The "Lowe-down"

So, here's the update on my first full, operational month with Lowe's: I really like my job. I've almost got a full complement of coworkers now, so things are running much smoother. I have a full time waterer, so much less is dying now, except when she has her two days off and no one waters anything. We worked out that glitch and rotate mine and Becky's days off with hers now, so one of us water when she's gone. There's another guy with a horticulture degree starting in a week or two to help me out. He's going to cover my responsibilities while I'm on maternity leave. (I already checked, he cannot be given my position while I'm away on maternity leave.) I feel like I've really stepped up to my responsibilities. I know exactly what my plant orders are doing, I'm keeping the nursery stocked, and keeping my people busy. It's kind of funny, the order of management goes from my zone manager, Scott, to my department manager, Ryan, to the team lead, Matt, to me, then to the sales associates and vendors. Most of the people in our area don't even know who Matt is. They come to me first, sometimes over Ryan. Ryan doesn't care, he'd rather they came to me and left him alone to get his other stuff done. Matt doesn't seem to want to step up to a leadership role either.

Everyone is really good to work with, albeit, there are a few quirks here and there, but that's just to be expected. The baby is making the days feel longer and it harder to do my job. My current game plan is to work through the 24th of July and then to start my maternity leave. I'm going to talk to the doctor about it as it gets closer and see what he thinks will be best. Scott and Ryan said that everything slows down after the 4th, so I'll be fine to go when I need to.