Working From Home

After working from home on Friday to take part in a test of our technical capabilities to have the majority of staff telecommute, today was the first official day of working from home for most of the staff. There’s no way to know for sure, but I’m betting it will be for at least a couple of months.

I set up an office in my guest bedroom, complete with a dog-proof comforter on the bed for the dogs.

So far, it’s going well. All the technology is working so we’re able to have one-on-one conversations and larger meetings. It’s interesting to see everyone electronically rather than in person. It’s been a crazy couple of days as we deal with the logistics of working from home, but also reacting to the issues that COVID-19 is causing. I’m so lucky to have  the privilege to lead such an amazing team of people. I’m so proud of how well they’ve adapted and how hard they’ve worked together to make sure we can continue our work.

It’s going to be a difficult and interesting few months. We’re definitely entering a different time that is so unknown at the moment. I feel very fortunate to have a job that won’t be threatened by the economic effects of the virus… they’re going to need my skills and experience as a fundraiser now more than ever. I know that we’ll be seeing our share of challenges on the road ahead.

I have friends who are self employed and I’m worried about them. The nature of their work does not allow them to work from home. I’m hoping that they’ll be able to find a way to stay at home and stay safe.

The dogs seem to be enjoying having me home. I’m planning on taking them for a short walk each day after lunch. It’s good for them, and I need to get away from my desk. And this is such a gorgeous time of year in the Pacific Northwest.

Then we’re taking a longer walk at night. We walked 1.4 miles for lunch today and about 3.5 after work. The weather has been beautiful the last few days so it’s really wonderful to get outside.

I think having me home is going to keep the dogs on their toes for awhile. Bender was absolutely exhausted this afternoon and had a lovely little nap at my side.

Bender did have plenty of moments of activity today. I had to put up a gate to keep him out of the room during a video conference call this morning. Then he took about five minutes to pile up all these toys under my feet, hoping dearly that I would play with him.

After setting up my home office on Sunday I spent a little bit of time working on my new Aboriginal fabrics quilt.  I have enough blocks on the design wall to make a generous throw size quilt, but I’m thinking I might go ahead and extend it to a queen size quilt. But either way, I just love how this is turning out! These fabrics are so amazing, and the large blocks really show how dynamic and colorful each print is.

I’m going to call my sister in law and see if I can get her to actually tell me which size she wants. So far, she wants whatever size I want!

Thanks to everyone who is checking out my blog. Would love to hear from you at any time. I try to respond to every comment.