you think and it isn't going to change their attitude. But it will change their opinion of you. And should your name ever, ever come up you don't want the last thing they remember was how you yelled at them or said something mean/immature/spiteful. Although it's particularly important in professional relationships, I think the same can be said about personal relationships as well.

So 30 seconds on ranting might feel good for those 30 seconds (and maybe a little longer) but the ramifications can last much longer and be much more powerful than "it feels good." In my experience people who handle difficult situations well are usually admired more because they handle things gracefully. Be classy, not trashy. You don't want to be someone's "OMG, this one time" story. Usually when someone looks back in time, they don't remember the minor things, but they will remember a huge blow up. So if someone is asked about you and you haven't given them a big blow out they'll usually say something nice.

Overall Message 2: Even if it isn't a split that is dramatic make an effort to stay in touch because you'll never know when someone will be useful to you.

There are a ton of people I've met in my life that in the grand scheme of things don't matter much to my daily life. But on more than one occasion I've had something fruitful come my way because I kept in touch with, or minimally would make small talk at events with, people in my life that I pretty much thought I was "done" with. You never know when someone you thought was inconsequential has a great connection to someone you do think is consequential in your life. If you've maintained some kind of contact (email updates, small talk at social events, etc.) they will have better things to say about you and will be more willing to go that extra step for you. Again, people will remember you for the pleasant things unless you give them a reason to really remember the awful things. And it's always better for them to say "I think she's been working on X, Y, and Z," rather than "I haven't talked to her for 5 years." As much as I hate networking and schmoozing, it is one of the most valuable skills I've ever learned.

It's also helpful to really keep people up-to-date on your life in case an unknown opportunity arises. When someone is thinking "Who could I offer this to or let know about this great opportunity?" if you are salient in their mind they are more likely to call you and let you know about the great opportunity. If you haven't talked to someone in eons they may not know what you are currently doing, much less remember who you are.

Anyway, that is one of the most important things that I've learned in my life so far. Just one more pearl of wisdom to add to your stack of Lindsay's Life Lessons.

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity"

So I've been doing a lot of concept mapping this semester. I have one class that requires me to make a new concept map every week, and another class that it just helps to keep a concept map because it pertains to my overall research agenda. So as I was thinking of this blogs, a quasi-concept map just popped into my head. And now that I've just bored half of you talking about concept maps, I'll try and continue.

I've talked a lot about some of the life lessons I've learned and how people are often saying "You're so lucky!" to me about opportunities I've been fortunate to enjoy, so I thought it was appropriate to take a "big picture" view at my life up to this point.

So I set about concept mapping my (professional) life hitting the highlights and major points where I think that educationally and professionally I've seen intersections of hard work and what I am calling "God/Luck/Fate/What-have-you" or "G/L/F/W" for all of my readers from every belief orientation.

Take a gander:

Now this was really interesting to me on a variety of levels.

I first thought about doing it in response to the many, many people who are always telling me how lucky I am and how I've had so many great opportunities. I know that I have had some fantastic opportunities and there is a great amount of G/L/F/W that has come into my life, but like that great saying, "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity" I didn't just stumble into these awesome opportunities, I had to work really hard! Not that I am taking offense to anyone who has told me that, because that would silly since the people who say it are my friends and loved ones, but to me it feels just a little bit cheapened to NOT mention how much time and effort I've put in to make all of this happen.

But as I worked on my concept map I noticed something else. I noticed how three people really stood out as being absolutely essential in shaping my life. Before I go on and on about these three people, I have to of course say my parents and the rest of my family have had a big hand in shaping my life as well, but as someone said to me during a conversation on orientation "ice breaker" activities, isn't that what families are supposed to do? Sure, some people have families that totally suck and I'm sorry for those people, but in my concept of what a family is, your family is your number one cheering section. I'd be ranting about my unsupportive family if I had one, but since I don't, just be assured that they are a constant in the background and I have already and will continue to write more and more about my spectacular family (and my wonderful partner!) as my blog chugs along. So as I was working on my concept map I realized that three people have really been instrumental in shaping my life and they probably don't even realize it.

When I taught Stress Prevention & Management last year we talked about eustress and distress and how without sufficient eustress in your life you also fail to thrive because you aren't being challenged enough. Emil Nagengast is probably the first person that I met outside of my safe and cozy confines growing up in Indiana that challenged me to be a better person and put enough eustress in my life to push me to pursue goals I never thought I'd even dreamed of having. He has impacted me so profoundly that I can truly, truly say that my life would be completely different if I had not met him when I did. I've tried to tell him this on many occasions and I know he knows that I have this huge place in my heart for him, but I don't think words can really describe how grateful I am to have met him.

Another person that has greatly impacted me has been Michael Reece, my current advisor. In some ways Michael reminds me of Emil, but they are actually very different in a lot of ways too. Michael challenges me to think about research and my career in new and exciting ways. I think Michael has had an impact on me in a more indirect way than Emil and mainly it is because of their differences in personality. A lot of what I have learned from Michael has been through observation and modeling rather than direct advising and heart-to-heart conversations (which is not something we do). Michael has created the perfect space for hardworking and driven young professionals like myself to thrive and grow as researchers. I haven't yet told Michael how much of an impact he's had on me and that's mostly because I still work for him and A) both he and I hate ass-kissing and I think that any mention of how great he is would appear to be such, B) he isn't really touchy feely and would probably blow it off although secretly I think he'd enjoy hearing it...which leads me to C) he has a big enough ego already, so I'll just have to hold off on it and pepper it in every once in a while once I am graduated.

Finally, there is Mercy Obeime. Like Emil I find it hard to put into words how much this woman means to me and my life. There is a very large (and informal) "Mercy Obeime Fan Club" out there and sometimes it is so amazing to me that I can call her one of my very best friends in the whole world. It's like I am the President of the Fan Club or something. People sometimes are practically dying to get into contact with her and have her attention for a mere 5 minutes and it is a rare day when I don't talk to her via phone, email or in person. The funny thing is, she is normal and down-to-earth and wickedly funny so I forget that she's pretty much a local celebrity until I see someone going gaga over her at some public event. I guess that is how people who really are friends with celebrities feel, although I have to imagine it is slightly different because I think most celebrities are a little narcissistic and self-involved and Mercy is not AT ALL like that. Mercy has given me access to some of the most life-changing events in my life, has showed me indirectly how to be a very classy professional woman, how to live your life according to your values and dreams in a quiet yet passionate way, and overall has been an awesome friend. This short snippet doesn't do her justice, but I just can't seem to improve it right now.

This was a good exercise for me personally. It helped me to appreciate even more how well my life is shaping up. I think that when you are in the midst of something (like pursuing a PhD) you get bogged down in the everyday hassles of life so it was really good to take a step back and reflect. I'm really happy with my life and I hope I continue to stay blessed!

We're going to Africa!!!

As you know, I went to Senegal & The Gambia this past summer with my former prof/mentor/advisor Emil Nagengast and some crazy kids from Juniata College. I had a blast and think that Emil & I worked well together as a team. It was lightly alluded to that I may be asked to act as a team leader/faculty sponsor for the trip again. I mentioned it to Ange who pretty much said "YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME AGAIN SO SOON!" In addition, I will be doing my dissertation research in Nigeria next year which will mean I will be living in Nigeria for about 6 months. We flirted with the possibility of her coming with me on the Sene-Gambia trip if asked, but since no concrete offers had been made, we didn't delve too much into the topic.

So about a month or so ago, Emil sent me an email to see if I would be interested. There were some logistics to work out so it wasn't 100%, but he wanted to see if I was on board should everything work out. I said I was, but that Ange wasn't going to let me go without her and would it be possible for her to tag along? He said he didn't think it would be a problem, again, we could work out the details regarding additional cost, etc. but that basically if I was a go, she was a go. We were both brimming with anticipation, but trying to not get too excited just in case it didn't happen.

Well we finally got a hard confirmation that everything is a go! And now we're dying with excitement! I won't say who, but someone who may be a Sally Sensitive did get a little teary eyed over the news!

So we will be off to Senegal & The Gambia on December 30th and will return on January 14th. It's in the winter and slightly shorter due to Emil being on sabbatical in The Gambia for the spring semester. We'll all go together, and then I'll bring them back while he stays and waits for his family and the spring semester students to join him.

Also, did I mention we are flying through Madrid and that we have like a 10 hour layover? Which means we get to explore Madrid for a few hours between flights! How awesome is that??? We are just over the moon about this whole trip! Not only do I get to go back to Africa this year, but Ange gets to have her first international experience with me by her side! Awesome!

And I always feel like adding...this is why I've been working my butt off for so many years. Sometimes people say "Ooooh! You're so lucky!" and while I do admit that I *feel* lucky, it has taken a lot more than luck to get where I am. I busted my butt through school my whole life, went after opportunities like a crazy person, and volunteered and networked and did all that I could to get myself into the position I am now. So morale of the story to anyone out there who still has life in them...it's not too late! You can still work hard and achieve awesome, fun, cool things! Whether you are in college or much later, you can still work hard to improve your life circumstances so that you can do cool things too. You just need to be determined and work really hard. Just another Life Lesson brought to you by Lindsay. Enjoy!

Act like you know what you are doing...

And people will believe you do.

I've written about this in several previous posts, and I firmly, firmly believe it. I think it is one of the best tips I can ever give students and burgeoning professionals.

I am generally not perceived as a timid person. I'm downright sassy and give off a "know-it-all" attitude. Most of the time it is a ruse. I'm actually just a pretty good actress. I know that if my public persona is strong, most people are unwilling to test me. This comes in handy in a variety of situations:

• When you want something you technically shouldn't have access to. See "breaking into hotel rooms" and "making people give you information that they shouldn't be releasing."
• When you are trying to b.s. your way out of situation that could cause you trouble. See "forgetting an important assignment's due date" and "making up stories to get you out doing something you don't want to do."
• When you want to be in some place and you shouldn't be. See "busting into conferences where you weren't invited (or paid for)" and "hob-nobbing with people who wouldn't normally give you the time of day."

These are just a few of the scenarios that have come up in my life where the old adage "Attitude is Everything" have come in handy.

Tips for pulling it off:
First, give yourself a good pep talk before embarking. "I am awesome, and I can pull this off!" is my usual mantra.
Have a serious and determined face. If you look timid and unsure you will be busted.
Walk with purpose. Rarely will people stop you if you look like you are hauling ass because of some important, yet unknown reason. Don't run though...then you look criminal.
Speak with purpose. If you stutter and stammer you look like a liar and fake. Even if what you are saying is complete horse crap so long as it's said with force and passion most people will believe it.
Strike up a conversation with someone important. If you are walking with someone and looking engaged then people assume you're supposed to be there.
Strike up a conversation with whomever you are trying to sway. Flirtations and small talk often work wonders. Charm can get you farther than you believe.

Now I can't offer any hard and fast success rates, but I can tell you it works more often than not for me. Practice makes perfect. If you've done all of the above well and you still can't get your way, I guess it wasn't meant to be. But keep trying. Remember...persistence pays off!

Life Lesson: Be Persistent

So as I mentioned previously, the conference that we stayed an extra week for was a total bust. Very unorganized and chaotic. And definitely not worth the expense (both time and real dollars) to stay in Abuja. Our cameraman (who is working on a documentary for us...yeah we're that cool) was heading home Thursday night to go to his nephew's wedding. So I had the brilliant idea that maybe I could change my flight from Sunday to Thursday for a nominal fee. After running this stroke of brilliance past Mercy I called home and asked Ange to call Delta thinking it might be easier to change the ticket from the US. Sadly no.

Ange called me back a few hours later and said that Delta gave her some b.s. explanation about seats or something and that they could get me a guaranteed seat for the low price of $1287. Say what? My original round-trip ticket cost $1218. Why would I pay MORE to change it? In the meantime Ange looked up the phone number for Delta in Nigeria and suggested I give it a try. So I did, and they said there were no seats available. BOO. I told her to try again later, which she did, but still no avail. I resigned myself to being stuck for several more days.

Trying to be a good sport I decided to see if the conference organizer could use my skills...or at least an extra set of hands, even though she lost my reservation and I was staying at an off-site hotel. I was trying to be the bigger person. So I went to find her at the Hilton and asked how I could help. She said she'd need my help...but probably later because everything was so chaotic she couldn't think straight to give me something to do. Okkkkk. So I asked if I could have a name badge (that they had also lost my registration for) so I could at least get into the conference and see what was going on. Oh, sorry, we don't have anymore. Ok, so I can't help and I can't go in. Super.

Mercy was going to a Rotary meeting at another hotel so I was stuck. Suddenly I remembered that I had both of her passports (because she hands them over as soon as we arrive or she may very well lose them) so I meandered over to the front desk to see if I could finagle a room key from them. I told them I was her assistant (true) and I needed to get a key to her room because she was in a meeting and couldn't find her key (first part true, second part very likely true), and I needed to put something in her room (half true, I needed to put ME in her room). I showed her passports to the man and I was very quickly given a key. Genius.

I went up to the room to chill. When she called to check in I told her the story and she just cracked up. She's used to my shenanigans by now. She was also glad that I was able to get in because that meant she didn't have to come back to the Hilton to take care of me and could go on with her biz. On a lark, I decided that since I was really, really wasting time in Abuja I would try and call Delta again, just on the off chance they could come up with a seat home for me.

And wouldn't you know...they did. I had to switch planes in Dakar and fly to Atlanta but bottom line was that I was still getting home 3 and a half days early. And for only the $250 ticket change fee plus some taxes. Ecstatic over the developments I called our camera man to let him know I'd be joining him (he was excited too!) and Mercy to let her know I was abandoning her. The first thing she asked was "Are there any other flights before Sunday???" Sadly, there wasn't. But at least I got home! Saved the foundation some money, and I had a wonderful weekend at home. Worth every last naira of the $319 I paid.

Morale(s) of the story: Never take no for an answer. Always keep asking until you get what you want.

Side Morale: Act like you know what you are doing. Rarely do people question you if you act with confidence.