RD on Duty, this is Jacki!

For those of you unfamiliar with the role and responsibilities of a Residence Director, let me introduce you to the act of being on duty. Here at ASU, Residence Directors get the lovely opportunity to carry around this lovely black flip phone for a week at a time. Anytime a major incident occurs, Resident Assistants will contact the RD on Duty on this cellular device and you get to be the person in charge to assist in the situation. There are all sorts of different incidents you could be responding to. To use some wisdom from Forrest Gump - it's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Now for most new RDs, being on duty is very stressful and anxiety producing. Sometime it feels that as soon as you get the duty phone in your hands, that annoying ring that always gets stuck in your head and also the one that can give you a heart attack will go off at any moment. But most likely you'll hear the lovely ring tone around 2 o'clock in the morning. 

Since such responsibility is given to us when we are acting as the RD on Duty, there is of course, rules that must be obeyed. First we are not allowed to be more than 15 minutes away from campus. Also, we are not allowed to consume alcohol. Another is that from 5pm on Friday night until 8am Monday morning, the phone must be turned on and with you at all times. At the end of a duty week comes a certain sense of freedom and there is nothing I enjoy more than handing that devilish phone off to the next lucky RD on Duty. So you may guess that this role is a thorn in my side or the bane of my existence. However, let me set the record straight...I secretly love being on duty! Now, sometimes there are those call with really difficult situations that you'd rather not have to deal with. But most of the time, the situations you deal with are often peculiar and entertaining. And anytime ASU Police is involved, you can be sure it will be a good time. I happen to be on duty tonight and I have spent most my night shooting the breeze with some of the cops while finding a half gallon bottle of cheap liquor in a resident's room as well as roaming through the halls of my old hotel trying to find the breakers that will turn the lights back on in certain parts of my building. Sure I may be up most nights until 2am in the morning, but it's always an adventure! So now, instead of loathing the role of being the RD on Duty, I have been finding a new sense of excitement by being on duty and often catch myself humming and dancing to the ring tone!

So if you're ever in a bind, you know who to call. The RD on Duty is on your side!

My wants list

My lovely ladies here at the APH always have some of the most interesting and entertaining conversations. I usually just sit in the background and giggle about how goofy and wonderful they all are. A recent convo they had while hanging out in the hall office was their non-negotiable qualities when it comes to guys and dating. (Yes, some stereotypes we reinforce willingly. We really do make lists of what we want our guys to be like.) As always, they want me to join in the process, but for this conversation I politely declined due to employer - employee boundaries, even though the real reason was that I wasn't sure what my non-negotiable qualities were.

But that conversation stuck with me, as most do. It got me to think about a few of the things I want out of relationships. So I made my own list. And by no means do these items only pertain to a dating relationship, but these are things I want present with any form of relationship I develop. So here goes.

I want to be a risk taker and someone to take a risk on

I want to surround myself with people who want to see me become a better person no matter what trials arise and know that they'll stand by me through it all

I want to be able to say out loud what I think and what I feel without the fear that I'm saying or feeling too much 

I want to know that the people I back up, defend, support, encourage and cheer for won’t hesitate to do the same for me

I want my ability to love unconditionally be the thing that people love the most about me

So there ya have it. My "I want's" list. Nothing too extensive. The most encouraging part about these things that I want is knowing that in some relationships I have these things. The people I have this type of relationship with are the people that are nearest and dearest to my heart. I am continually thankful for their unconditional love and for being such a blessing to me! 

So maybe it is okay to make lists of non-negotiable qualities you want in relationships. I think many of us get scared of knowing what we want and being okay with holding tightly to those things. However, if those things make you a better person, I think they are worth having!

Blogging Hiatus

Realized it had been a while since I had last written. SLACKER! Please note that the hiatus is not a direct reflection of my life and should not be understood as a lack of activity, new adventures, thoughts, or random nothings. I've just been lazy and uninspired. Nothing more. Nothing less. However, it is my hope that in the near future to inform my 5 readers of my life's happenings since the beginning of July. It is sure to be riveting!

To appease your unknown desire to enter into my thought process, I will share one new personal discovery that just occurred yesterday. It is a new pet peeve. Whenever the question is asked "What is one of your pet peeves?",  I know I have multiple answers, but they all seem so general and overused. This one, I believe, is brand new. However, I feel that once I reveal said pet peeve, others will agree with such an annoyance! So here it is. What has now be proven to make my blood boil is when people, especially people in positions above me, send me an e-mail with "..." all over to replace or express emotion. The emotion is usually frustration and the sender is trying to be snarky. But to me it seen as bad form and really unprofessional. I'm sorry, if you are trying to get your point across and help me understand something, please do not lose all sense of proper sentence structure and punctuation by putting "..." after every 5 words. It's called a period. Pretty common things. USE THEM!

5 readers should also note that I triple checked this blog to make sure no "..." were used unintentionally. Welcome back to my life readers! Talk to you soon.