This year my university is taking away the faculty lunch privileges we've had since I was hired--no more free lunches in the dining hall! (It was a huge perk, even though the food wasn't always great, to NEVER have to pack or think about lunch!) Our lunches have been reduced to two per week, which is a huge bummer. I'm bracing myself for lunch-packing three days a week, and it means that I will need a mini-fridge in my office, and a microwave.
There's actually a fridge and a microwave in a lounge near my office, but they are disgusting and I can't even. (When I have needed a microwave on a few occasions, I would actually go down to the biology labs because the students are required to keep those SUPER clean.)
My office has a little nook in it that has largely been unused--I've been storing empty cardboard boxes in there and I put up a coat hook. My plan is to transform that nook to a little kitchenette with a mini fridge and a microwave and a small set of shelves for holding snacks. Anything to make the transition to bringing a lunch a little more palatable. (At least my kids' school serves them lunch so I don't have to deal with that yet.)
I nabbed that great chair at Goodwill, and I'm anxiously waiting for this heatwave to break just a little bit so that I can spray paint it. I think I'm going to try a laquer finish so it will be super shiny.
In a fit of wanting ALL THE SHINY THINGS, I also decided to upgrade my ugly black IKEA task lamp by replacing it with a little gold number from Target. Turns out a little bit of gold can make me happy at my desk!
We're having family photos taken next weekend, so I plan to frame a couple of new pictures, and I bought a thrift-store painting that I will probably put up somewhere. I have been considering getting a rug, but I think it would end up being something that I'd trip over or something that would just get filthy from other people walking on it, and I don't need the aggravation.
Now if I could just finish up my syllabi, I'd really be ready for the semester to begin!
Thankfully, we've still got free lunches at Missouri Valley! Believe me, there'd be a revolt if it was taken away...
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of new paintings you could have for your wall!
ReplyDeleteFree lunches? What the what??? And my kids' daycare does NOT serve lunch. There's a whole lot of packing around here which is a total time suck.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't handle the lunch packing year round. We have to do it in the summer - and I don't even do it, mind you. My kids do it. And it still drives me batty, and the grocery bills suck and the kids eat the same stuff all the time. It seriously drives me crazy.
DeleteI'd be fine with the no work lunches. I actually love eating leftovers, so if I had a microwave and a ref. I'd be set. Well, I do, actually. So I guess I'm set.
And good luck on the family photos - totally non-stressful, especially under an extreme heat advisory! (But ultimately worth it in the end.) Those girls are changing DAILY. I can't believe it.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on the office fridge & microwave (shudder). This is why I spent a ton of money on buying lunches over the years... I hated packing lunches anyway, and who wanted to put them in that smelly, mold-infested fridge?? I had the exact same microwave at home as we had in our office kitchen, and mine was PRISTINE. I don't think some people have ever heard of covering their plate with a piece of waxed paper or paper towel, let alone wiping up afterwards. :p We had a rotating kitchen cleanup schedule (which I found unfair, since I rarely used the kitchen...!). I kept rubber gloves and a bottle of Lysol cleaner at my desk specifically for when it was my turn, and I would go in there & scrub every surface. People were awestruck. I would tell them "IT'S NOT THAT HARD, PEOPLE!!" (Especially if you clean up right after yourself and not let it all accumulate...!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway...!! I would love to see photos of your redecorated office, when it's done!