A "Restful" Weekend

Well, this weekend just flew by.

Yesterday was full of all kinds of chaos, not to mention he spending of a lot of money.

Let's see if I can remember the day's events in order, shall we?

So, first off it was get everyone up and moving early so we could get the LRH to the shop by 8.  Then it was grab some breakfast (I'm still not a McD's  fan...), drop Gak  off at work and then do laundry.  After  the laundry, it was over to bowling to meet up with Kat and Steph  and figure out the logistics  for the next part of the day.  This involved standing in the bitter cold and wind while loading 105 cases of Girl Scout cookies into Kat's car.  Then over to her place for grilled cheeses and tomato soup.  Steph and Billy were going up to Allentown, so picked up our other 4 cases of GF  cookies for us.

But, the day wasn't  over yet! At 2:00 it was go pay for the repairs, run through the grocery  store  for some food and then go get Gak from work.  Oh, and Boo is still at Kat's so, after picking up the red car and swinging by the apartment we still have to get a boy.

I go thud shortly after this point.

All I can say is that I'm very glad to have 2 functioning cars again.

Today we were supposed to go to Dragonhead  for Pathfinder.  Yesterday, Gak decided we needed a down day.  Especially  with how Boo has been recently.

Here's my version of a down day...

Get sourdough started at 9:30 or so the night before.
Mix and set sourdough for the first rise at about 7:00 or so in the morning after a lousy night's  sleep.
Fix some breakfast eventually and set the bread up for its second rise.
Start some chicken soup and bake the bread.
Try and nap from 11 until noon, but not really sleep.
Finish soup, including matzoh  balls by 1.  Take a shower in there as well.
Eat soup and bread for lunch.
Get the boys dressed so we can run to town to put gas in the grey  car and pick up the groceries I forgot yesterday.  Meanwhile, Gak takes Boo to try out PS3  controllers.
Come home.
Put away groceries.
Start making the chili  for dinner.
Play games with one or both boys.
Finish dinner.
Eat dinner.
Run a bath for a boy.
Play for a bit before sending a boy to bed.
Wonder what  happened  to  my restful day off.

Oh, and I'm ignoring the fact  that tomorrow  is supposed to  have crappie weather.....

So, peace to all and may you actually  have a peaceful day.

Moms and Authors

Well, I ended up crashing last night before I could write my post.  I was thinking about it all afternoon.  As I listened to my boy-o and his Amma playing I was thinking about how thankful I am that he gets to spend so much time with her.  I'm thankful for all the things my mom has done for me over the years, but it makes my heart sing to see the joy my boy and my mom bring each other.  And, it also makes me a little sad because he doesn't get that chance to be with his Nana.

This evening I'm really thankful for two people.  I'm thankful for my friend Steph.  She's been there a lot for me, especially the past several months.  Even if it's just someone to mutually gripe at and about the world with, that's been a wonderful boon.  But, through her, I have met an awesome and wonderful woman and author.  You see, she works with Lynda Gene Rymond.  She's an author and has two children's books published and several more in the pipeline.  We've been doing a monthly series this year of having women come in and talk about their careers and how they got there.  Steph asked Lynda Gene if she would come and she said yes.  And boy am I glad she did!  All three of our speakers have been quite different.  And really, they just keep getting better.  Lynda Gene had our girls rapt attention from the moment she started talking almost until the end.  She spoke to all of our hearts and souls, and I think many of the girls were hearing her on all levels.  I know she spoke to my heart, not just my head.
And following the Native tradition that is a part of her bloodline, she opened and closed her talk with a song.  I don't know about any of the girls, but I sure felt the power of it, it was quite tingly!  I doubt the girls realized the power she was invoking, but I felt it.

Anyhow, I'm so thankful to have met such a wonderful person who happens to be a fun author.  She's definitely someone I could hang with and go on fun adventures with.  There were three things that struck me tonight.  One, sometimes the universe will find a way to make you stop hiding your true talent.  Two, put everything you can into the cauldron of your imagination and let it bubble.  Three, "publishing a book is like letting a leaf go into the Grand Canyon, there is no thud".

Peace to all and may your talents shine through, your imagination bubble over and you release many leaves into the world.  And may you also have wonderful people to share it all with.

Caution: Rantage Ahead

Let's see here, it's been another month since I last posted.  Part of it is because there really isn't anything new to talk about.  Another part of it is "maybe if I don't talk about it, it'll all just go away".  And of course there's the "there's too much going on in my head to get it all out, usually at 11:00 at night when I'm trying to sleep.

Yeah.

So, I'm still unemployed.  There's a lot of frustration and rage with that.  This whole job search thing is very manic-depressive.  I'll go a week or two without hearing anything from anyone and then I'll have three phone interviews in one day followed by another week of dead air.  Yes, I'm following up.  I'm trying not to be annoying but keep pestering people, even if it's for a "no" answer.  The biggest problem?  As interesting as these jobs sound and the people seem to be great, the hours are probably just not going to work with my other obligations.  Yeah.  Balancing sucks.

And don't get me started about the state.  Back at the beginning of the month I had a "mandatory fun" meeting way, way, way down at the other end of the county.  We're talking take the turnpike to the end kind of drive.  50 miles of traffic and roadwork kind of fun.  All to sit in a "class" and be told that the state things I'm going to not find a job within the 26 weeks of unemployment I've got coming to me and they're here to help.  Yeah, I qualified for this fun because I'd had my last job 12.5 years.  The "classes" they offer to "help"?  Basic computer and word skills, resume writing and practice interviews.  Yeah, professionally reviewed (by 2 different people mind you) resume and I could probably teach the basic computer classes they offer.  Total and complete waste of time, tolls and gas money.  But I had to show up if I wanted to continue to get my unemployment benefits.  (Yes, I'm still grumpy about it.)

Oh, and then I thought I was applying for CHIP the other day for Boo to have health insurance, after checking to see if we would qualify before deciding what to do with my COBRA.  And apparently, no, I was applying for county aid and between my unemployment and Gak's salary, we make too much for that.  So I have to jump through hoops to be officially denied before they pass me on to CHIP.  (And if I want to turn the paperwork in to a person instead of mailing it, I'd have to drive all the way back down to the exact same office I was at for that useless "class".  Shoot me now.)

So, yeah, the state and county aren't my friends right now.

And you'd think being unemployed I'd have all this wonderful time to get things done.  To blog, to catch up on projects, to figure out what I want to do with my life and do some meaningful job searching.
Well, that just hasn't been the case.  The stupid state/county stuff isn't helping.  And (this is going to sound horrible, but it's not, I promise) Gak being home in the mornings means I end up spending time with him instead of doing things that need getting done.  (Note, spending quality time with my wonderful husband is important, but not all that productive in getting me a new job...)  And as much as I love my Boo boy, being a stay-at-home mom is both more and less than it's cracked up to be.  I know I've said it before, but if this is the way it had been from the start, I'm sure it would be very different now.  As is, I miss my work and my friends and adult conversations and getting out of the house and all the other annoying things I took for granted way too much.


I just want my job back.  I want my life back.  I want to be useful and productive and "me" again.


But, it's not all bad and cranky and about being jobless.  There are good things going on as well.  We had a great, if wet and muddy, camping trip with the Girl Scouts back Mother's Day weekend.  It was the service unit event this year and overall it was a good time.  There were some bumps and things in the road, but we managed to make it through.

Tonight is my last Girl Scout meeting of the school year.  Five of my girls have bridged into Seniors and will be joining the other Tuesday night troop that meets at the church.  I'll miss them.  One of my girls will be moving to California after the school year.  I'll miss her too.  But, 20 girls has been a lot.  Fourteen or fifteen would be nice.  But, I'm not about to turn away a girl.  I'm not that kind of leader.

Last week I got to see both my brother and Becca.  They made a whirlwind trip of a slightly long weekend out here.  We were supposed to go to the beach with them last Sunday, but the weather was icky.  Instead, they came up Monday afternoon and we spent the afternoon together.  I'm very glad I got to see them.  I miss them horribly.  I really wish we could afford to travel to OK and to CA every now and again.  There is so much family we need to visit.

Anyhow, I need to get things rolling.  Boo turns five (yes, you read that right, 5) on Saturday and there's a lot of stuff to get ready for his party and the family dinner on Saturday.

Peace to all and may your life not be filled with frustration and the good outweigh the bad.

Enough With the Drama Already

7So many things running through my head right now.  I'll try and keep this brief and have it make some kind of sense.  When I say it's been a hell of a couple of weeks, I really mean it.

But, first things first.  I can't escape today without remembering that today would have been Gram's 90th birthday.  She's been gone just over 5 years and I still miss her on a regular basis.  She would have enjoyed Boo so very much, and I would have loved to watch them be together.

So, I guess I should recap the last two weeks.  It's been a rough ride.

Work has had it's own set of challenges and they look like they might continue another few weeks.  I'm not looking forward to that.  I also went to Texas the week before last.  Originally I was supposed to go the week Boo got sick, but I was able to change it to the next week.  Also, I originally was going to do some training, run a few reports and be on my merry way.  Instead, it was run the reports and spend about 12 hours all told doing work that I would have done from the office, but was actually going to be easier on site.  Of course, I still had stuff to clean up once I got back to the office.  And I will never, ever if at all possible put a 6 or 7 hour day in on site and then catch a flight home... My day on site started at about 8 am Eastern and ended at 2 am Eastern the next day when I finally got home.  Of course, I couldn't get to sleep right away I was so exhausted.
The best part of that day, when I got home I went into Boo's room to see him and as I was standing there, he woke up, sleepily saying "Momma??.... Momma!!" and we got to snuggle for a bit.  I think it did both of us well.  Of course, Gak enjoyed me being home again as well.  Thankfully I don't have to travel anywhere near like I used to.  I may end up traveling once a quarter or so.  That shouldn't be too bad and will be both nice and tough at the same time.

I had much more to say about the trip at the time, but I just didn't get around to writing it, and now it seems pointless or silly.  So, I'll skip it.

The other big challenge is what Gak has termed "Cookiegate".  Yeah.  Cookie Sales this year got off to a very rough start and I ended up having to "fire" my Cookie Mom about two weeks in.  Yes, there are several things I could have done better.  Yes, some days our troop meetings are quite chaotic and seem like there is no control.  But, like I've told every parent several times and all the girls, this is the girls' troop and I need their help and input into what we do.  Also, as wonderful as badges are, they're not the end-all, be-all of Girl Scouts and they're all more than welcome to work on as many badges as they want on their own time, or even suggest badges for us to work on at meeting times.  Since they haven't, I've muddled my way through the Breathe Journey (trust me, it's not fun...) and have tried to use troop time for enjoyable activities and things that I hope will teach them something vaguely useful in life.  And yes, I let them have a bit of crazy time at the beginning and end of meetings, but these girls' lives are so structured and scheduled that they need some downtime.  Girl Scouts should not be "school day number 2" but an enjoyable activity that they want to participate in.
Thankfully, there is a light at the end of this tunnel.  There are a few more tasks I have to complete and then it should be smooth sailing for the rest of the sale.  Or so I hope.  And actually, all the parents I've talked to were at the very least relieved that I had taken it back over if not downright thrilled because the original cookie mom had upset them so much and frustrated them.

The bright spot in all this drama and angst, Boo is quite healthy now.  Monday he had his 2-week followup appointment with his doctor and she pronounced him fit as can be.  He still has a cough every now and again, but just a random cough, not an all the time kind of thing.  Within about 2 days of being on the antibiotics he was back to full steam ahead.  And it wasn't the flu he had on top of the pneumonia, but RSV. Same course of treatment at that point, just different virus.  And of course, I came down with strep/upper respiratory infection again that Wednesday thank to no sleep and all the stress and got myself a Z-pack.  I'm not sure it really helped, but I am feeling much better now and only have my normal levels of winter ick going on.  So, yeah, my health didn't help with all the other drama going on.

But, I'm going to wrap this up here.  Things are going well on the health front for the most part.  Gak has a cold again, or at least a very annoying dry cough that started a few days ago.  Work is work and we'll muddle our way through for now.  Cookies and Girl Scouts seem to be heading for smoother waters.  Hopefully February will be much smoother and more fun than January was.

Peace to all and may your health be good and the drama only on TV or the stage....

Help

Well, I guess I should come up with two things I'm thankful for today, since I didn't get a post in yesterday.

Well, yesterday is easy!  I'm super thankful for the other leaders and moms who help out with my troop.  Without them and their support, I'd be sunk.  Especially since we're up to 22 registered girls!  Last night was a good night.  Kathy, Scott and the American Legion riders are doing a run to a local Vet's hospital to visit vets staying there over the holidays on the 24th.  They're taking donations of clothes and toiletries and coats and the like.  So, I had my girls make cards to send along as well as making some nice, warm, no-sew fleece scarves.  They really weren't anything difficult or extraordinary (other than the fact that we were actually making them) but the compliments I got from the two leaders helping about them and how creative I am and how fun everything we do is, really kinda floored me.  Trust me, some of the things we've done have been so last minute it hasn't even been funny.  (Thankfully I have an extra week to come up with what I'm doing for the next part of our "Breathe" Journey... I'm so not liking this whole journey thing...)

For today, I think I'm going to have to be a little selfish.  Well, maybe that's not the right word, but it'll work.

Anyhow, if you remember back to two years ago in June, I posted a piece about some things I'd been working on, including a very special blanket and shawl for two very special people.  I also included the note that went with the gifts.  And you may remember that I posted about Ron's passing as well.  I had shared the letter I sent to Ron and his wife Beverly (whom I've become friendly with over the last two years) with another friend from work.  To make  a long, and probably confusing to anyone but me, story a bit shorter, this friend, Debbie is fighting esophageal cancer.  She fought it off just about 3 years ago.  But, it's back.  And there is nothing they can do to stop it or fix it.  But that's not what this is about.
No, this is about how people sharing their thoughts can tie people together.  This is about how Debbie took the heart of what I wrote to Ron and Beverly as well as thoughts from others she has talked with about prayer shawls and the like and created her own thing of beauty.  She was asked to talk to her church about why she became a member there and why she stays a member there.  The heart of it all boils down to that she realizes she sees that, and feels like, her church is one giant prayer shawl.  That all the people are the individual stitches and that while sometimes it may be a bit messy up close and personal, on the whole it is a beautiful and comforting thing that is stronger than it's parts.  She was so worried about using what I said word for word.  I told her not to worry about it.  If my words could help her say what she felt in her heart, than it was I who was honored and privileged to have given her what she needed.
She sent me a copy of what she'd written (even though she ended up saying it a bit differently at the time) for her congregation.  It was beautiful and made me cry.  And again, it made me thankful that I could put the words together that she (and Beverly and Ron, they wrote me a note telling me so) needed to hear.  I'm thankful that every now and again I get it right.  I'm thankful that I can share what is in my heart and that it can be heard by people who need it and understand it.

So, yes, today I'm a little bit selfish.  Today I'm thankful that I could find the words that were needed.

Peace to all and may you both have the help you need, and be able to give the help that's needed.

Votes and Help

I have two very different things that I'm thankful for today.

First, the obvious one.  I'm thankful that I get the chance to voice my opinion through my vote every four years to elect our President.  Does my candidate always win?  Nope.  Do I voice my opinion?  Yep.  I'm not holing my breath on this one being over tomorrow.  There's just too much bitterness and divisiveness in the country right now that this won't go down without a legal battle or three.

But, on the smaller, closer to home front, I am so very thankful for my co-leaders and the other parents who help out with my girls.  Tonight we had our "make up" Halloween party that got crashed by Sandy last week.  From what I can tell, everyone had fun.  There were only a few minor misadventures along the way (like not being able to get either oven to light, but plan "B" worked).  I had three people keeping the girls busy with crafty stuff and Kat and I tried to get the girls through the kitchen and cooking as quick as we could.  We still ran extra late tonight.  I feel kinda bad about it.  We had two new girls, and the one mom made me feel like I was totally incompetent because the girls were running amuck like they always do at the beginning of the meeting.  Hey, I'm not a very formal (or really all that strict) leader.  This isn't school.  They don't have to sit in desks and be quiet and study and listen to lectures.  Sure, we may have someone in to talk to us now and again.  We may try and do organized activities.  But, the adventures we have going places, learning things and exploring is what this is all about.  The badges and awards we can earn along the way are the icing on the cake.  And from what I've seen and heard from a some of the girls coming to me from other troops, there are leaders out there who give Mrs. Tanenbaum, my 4th grade Language Arts teacher a run for her money in the strict and overbearing department.  (Sorry Mom and Jon, didn't mean to bring up bad memories of a horrible teacher...)

Anyhow, back to being thankful.  Without all the other women there tonight it would have been a royal disaster.  It was one thing for me and one other adult to run a meeting when there were only four or five girls at any meeting.  But tonight, I think we had 19.  And with two new girls who couldn't come this week, a Rachel who is mostly inactive and one girl who I'm just not sure if she's joining or not, I think we're up to 21 or 22 all told.  Yep, lots and lots of girls.  I really couldn't do this without the other women (and the dads who help out too!).

So, I'm thankful for my voice (even if it doesn't always seem like it's heard) in government, but closer to home, I'm very, very thankful for all the wonderful women helping me heard cats, er, lead our girls on these awesome adventures.

Peace to all and may you have all the help, and more, that you need, and a voice to use.

Frustrated

First things first, my girls and I had a great time at the Halloween Parade on Sunday.  Boo had a great time handing out candy to kids and just being cute in general.  I'm having a lot of fun with the girls this year (not that last year wasn't fun, but this is a different kind of fun with four times the number of girls...).

But....
I have to rant and rave and just scream and pout and whine.  This has nothing to do with my girls or Girl Scouts or anything along those lines, I just wanted to share that yesterday was a great day.  We walked a good couple of miles and the day was beautiful.

But... today I'm tired.  And I'm cold.  Scratch that, I'm not even really all that mentally tired, just tired enough that simple things are pushing my buttons and I couldn't focus worth a damn at work today.  I'm physically more tired than I ever should be for the amount of low-key walking we did.  I'm freaking freezing cold.  Gak is sitting here in shorts and a t-shirt (and complaining he's warm) and I'm in jeans and a sweatshirt and I'm still freaking freezing.  And hot at the same time.
I just don't get it.

I'm sick and tired of being so flipping worn out all the time.  I'm tired of not having the energy to do what I want to do.  To not have the energy to make it through a day of work and come home and play and have fun with my boy-o without wishing we could just curl up in front of the TV or something.  I hate not being able to focus on much of anything for more than a short time without getting distracted or frustrated because I've lost my train of thought.  I'm so sick of feeling freezing cold and the only way to feel warm is to stand in the shower and waste so much hot water.  And even then my skin feels warm, my inside feels warm but I still feel cold if that makes sense.  I'm tired of feeling hot and cold at the same time.

And I'm totally frustrated by my doctor.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Dr. F.  She's been great and listened to me when I first came to her complaining of exhaustion and achyness and general ugh.  She's the one who sent me for such thorough blood work that I felt like I should have just donated a whole unit instead.  But... at my 4-month follow-up she wasn't overly helpful.  Sure, I don't feel anywhere near as bad as I did back in May.  But as I've whined a few times here, my energy level just isn't anywhere near where it was a year ago, or even at the beginning of the year.  I'd say my old energy level used to be around a 7 or 8 out of 10 most days, meaning that I could keep up with Boo if I tried hard enough and I had more than enough energy and attention span to make it through work without too much difficulty.  (My difficulty staying on task last year had very little to do with being exhausted, but just feeling kidna stuck and out of sorts with the job in general... I'm more or less over that, but just can't get through a day it seems...)  Now, if I'm lucky I'm around a 5 or a 6, but probably hover somewhere around a 4.  Back in the spring I would have said I was around a 2 or a 3 for energy.
So, yeah, I don't have the energy I did.
And I want it back.
I want to drop the 15 or so pounds that I picked back up over the summer because the  office snacking has totally gotten out of hand again and I haven't been able to get out of my own way enough to swim more than once a week, let alone get any other real activity in.

And then when I do, like yesterday, I pay for it so badly the next day that it really wasn't worth it.  And all I freaking did was walk in a parade that was around 2 miles long all told, if that (my pedometer app wasn't playing nice yesterday and I didn't map it on Google... just guessing here...)

And what's worse, is that I end up taking it out on the poor innocents.  I grumble and fuss and Gak ends up ignoring me and leaving me alone because I'm in no mood to be fit company.  He wants to do things with me, but he doesn't want to make me feel like I have to, so he just leaves me totally alone.  Which makes me sad. He shouldn't have to feel like I can't be approached with a 10 foot pole.  I shouldn't feel like I have to decide between doing what I want (playing RIFT or something like that with him, enjoying some together time) or what my body says I should do..... And I think I owe Boo about 15 apologies, just for tonight..

Anyhow, back to being frustrated by my doc.  Like I said, she's wonderful, but my appointment last week wasn't very helpful.  I told her my energy still wasn't where it was.  That I was still feeling cold a lot.  She asked me if I still had the muscle and joint aches, and I said no, because I don't.  She asked if I was feeling any depression or anxiety, and I said no, just frustration at my lack of energy and that it's been keeping me from exercising and hasn't helped to keep me from gaining 10 or 15 lb back since the spring.  She said that my vitamin D levels were in the normal range back when I had it retested in August and that chasing a kiddo like Boo around was bound to cause an energy drop and that vitamin D levels don't jump back up right away and we'll check again in December to see if they've stabilized.  Yep, she wasn't listening last week.  I really don't want to have to wait until December for more blood work.  I don't want to have to wait until April for my next follow up appointment.
I wonder why seemingly so suddenly my energy levels headed to the basement.  I don't want to be taking my multi-vitamin and an additional 2000 units of D for the rest of my life.  I want to feel like I have answers and reasons for why I feel the way I feel.

So, I'm frustrated.  And I'm tired.  And I had a Monday of a Monday and couldn't focus on a damn thing past 10:00.  And I've been freezing all afternoon.

On the plus side, Boo and Amma made chocolate chip cookies again today.  (Which is something I both needed and didn't need at the same time.... but the apartment smells soooo good...)

Oh, and then Mom had to give me an update on Dad.  It's breaking my heart.  And there's nothing I can do about it.  And I'm just not thinking about it right now because I've decided to spend this evening wallowing in self pity and ranting about my own personal problems.  But, yeah, not a great news day.  I'm tired and frustrated and just want it all to stop being so crappy.

I promise I'll try and post more "real" posts like the notes one.  I'll try not to wallow in self pity too much, but tonight I just needed to rant.  So, now I'm off to soak away the day in the shower and curl up with a book.  (My crochet project I'm working on is at a tricky spot and I just don't have the concentration for it right this second...)

Peace to all and may your energy be high, your health good and your  life filled with only small frustrations.

Ack!

Ack!  Where has the week gone?  It's Wednesday already and I have no idea where the week has gone.
Oh, that's right, I've been struck by the first head cold of the season... and hopefully my only one.  Thanks Boo!  I really do love you for this, really.  (Boo was sniffly all weekend, and still is a bit, and I just thought it was seasonal allergy type sniffles.  Nope, Gak and I are both hit with varying degrees of head cold...)

OK, so the important stuff all happened this weekend.

Saturday morning we went to bowling, only to find out that bumper league isn't starting until the end of the month.  That's OK, we got to hang out with the big kids and watch them bowl.  Boo and I also bowled one game.  I got a 134, but that was mostly dumb luck and slightly assisted by bumpers.  (Most of my spares and one of my two strikes were legit, most of the time if I bounced off the bumper I missed anyhow...)  Boo managed a 71.  According to him, he won because 7 is bigger than 1... Guess we have to work on math a bit...
After bowling was lunch and then home for nap time.  After nap time it was time to pick up Daddy and we went to BJ's to pick up some drinks and stuff for the picnic Sunday and some stuff for the house.  Then it was home for dinner and Dr. Who.  All I have to say is: Dinosaurs!  On a spaceship!  Great episode.

Sunday was filled with all kinds of errands and running around.  There was breakfast to be eaten, groceries to be shopped for and laundry to be done.  Then there was some other odd and end things that needed doing all in getting ready for the picnic.

The Girl Scout picnic went great.  I made up 20 folders with registration information in i, I came home with three, and there were a few girls missing that I know will be coming.  So, yeah, it looks like 17 or so will actually be in my troop.  Unfortunately, I didn't get as much time talking with the girls as I'd hoped, but they all had plenty of time to hang out and play at the playground together and get to know each other.  Several already know one or more girls in the troop, but this way they got a chance to hang with everyone without too much leader interference, which is important.  I've got lots of parents ready and willing to help, I just need to tell them what I need.  I can do that.

This week has been kinda ugh.  That's the best way I can put it.  I started feeling icky Monday afternoon and by yesterday morning I was in full fledged ick mode.  Today was a bit better, but I didn't feel up to riding my bike this afternoon, which really stinks.  The weather has been so beautiful this week that it would be perfect for riding.  Oh well, maybe Friday.

Tomorrow is my company picnic and Boo's school pictures.  Oh boy!  It's also my first leader meeting of the year.  Ugh.  I have a love/hate relationship with them.  Love them because I'm actually involved with Scouts, hate them because... well... I've attended less painful meetings at work.  And most of those are pretty painful.  Hopefully I won't fall asleep or anything silly.

This weekend is going to be a good one.  I actually get to see three friends of mine from college who I haven't seen in ages.  And we're going to AC overnight.  Yep, I'm going away overnight again without my boy-o.  Or his daddy.  (Gak and I have got to get an overnight away just the two of us, we're trying to make it happen in November...)

I know, I know, I promise (or maybe that's threatened) a crafty girl post a while back.  I haven't sorted through the photos and I haven't taken photos of a lot of things... so it'll have to wait.  That and I can't seem to stop starting new things... I just started yet another project tonight.  At least that one should be quick and easy.  And one of my other projects should be wrapped up in another 10 rounds or so... but of course, that means each round will take longer than the last as it keeps getting bigger.  Oh well.  At least I have plenty to keep my occupied!

I'm off to stand in the shower and dope myself into a Benedryl induced haze...

Peace to all and may your sinuses be clear and your weeks good.

Rock The Mall

Well, it's 9:00 already.  I was going to spend the evening writing up the detailed story of our trip to Washington, DC and Rock the Mall.  That's not going to happen. So, I'll leave with you a few pictures and a brief description.

We left the church around 7:40 in the morning.  The drive down was pretty uneventful, even if two of us totally forgot to stop at the planned rest stop.  We got on the Metro at the Greenbelt station.  Along with almost an entire train full of girls and leaders and other people.  I feel sorry for anyone who thought they'd just catch the Metro and head into DC on a whim or were going about their normal Saturday routines.  The Girl Scouts totally took over the Metro. There was singing and swapping and story sharing.  We rode with a troop from Dover, DE.

We arrived at Smithsonian station right about noon.  There was a nice shady tree right near the exit from the Metro station that no other troop had taken over, so we did in order to have lunch.  We also borrowed the facilities at the Freer Gallery for a potty break.

You should have seen the masses of girls that had taken over the Mall and were steadily heading towards the Washington Monument.  It was like a sea of girls and leaders.  It was impressive just in it's own rights.  We joined in the migration and headed off towards the Washington Monument and the main event.

We never did get close enough to either stage to actually sing along, but we had so much fun talking to other girls we met wandering around and heading in the general direction of the stage.  I think the person from the furthest away that I talked to was from Arizona.  I saw someone carrying an Alaska flag.

We got to the other side of the Washington Monument ellipse because Rachel saw the fire trucks and just had to go up closer.  So, we were on hand to watch the telesquirt rise into the air and get ready to shower the people with water to cool them off. It was a lot of fun.  Liz did get separated from us for a few minutes, but we found her pretty quickly.

Since we couldn't get near the stage and it was already just about 2:30, we wandered through the WWII memorial for a bit.  The best part was that there was a Hero Flight chapter there with about two dozen or so veterans.  We were able to talk to and thank every one of them.  That was just as moving, for very different reasons, than seeing so many gathered to celebrate the wonderful thing that is the 100th birthday of Girl Scouts.

We were smart and didn't want to fight our way up the Mall to the Smithsonian Station, we walked a dozen or so blocks to a different station that was on K street.  We easily got onto a train and even made it with little fuss onto a car heading back to Greenbelt.  Once we got there, we used one of the GPS units to find a place nearby to eat.  We end up at the Silver Diner.  I could probably write an entire blog post on how awesome a diner it is.  But I won't, because as you can see, I've rambled on way longer than I intended.  Needless to say after dinner we headed back up 95 and home.  Boo and I got dropped off at about 11:15 or so.

It was a full day, and a fun day.  I'm very glad we did it, but I really don't need to be around that many people any time again soon.

Oh, and I've been doing Photo A Day June, they've all been posted on G+.  I'll do a more in-depth photo update tomorrow.

So, until then, I"ll leave you with these pictures from Rock the Mall.
Peace to all and may your adventures be fun and your weekends wonderful.

GS Camping

Well, I have survived my first camping trip as a Girl Scout leader, as opposed to a Girl Scout.  I guess in a way it wasn't really my first as a leader if you count the two summers I worked at Tohi, but I was never the councilor in charge...

But, I digress.  We really did have a great time over all.  Sure, there was the normal teenage drama and at the time it was driving me totally nuts, but I'm over it now that I've had a chance to sleep.

The original plan was for Steph, Billy, Rachel, Zoe and Kat to head up Friday after we finished laundry and shopping.  Well, they were calling for some pretty bad storms to roll through that night.  Kat called Knoebel's and managed to change our reservation for two night and one site to two sites for one night.

Saturday morning the Kat and Steph contingent left around 9:00 and I met the girls and Mrs. D at the church and left around 9:45.  We all made it up to the campground around noon.  After setting up the last of the tents and wolfing down some lunch, we all head into the park.  We all had a good time riding on rides.  I even got to ride on some bigger people rides!  Yes, I actually got to ride the Phoenix.  I love that coaster!

Anyhow, after enjoying the rides until shortly after 6:00 we manage to cook dinner with only a little drama and no one getting hurt.  I managed to get about half the girls hooked on banana boats for dessert.  We got to watch the beautiful huge full moon rise over the ridge.

As usual, I was the first one to bed and the first one up.  Actually, Boo was the first one to bed.  I was so impressed, and a little sad too.  He and Billy shared a tent.  He only got up once when I tried to put him to bed and he and Billy did great.  Boo was soooo excited to be sharing a tent with Billy. *cry* My baby boy is growing up. *pout*  (On the plus side, he did awesome with the potty all weekend.  I'll gladly take that part of growing up!)

Sunday breakfast went fairly well other than the fact that, as usual, the camp stove wouldn't light for me.  I managed to cook most of breakfast over a small fire (we were trying to hoard firewood so we wouldn't have to get more...).  The girls all enjoyed it and we managed to get camp tore down and all but packed in the cars by 10:30!  We headed down to the park a bit after 11, and the rides opened at about noon.  We got about an hour or so of rides in.  Steph, the boys and I headed back up to the site before everyone else to get lunch going.  We actually managed to get lunch fixed and cleaned up in record time and were only about 20 or 30 minutes later in leaving than I thought we might be.  Thankfully, with the advent of cellphones, I had promised the parents their girls would call them before we left so that they'd have a better idea of when we were going to get back.  That way, if we were running late or early, no one would be sitting in a parking lot too long.

I had an enjoyable ride back, since about 15 minutes into the ride all four of my passengers fell asleep.  Yes, Boo actually fell asleep in the car with three girls who thought he was the cutest thing since sliced bread. (Or something like that...)

So, while there was a good bit of drama now and again in the down times, it really wasn't more than should be expected from the age group.  I have such a wonderfully diverse group of girls.  They all bring something unique to the table.  They all have very different strengths, weaknesses and strong personalities.  I really want to foster their sense of individuality while encouraging them to respect each other's differences and learn to work with a diverse group.  And if we manage to earn a bunch of badges in the process, that'll be icing on the cake.  It's hard to measure the real learning that goes on in these groups.

Anyhow, I've been fiddling with this long enough.  The picture at the top are the 7 girls we had with us over the weekend.  They're all wonderfully unique and great girls.  Sometimes they drive me totally insane, but I really wouldn't trade any of them.  Well, at least not forever...

Peace to all and may your camping adventures have dry weather and lots of fun.

Adventures

Well, so much for getting May off to a great blogging start.  Didn't happen.  It is a combination of not much happening and not much to say in general.

Work was work this week.  It was a bit of a challenge to keep plowing through, but I managed to have an OK week.  The bright spot was that I had a half-day vacation day yesterday.

Yep, I actually took a half a vacation day.  Of course, I didn't get to totally just goof off.  Nope, it was so Kat and I could get ready for our camping overnight today.  I'm sure I mentioned it before, but today is Scout Day at Knoebel's and we're taking the troop.  We're also going camping overnight.  We decided on only one night for a variety of reasons.  I'm kinda glad we did.  Sure, I'd love to have gone for the entire weekend, but with my schedule as it is, I would have had to take an entire vacation day yesterday just so we could leave at a decent time yesterday!

So, yesterday afternoon was laundry and running around with Kat buying groceries for the trip and more laundry and more groceries and getting a boy-o from daycare in there somewhere as well.  I think we're just about ready to roll.

And yes, I'm glad we didn't go last night because there was a pretty strong string of thunderstorms that rolled through last night.  I wouldn't really want to spend the next two days damp.  Yes, I'm a wuss these days, but I've done my fair share of camping in the wet.  Remember our trip to DC last August?  Yeah.  (I'm sure I'll do my fair share of camping in the wet yet to come, I'm just glad when I don't have to! *laugh*)

Last night was also the night we picked up Boo's soccer uniform.  Yep, that's right, Boo wanted to play soccer this summer.  Actually, I asked if he wanted to play and he said "Ok!".  His team is the Huston Dynamo and their uniforms are bright orange shirts and black shorts.  I'm sure he'll be adorable in it and you know I'll be posting pictures.  We didn't get pictures last night, but I will.  His first "game" is supposed to be today, but he won't be there because of our trip and the fact that Gak has to work.  It's OK, it's only 4-5 year-old intermurrals, not high-school travel team soccer.  If he enjoys this season, we'll see if he wants to play again, if not, I still say it'll be a well spent $90, just for the exposure and the chance to try.  (Actually, it's only $65 because I get $25 back in Red Robin gift cards, and it's not like we don't enjoy eating there to begin with...)

So, I have an awake boy and last minute things to get done, like breakfast.  Oh, I did upload the rest of the April photos to Flickr, including Zoe's party last Saturday.  Enjoy!

Peace to all and may your camping adventures be fun!

Missed Musings

Well, I have a handful of things I could have posted about over the last few days, but I missed them.  Even though their moment has passed, I'll highlight them anyhow.

*Sunday the weather became truly gorgeous.  Boo and I took a nice long walk in the afternoon.  We walked all the way to the park, stopping to talk for a moment to Michael from the Laundromat who was out for a ride on his bike.  We played on the playground a bit, and then Boo said he was thirsty.  The water fountain wasn't on yet, and the ice cream place a block or two away opens this weekend, not last weekend.  So, we start heading home.  We have to pass right by my friends Ali and Dave's house, so we decided to see if they were home.  They were along with the kids.  Boo had fun playing with the kids while Ali, Dave and I hung out for a few before finishing our walk home.

*Monday was a special day.  Monday was the actual 100th anniversary of the first Girl Scout meeting.  To celebrate I wore my membership pins to work.

*I also dug the bike out of the basement storage locker and got the tires pumped up.  (Boo had only been asking about the bike for a few weeks...)  Boo and I managed about a 10 or 15 minute short ride.  It was nice.  We came across Jen and John and stopped and talked with them for a few.

*Yesterday was mostly uneventful, we had our weekly Girl Scout meeting and it was fun.  We wrapped up a few things and talked about a few more things and overall had an enjoyable hour or so.

*Today is the first day this year that I was able to pick Boo up on the bike.  He was quite happy to see the bike.  We took a little ride and then ended up at the park again.  One of the girls from his daycare was there and they enjoyed playing together for about half an hour or so.  We then took a round about way home before picking up Gak from work.  Let me tell you, riding uses different leg muscles than swimming... I really feel it in my inner thighs and my knees were really feeling the pressure of peddling.  But, I really enjoyed it and I've missed my bike all winter.  I just hope the warm weather is here to stay.

Anyhow, that's the bullet item list of what's been going on the past few days.  Tomorrow I have a pot-luck lunch at work.  That should be yummy.  We've got errands to run after work and we'll see what's going on.  Friday I hopefully will be able to pick the boy-o up on the bike again.  I'm not really sure what's going on this weekend.  Gak and I thought about going out Saturday evening, but our babysitter has a bowling tournament all day Saturday.  Mom has her next doctor's appointment to follow up on her knee tomorrow and she hopes to be opening the business back up Friday or Saturday.  She probably won't start coming back up here on Mondays until April.  All I know is that Boo can't wait for that and I'm sure Amma can't either.

So, I'm going to wrap this up here and hope that I can do better with keeping up with this in the future.  I've got a few odds and ends bumping around in my brain, but nothing worth putting on to paper, virtual or otherwise.  You'll know if I ever get it sorted out.

Peace to all and may your lives be full.

Even Keel

Well, here it is, the 9th of March and I still haven't blogged since the last day of February.  Yep, slacking off again.

I would say it's because I've been busy having adventures, but that's not the case.
I would say it's because I've been sick, but that's thankfully not the case.
I would say it's because work's been a bear, which it has, but not enough of a bear to keep me from writing.

Nope, I just haven't bothered to write.  I've had ideas flitter and fly through my head but they've either all been too fast for me to catch them and hold them still long enough to explore them and write about them, or they taunt me when I'm not near my computer (like when I'm driving home) and then have abandoned me by the time I do get a chance to sit down and write.  Or, I'll be too tired or distracted or just not in the right mood to write.

I guess Ill write a few updates of what's going on in my little world lately.

You know about the car.  I'm just so thankful that it only cost us $80 to fix.  I can handle that.  I don't like it, but I can handle it.

I didn't write about the Girl Scout birthday party that my service unit held back on the 25th.  It was a lot of fun, a lot of chaos and a very long day.  Overall, I'd call it a good day.  There were some logistical issues, but I kinda expect that when there are 250+ girls and the assorted adults needed to run something like this.  My girls had fun over all though and it was a good day.  There are pictures up on Facebook posted by the Bucks County Free Press.  Some of my girls are in some of the pictures.

Girl Scout cookies is all but over for me and my girls.  I turn in the final paperwork to Loretta this evening when I pick up Boo from school.  (It's very convenient the fact that she's both the older girl coordinator and the SU cookie coordinator and runs my son's daycare... of course, that's how I ended up in this "mess" in the first place!)  We still have 26 boxes that we need to figure out what we're doing with.  We'll hang on to a few boxes for snacks for our upcoming trips.  We're trying to get the rest sold.  But, overall for my first year doing this I'll take 26 boxes.  (I traded in about 10 extra cases throughout the last part of the sale once I realized I'd picked up too many my third pickup...)

I do have another addition to my troop.  I just got a 7th grader who just didn't quite work with her other troop. She seems like she'll be a good fit with my girls though.  I'm sure we'll have fun.

We've got two trips coming up that will be a lot of fun.  I'll post more about those later.  I'm looking forward to the trips.  Not so much the planning, but the trips themselves.  I'm trying to get the girls involved, but it may actually make things a bit harder.  We shall see.  (I know I'll be making some executive decisions along the way... but that's my job as leader.  I get final say.)

Work has been work.  I'm mostly just muddling my way through the last few weeks.  I know it'll catch up to me in the long run, but I'm just trying to make it through at this point.

Boo continues to grow like a weed and be a very stubborn little boy.  Last Saturday we actually had an awesome potty training day.  He stayed dry until the evening when we were out and about.  So, I really can't complain.  Sunday, on the other hand, forget it.  He'll have a random great day where we think he's finally getting it and finally willing to play the game and then the next day he just doesn't care.  Even with peanut M&Ms as bribes!  (And trust me, this boy loves his chocolate as much as his daddy and I do...)  You'd think because we just don't keep candy in the house that being able to earn up to 4 peanut M&Ms at a shot just for using the potty would seem like an awesome thing.  Apparently only on some days.  *shrug*

On the other hand, Boo has become fascinated with lightsabers.  Gak's been playing the new Star Wars MMO and Boo's been watching.  It is cute to watch him brandish his toy spatula or ladle making the appropriate wzzt...zzzt sounds.  He will gladly tell you the blue and green are the good guys and red are bad guys.  (He usually has a green one, but red is actually his favorite color so that makes this tough...)  We finally got the DVDs from Mom last weekend and we watched Star Wars A New Hope with him Sunday.  We've also promised him his own lightsaber once he starts using the potty all the time.  It may work as this is the first bribe he's actually reminded me of... Again, we will see and I know it'll be on his terms. *sigh* I really wish this was as easy as just giving him a cup instead of a bottle... oh well.

Other than that, life is pretty much the same around here for the most part.  We go to work and school.  We hang out.  I go to Girl Scouts.  Gak and the guys try and figure out when they're going to get together to play Warhammer.  Wash, rinse and repeat.

But, speaking of work, I really should get back to it.

Peace to all and may your lives carry on more or less on an even keel.

*blank stare*

I really haven't had the time to update.  It's been really quite busy around here.  At least since the weekend or so.

Let's see here.  Saturday afternoon the boys got hair cuts and then Gak went to play Warhammer while Boo and I stayed home and watched "Muppets Take Manhattan" and enjoyed the "gooey bars" I created.  (Graham cracker crumbs and oatmeal crust bottom layer, sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter on top and topped with chocolate chips, baked at 350 for about 20 minutes, let cool long enough to not burn yourself.)  Needless to say, Boo and I enjoyed ourselves and our ooey-gooey chocolate.

Sunday was an adventure day.  We went up to Cabella's after breakfast.  I managed to find a pair of jeans that fit.  Not only did they fit, but they look great and were a size smaller than I was expecting!  And even better, they were only $30.  Therefore I grabbed two pair, one light, one dark.  I also got a new fleece zip up jacket and a pair of boots.  We also snagged a new seasoning (needs help...) and a new key chain because my old beaner has a bit of a bum spring.  We then had a nice lunch at Cracker Barrel and came home.  Unfortunately, it was quite a fight to get the boy-o down for a nap even though he was soooo tired he could barely stand.  We also had to run to the grocery store and some other errands.

Monday was a really, really long day.  I started by leaving the house at 6:00 to get into the office by 6:30 so I could leave the office at 3:00 and zip home, pick up a boy and then head over to Lowes.  Then I manned a cookie booth from 4:00 until about 8:30 or so.  We did really well.  We sold 57 boxes and raised enough donations for another 20 boxes for Cookies From Home.  (If anyone is interested, we still have plenty of cookies we're trying to sell, or get donations for Cookies From Home).

Yesterday I actually managed to wake up on time and get to the pool.  Unfortunately, I celebrated Donut Day and ate a donut for breakfast instead of eating something with a lot of protein.  Therefore, I totally over ate all day.  I really should know better by now, on days I get a good workout in first thing I've got to eat a lot of protein for breakfast.  Oh well, maybe I'll get it right tomorrow....  Then after work was my regular Girl Scout meeting.  It was craft night because we've got an event Saturday.

Today was an all day school day for the boy-child because Gak had a dentist appointment this morning.  Then after Gak got off work it was run to the bank, grab some dinner and put a boy to bed.

I've been working at writing this for about an hour now because I've been distracted by "Weird Al, Behind the Music Remastered".   (Yes, I enjoy Al.  I think I can thank Ben for that... I'm pretty sure he's the one who introduced Jon to Al's music and therefore I got inundated with it...)

Anyhow, the rest of the week isn't looking any less hectic.  Tomorrow morning I will be taking Boo to school, trying to squeeze in an oil change before my doctor's appointment at 9:15 then off to work and about 2 or 3 meetings.  Friday I get to go in early and probably stay late in order to try and make up some of the time that I'll be missing tomorrow.  Saturday from 9 until 4 I'll be at a Girl Scout 100th birthday party being thrown by the service unit.  I hope it's as fun as it sounds.  I don't remember my service unit growing up doing annual events, but apparently RSU does.  *shrug* We'll see.  Then Sunday will be laundry and Gak's threatening to turn it into "cleaning day".  I really just want to do laundry and groceries and not much else before the next week begins.  We'll see how it all shakes out.

Anyhow, I'm going to wrap up this long ramble.  (Actually, it's probably not all that long... it just seems that way because I kept getting distracted by the TV...)

Peace to all and may your weeks be full, but not too full.

Girl Scout Cookies!!

Well, tomorrow starts the first day of cookie sales for my first year as a leader.  Oh, and did I mention that I'm also being "cookie manager" this year too?  (I have 5 girls, we got started in October, I wasn't about to try and con, er ask, someone else to do this with such short notice...)

So, Monday I picked up 36 cases of cookies.  I'm impressed, the guys with the trucks portioned out and handed over my cookies in record time.  I even had enough room in the back that I could still see out the back window!
Last night we issued 3 cases worth of cookies to each of the girls, and Kat and I also took some.  We've got two cookie booths coming up (and I really should order some more thin mints, carmel delites and maybe some shortbreads...).  Our first cookie booth is next Friday (the 3rd) at the Q-mart from 4-9, and the other is on the 12th at the Wawa near Target.  It'll be from 10 to 2.  Hopefully all of the girls can make at least part of the time.  The promise of being able to split the credit for the cookies ordered is a big bonus.

I think I have everything under control.  Unfortunately, I can't find a packet of training information that has a lot of dates in it and I think I'm missing a record sheet, but I could be imagining things.  I'll have to ask Loretta tomorrow when I drop Boo off at daycare.  (I love having the older girl coordinator and cookie coordinator be the woman who owns and runs Boo's daycare.  Of course, this is how I got "roped" into being a leader too...)

If anyone has heard about the "Savannah Smiles", sorry, we don't have them.  That's a different baker than the one my council uses.  (I personally like our baker better, the other baker always tastes a little stale to me, we used them a few years and I've bought them from girls in other councils...)  The picture at the top of the post is the 8 kinds that we have this year.  The "Shout Outs!" are the lower calorie option for anyone who's interested.  No, I haven't tasted them... if I'm going to eat cookies, I'm going to eat the real ones, either Thin Mints or one of the Peanut Butter ones.  (Shortbreads and Carmel deLites are good too, but I think Peanut Butter Sandwiches are actually my favorite...)

Also, for those of you who are muttering and grumbling under your breath about cookie time coming along just in time to throw you off your New Year's resolution diet, fear not!  You can actually do something called "cookies from home", which is where you pay for a box of cookies, but instead of going home with you, the troops take them to a central location at the end of the sale and they get sent off to the troops overseas.  As I see it, that's a win-win situation all around!  The girls get some money to fund projects, the troops get a smile sent to them and the buyer gets to feel good for helping two groups of people instead of just one and they can avoid "having" to eat all those yummy cookies....

It's been a busy, hectic week already.  Sunday Boo was a little sick, Monday he was fine, Tuesday morning he woke up at 4am complaining his tummy hurt, went back to bed, and when he finally woke up for good, woke up puking. *sigh*  No daycare for him, and I got to work from home yesterday afternoon.  It turns out that I was about the only one getting work done yesterday, even with a sick kiddo because the network went down around 9:00 or so and didn't come back until 3.  Thankfully I was able to access the sites I needed to from home and actually got a good bit done while Boo was a sad little lump in front of a couple of movies.

I'm off to play with yarn a little bit.  (I know, I know, I don't even have the Christmas photos up on Flickr yet, and here I am playing with yarn...)  Either that or I may try and read a few more pages on the nook.  (I'm reading the first of the Baroque Cycle by Neil Stephenson, over 1000 pages and very interesting...)

So, peace to you all and may you find enough room in your heart and your pocketbook to support your local girls.

Girl Scouts

Tonight I am thankful for Girl Scouts.  Why didn't I wait to post this tomorrow or already post it last Tuesday? Well, I've already alluded to the joy that Girl Scouts brings me, but today I'm thankful for it in many ways.

The picture here at the top of the screen is my staff tie from the second year that I worked at Tohi.  (The "W" pin stands for Wolf, which was my camp name.  And those of you who know me, know that this name does fit quite well, in many different ways.  Leaders don't go by their real names at camp, this creates a bit of separation between the girls and the leaders, who are often not much older than the girls...)  On it I have my Brownie pin, my WAGGS pin, my GSUSA pin and my 10-year pin, clockwise from upper left.  They all mean something special to me.

Brownies were a wonderful three years.  My best friend's mom was my leader.  We did so many fun things and learned so much and explored so much as well.  We went camping, learned to cook and to cook over a stove. We sewed our own vests (with much help and patience from my mom and some other moms).  We sang songs, learned about other cultures and the culture of Girl Scouts.  We made friends and learned how to navigate in a social setting outside of family or school.  I will always remember my Brownie years with fondness.

WAGGS is the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.  This is the greater body that GSUSA (Girl Scouts of the USA) belong to.  This pin ties me to girls and women all over the world.  I don't know if Daisy ever envisioned the Girl Scout movement would ever become as big and far-flung as it has, but I suspect that she is more than pleased that it has.

My 10-year pin is a major accomplishment.  This isn't just any 10-year pin.  You can only get this one if you've been a girl member for 10 years.  It doesn't matter how many years you spend as an adult volunteer, if you didn't spend 10 years as a girl member, you won't get this pin.  The only other things I've stuck with for that long is school in general, photography and my current job.  I'm still not 100% sure why I've been here 11 years now, but I am.

Oh, that little bar on the tail, that's my CIT pin.  I earned that as a Councilor In Training back when I was still in high school.

So, that's what is on my staff tie, but why am I thankful for it?  I'm thankful for all the ups and downs I went through as a girl member.  There were a few years I thought about quitting, but I kept going back "just to check it out" and I couldn't leave.  Mostly that was in 5th through 7th or 8th grades, when I still wasn't sure how my square peg fit into this round hole called Pennsylvania.  But then I started getting leadership opportunities.  Most of them given to me by the other girls in my troop!  These are girls who wouldn't always give me the time of day at school, but at Girl Scouts, thought I was good enough, smart enough and talented enough to lead them.  How could I turn that down?  So, I'm thankful for the leadership opportunities that I was given.  I learned a lot through the years.  I'm thankful for having a safe place to be me, to figure out who I am and how I fit into the larger world.  I had a place where all of us were equal and nothing was impossible.  I was surrounded by wise and caring women who made each of us feel special and, yes, would take us to task if we were not being the brightest or best behaved that we could be.  I had strong examples to follow outside of my family.  So, yes, there are many reasons why I'm thankful for all the time, energy, effort, blood, sweat and tears that that strip of cloth and handful of pins represent.

I'm thankful for where and how I got that tie as well.  I earned every sweat stain and dirt splotch on that thing.  Being a camp counselor is hard.  But it is so worth it in the long run.  At least for me it was.  The rewards at the end of a long, hard week with home-sick campers and rain and a burnt cookout on Wednesday night were worth it.  The hugs, the smiles, the laughs and the "I'll never forget you!"s are priceless.  Every girl that came through my units taught me something, hopefully they learned as much from me as I learned from them.  It may sound cliche, but it's true.

Anyhow, tomorrow night is our third meeting.  We'll actually have a couple of new girls coming and I'm so excited about that.  I really think this troop is about to get going in a big way and we're going to be off on some grand adventures and learning lots and lots together.  I'm so excited and thankful for the opportunity to have these girls in my life and for the leaders that made such an impression in my life.
I will never forget you Nancy Thompson, Rita Bush, Lynn Snyder and Janet Watson just to name a few.  Thank you so very much for all you taught me, now I can pass on that wisdom and power to a new generation.

Peace to all and may you have something, or someone who you can learn from.

Enthusiasm

Last night Kat and I held our first Girl Scout meeting.  As is par for the course for the two of us there was a bit of chaos, a bit of running late and a whole lot of fun in general.

We only had two girls show up, and a third had been told about it by the one girl, but didn't remember.  Kat was running late between traffic and work.  Rachel tagged along as well, even though technically she'd be a senior, not a cadet.

But, despite the small numbers there was a huge amount of enthusiasm in the room.  And for that I am thankful. I'm thankful and grateful that the two girls who did show up weren't disappointed by the fact that there were only two of them.  I'm thankful that once we started listing ideas of things they liked to do and wanted to learn about or do they really started to shine and came up with some really cool ideas.  (I'm also thankful they're up for outdoor type adventures, not just indoor, clean ones.)  They want to go camping, to Knoebles, anything with animals, especially dogs and all kinds of other things.

I remember that enthusiasm that I had as a girl, especially at the beginning of a troop year.  There were so many possibilities and nothing was off the table at that point.  The enthusiasm of the girls was very contagious and it was hard for me to sleep last night, I had so much bouncing around in my head.  So, even though I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted to (and I slept in instead of going to the gym like I could have and wanted to) I'm very thankful for their excitement.  I'm thankful that this will be a joy not a chore and that the hardest part will be keeping that enthusiasm in check at times.  I'm glad to know that they're willing to speak up and let their ideas be known.

I'm not a huge badges person.  I will try my best to find a bade that whatever we do can be applied towards, but I'm not one to make our girls sit down and do a badge just for the sake of doing a badge.  I'm much more for having adventures and seeing where they take us and then figuring out what we can take away from the experience and if it turns into a badge, GREAT!  If not, that's OK too.
(This is where Kat and I differ from Jane... Jane is all about the Journeys and the badges and earning the awards.  To Kat and I, if we earn the awards along the way for doing what we want, we come out ahead of the game.  This should be about the journey, not the destination...  The current "Journeys" program is too much like home work at this age level, at least from what I've looked at and what other leaders have told me.  I'm not into having something that should be fun and enriching become like school home work... I'll get off my soap box now...)

So, today I am thankful for the enthusiasm of my girls and Kat.  I'm thankful that there are still girls out there that have that spark and that desire for fun.  Next week will be more of a getting down to business meeting, this was just a get to know you kind of meeting.  I'm really excited and looking forward to this journey with these (and hopefully more) girls.

Peace to all and may everyone find something to be enthusiastic and excited about!

So It Begins...

Well, it looks like we're finally on our way to having our own Girl Scout troop.  Kat and I are both trained up.  We've been "approved" by the woman who handles membership in our service unit (who used to be Kat's ledader...).  (Don't get me started down that path...) We now have our official troop number from Council.  We also have at least one girl who wants to be a part of our troop!  Tonight I'm heading over to the church where we've been told we can meet and see what rooms are available since there are several other troops meeting at the same time.  There are some older girls meeting as well at the same time and I hope this doesn't cause a conflict.

OK.  I was going to let sleeping dogs lie, but I guess I have to explain that last comment at least a little.  You see, I'm beginning to feel a bit used and the pawn of some service unit politics.  It's not Loretta's fault, she was just going with the flow.

I had been told that there was a need for older girl leaders in our service unit by Loretta (who runs/owns the daycare that Boo goes to and who's daughters were in Scouts with Kat).  Me, being me, said "sure!".  Loretta said that there was a want for a 6th grade only Cadet troop.  Ok by me, I like that age.
Anyhow, at the first leader's meeting I went to for the service unit there was much cheering by everyone when they introduced us new leaders and they were told I was starting the 6th grade troop.  Fast forward to last week's meeting when Jane (the one in charge of membership) and Loretta (the go-to woman for older troops in the service unit) were both out.  Well, to say that my opinion of Jane from when I was a girl member was accurate is a true statement.  And Kat and I aren't the only ones.  Anyhow, it seems that the older girl leaders are mixed on the idea of a 6th grade troop and some are actually hurting for girls themselves.  So, yeah, I'm feeling a little bit played, but I'll make the best of it.
Kat and I are good at going with the flow and doing it our way within the system.  If it turns out that by the end of the year we merge with another troop, that's fine.  If we end up with a great group of girls, I want to keep them until they graduate, and add more 6th graders as they come along.  Then we won't be just a 6th grade troop any more, which makes some of the younger girl leaders unhappy.  Oh well, tough nuggies.  I'm not going to spend (what's left of) the year bonding with and growing with a group of girls, only to have to find them new homes come next fall.  Nope, not the way I do things.  And Jane can just deal.

Despite how negative those last few paragraphs may sound, I'm actually very excited about all of this.  I'm really looking forward to having something to do and somewhere to go and something positive outside of my family.  As much as I love my boys and we have a fairly comfortable routine right now, I need to do this for me.  I need to be doing something other than just work, work, work and family stuff.  There's not enough family time as it stands, but there's also not enough "me" time either.  This is something that I truly enjoy and will keep me happy.  And as everyone knows, if Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.  (I try not to inflict my crankiness on the world, but, I don't succeed very well...)

So, as exhausted as I am from work right now (we've had record numbers of both opened and closed cases the past 2 months) I really am quite excited about this.  I may not like some of the program things that have come out from council in the past year or two, but like Loretta said, just wait a few years and it'll all change again.  And since I have a long enough history with the program, I have no qualms about pulling stuff from the "old days" and doing it in addition to or instead of the "new" stuff.  (I'm not a fan of making my girls do a program or activity just because council or national says we have to... we'll do what the girls want and if they want to spend a few months learning new crafts than so be it.  I may try and figure out how to tie it in to the "new" stuff, but you know what, only if the girls really want to.)

So, now that I've rambled on way longer than I intended to, I'm going to sign off.

Peace to you all and may your undertakings be both grand and fun.

Picture Pages

As it seems to be lately, it's been an entire week since I've gotten around to posting an update.  There is a lot I want to say, but I haven't sorted it out a bit.  I will say that last night I finished the last of the three training sessions I needed to become a Girl Scout leader.  I went to the first leader's meeting of my service unit last week as well.  Now to get the rest of my ducks in a row so we can get this thing going.

I have a handful of pictures from the last month or so that I have edited but just haven't gotten around to posting.  So, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone.  Eventually they will all get up on Flickr, but for now, you'll have to live with these.

These two are from our camping trip.  This was Sunday afternoon.  As you can see, it was quite bright and sunny at the moment.  This was after our swim and while the boy-o and I were exploring on the bike.  There was a playground just around the corner almost from the bath house, so of course we had to stop there.  He had a lot of fun playing in and around that boat.  There was also a nice big slide he enjoyed for a bit as well.

This is from Monday morning.  This was the view that greeted us when we woke in the morning.  You can see the silver tarp off to the left-ish that started out covering the stuff on the table.  The blue tote on the table actually stayed sealed fairly well and only a little moisture got in.  I'm still amazed that the poles didn't self destruct in the blue tarp.  Everything was soaked, but OK.

This is the first sheet tent that I made Boo.  You can see him sound asleep in it.  This was at nap time, he slept there that night as well.  He actually slept in, too!  Anyhow, I made him one again last Saturday which didn't turn out quite as nice, but he still enjoyed it.

These next several are from our day at Knobels.  It really was a nice day even with the little shower right when we got there.

Boo and Gak shooting the water cannon at the pirates!

Boo actually driving his bumper car.  He'd either go racing off in a straight line and not turn, or he'd spin around in a circle until one of the operators shoved him in another direction.  Quite funny to watch.

Boo and I panning for pretty rocks.  We both had a lot of fun with this and he came away with quite a large handful of shineys.  (On a side note, I can actually see how much weight I've lost in this picture, the mere fact that this is a large t-shirt and the sleeves are loose... and the sides aren't lumpy.  Wow! Oh, and I only have one chin...)

This was Boo on the Pioneer train ride.  I just love this little smile.  He really is too darn cute.

Anyhow, that's about all I've got to say this evening.  I'm thankful that it hasn't rained since the weekend and there doesn't appear to be any more water in the forecast for a bit.  (At least I don't think so, I wasn't paying close attention earlier...)

One of these days I'll get a slightly more meaningful post about my Girl Scout adventures so far written.  For now, it's sloshing around in my tired and work-stressed brain.

I'm off to read a few pages and fall asleep (I hope).

Peace to all and may your pictures be good memories and your family adventures fun.

Girl Scouts

Well, I've officially taken the second step this evening towards being a Girl Scout leader.
What am I thinking?
Oh, yeah, that's right... Loretta knew exactly which buttons to push.  The "we're short on leaders" card.  And the "this year is the centennial" year.  And the mere fact that the only reason I don't bleed green is the fact that I haven't been able to volunteer because of work and/or Boo for the last 15 years.  Yeah, Scouts has been a core of my being for a long time.

So, a few weeks ago I finally got around to filling in the "Step One" training online.  (Well, reading it online and then emailing the completed worksheets back... not quite as easy as it could have been, but better than some training I've had to deal with.)  It was both really easy and really hard to do.  It was easy because I grew up in the program.  I'm so used to thinking from a "girl" perspective, that having to switch gears to responsible adult leader is tough!  It was also tough because I've been out of the loop for the most part for about 15 years, and there have been lots and lots of changes.  Some I like (lots of online resources, new activities), some I don't (getting rid of the 5 Worlds, renaming of the badge systems....).

I also have my partner in crime with me.  Yes, that's right Kat is going to be a leader too.  It should be interesting.  Over all, we make a good team.  In some ways, we're flip sides of the same coin, in other ways we're totally on the same page.  Like I said, we balance each other well and tend to work well together.

We'll see where this adventure leads us.

It was a good training (although I wasn't able to pay 100% attention) over all.  I was a bit stressed and frantic from almost getting stuck in a bad accident on the way home, taking an extra 10 minutes to pick up Boo, leaving only 10 minutes to run home, get Trey, run through the drive through and get back to day care where the training was going to be held.  Yeah, that didn't leave me in the best frame of mind to pay attention.  Not to mention the fact that I totally forgot to grab my notebook, or even a pen.  Yeah, I felt like the most disorganized woman in the room.  Oh well, it can only get better from here.  I'll have Kat to balance me out going forward.  (She missed tonight because she was stuck in traffic and was trying not to hatch a headache... she'll have to catch up... the story of our lives always playing catch-up.)

Anyhow, I'm going to go crash and try and relax a bit before I have to try and go to sleep.

Peace to all and may you find something you believe in.