Peahen In a Budget Conundrum

A little peacock blue, tempered with a lot of black?  Just right for sitting in my office, scheming on how to beg for money correctly.

Theory cashmere cardigan
J Crew Cami
J Crew Minnie Pants
Naturalizer Wedges
Francesca's Earrings

Wanna hear something buh-nan-nas?  So, we might still get furloughed, looking less and less likely for the faculty though, as we're all basically furloughed the entire summer already (unpaid leave from June 15-August 15, which allows us to go do other things during the summer without it being a conflict of interest), and they have to give you 30 days notice of the furlough.  So unless they do it in the next week or two, the only time they could actually force us to take MORE unpaid leave would be in the first few weeks of school, and since the fiscal year ends September 30, we'd have to take a big chunk of several weeks all at once instead of spacing it out, which would significantly impact operations (like, say, teaching classes).  So unlikely.  However, in the recent budget deal, the school got a lump sum of money that trickled down to each department getting $25,000 to spend by the end of FY13--which is supposed to make up for the budget cuts we've had over the past 5 years.  The stupid thing, though, is that the money can't be spent on faculty salaries, faculty academic or professional travel (conferences, etc), technology updates like new computers, and a bunch of other things, as our department office manager found out when she tried to order me a trophy case.  I might still get one.  But there is all kinds of rigamarole we have to go through to determine whether furniture is authorized.  WTF.  Exactly WHAT CAN this money be spent on? Apparently the only thing that is definitely authorized is...office supplies.  So it may be $25,000 worth of paper and ink.  Classic move, government.