Yesterday was full of meetings, beginning at 9:30 with an All Staff, some rearranging of afternoon meetings into lunch meetings, more meetings. Then it was pile things in my car from the Mar/Com closet and head out to Shawnee for the Spotlight on Shawnee event. This was a community event, set up on a downtown street that was blocked off and used as a welcome for OBU students. I went with the expectation that I would a) get some time spent with my CST Manager. b) get the face of Girl Scouts back out and visible in the area and c) MAYBE get a few names of students that could possible volunteer some time, perhaps the music major can work a music badge with the troops, or the Physical Ed/Vollyball girls can work a PE badge with the troops. Something. Maybe I would get a few names for the Alumni Association. I hear this “I used to be a Girl Scout” so many times in the recruitment events, and it doesn’t matter if you were “just” a Brownie, or if you completed through your Gold Award. Once a Girl Scout Always a Girl Scout, so you are viable for this alumni.

I got an entire sign up sheet. Four Gold Award girls, some photography majors who want to help with the photography badge, and about 80% of the list were happy to get info on the Alumni Association. *it looks great on a resume.

I didn’t get home until well past 9…closer to 10pm.

I’m doing it all again tonight and again tomorrow from 1-3 here in Norman.

Send me some energy, some positive forward motion that I can send into the communities. We must have adults who can give a few hours of their time to these girls. We have GOT to find the people who can be a role model, who can help with one event, who can help with more than one event. We have to find these people or the girls don’t get to form troops. We have to find these people or the volunteers already in place become even more over worked and closer to burnout.

I approach this with my Stone Soup Girl Scout Theory.

If one person can do one thing one time a month…

If one person can do one thing two times a month…

If one person can do one thing for four weeks…

We have a troop.

We have girls who are able to participate and to learn and most importantly, we have girls who once a week get told how amazing they are, how awesome they are doing in life and how fabulous they are going to be in the future.

That’s the thing right there. That’s the thing.

So send some of your magic over these events please.

 

Meanwhile back at the ranch…

We are frantically working on getting ready for our trip. Mark has been checking things off of his list…(his lists have sublists). We have some errands and things to really buckle down and do this weekend and I think we will be ready. Hell. We were ready last night.

My office is shaping up. I still don’t have a complete desk but my IT guy is coming down today to finish the electronics/printer. I’ve got much computer work to be done today. Follow up from the events/meetings yesterday. My employee is set with work for the next week while I’m gone so that’s good.  Trish is shopping for fabric for my window treatments today. I think I’ll go buy my own chair. *I will not get mad about my office today. I will not get mad about my office today. I will not—*

Brokedown Palace is getting a new HVAC system. The price came in exactly where I thought it would. The guy opened the door to the existing unit and physically gasped. Apparently there is great wonder as to why I lived there and escaped harm. I get so pissed off when I think of the “a/c guy” I had inspect it, and what the hell the actual inspector did to say “this unit is janky but you’re safe” Pfffft. I feel really good about Julie having it now though. It will be safe. The bills will be SO MUCH LESS. It will be good. We’re still on track, just need the appraisal to come through.

It’s time. Time for me to giddy up and gulp and go.

Happy Friday, ya’ll.

I got office furniture delivered yesterday. Finally. Four days w/o any kind of desk and when they showed up…well let’s just say it was total bullshit.

I didn’t get to pick out this furniture. Timing being what it was, and the facilities director dropping the ball on ordering the stuff, then I didn’t get to pick it out. I saw a photo via text and thought ok. That’s fine. Well “they” brought it. There are pieces missing. They just plopped them in the middle of the office. I tried to arrange it so that it worked, not realizing there were pieces missing. I ganked my back a little. The a/c wasn’t working properly in there either. Push came to shove…literally…and I sent a raging text that said COME PICK THIS SHIT UP.

If this is the way we’re going to “set up a branch office” by the way that we are not killing ourselves on in rent, then screw it. I’ll go buy it myself.

The chair “they” sent was something-my hand to God- that was picked up at a garage sale. It is bullshit.

There were many texts and phone calls. I calmed down…a little. Only after I lost it to the Facilities Director AND the IT guy. Poor Chad.

My last text was to Mark. Come help me move this shit.

And his brain worked. He saw what was happening, where the missing piece was supposed to be, he could move the super heavy stuff around…he made some sense out of chaos.

My brain just couldn’t see it. Thankfully his did.

Today is the first of the next three days I’ll be in Shawnee. I think Trish is going to sew me up some curtains and such for the office. I’ve got a Kurieg in sight. It’ll start coming together I know.

Who knew that office furniture could be such bullshit? I didn’t. I do know that poor customer service will send me over the edge like no ones business. There’s no excuse for it. None.

One last gulp of coffee and it’s off to see what today brings!

When I started That Grad School Thing all those years ago I was so worried about juggling all of the things Bill told me these sage words:

“we’re all juggling. the key is knowing what balls will bounce and which ones will break”

It seems as if I not only take those words to heart daily, but I espouse them to all of my volunteers and potential volunteers as well.

I thought I’d just do a quick rundown on the balls in the air at the moment.

*I checked in with my advisor for finally finishing Grad School and the hoops I have to jump through. The Comps are scheduled for September 24. Five weeks. Five weeks and I will go sit, write my heart out (again) and pray for a pass.

*Brokedown Palace is still in contract. There are inspections and negotiations and a few major repairs to be done. We’ll know more after Thursday as to if we are keeping our original closing target date of Sept 16.

*My job is nuts. I have an office with no furniture. Files on the floor, boxes, some electronics turned on, some waiting the furniture. The BTSNs are finished. Recruiting events start this week. I’ll be in Shawnee Thursday and Friday nights. Norman Saturday day. Once the information is captured the real work begins in forming troops, placing girls, getting volunteers properly signed up, background checked, and trained to lead. We have goals, that have been set, given to our volunteer officers and now they are going to change. I have an employee that I don’t have a for sure plan for yet who cannot office with me as there is no room for her as there is no furniture or organization yet. She too will have goals that I will need to set and ensure that she meets. I’m happy with the confidence in my ability. I have moments where I just want to damn worry about my own self. This is where I leap and trust that the net appears.

*Our House is a Very Very Very Fine House. With two cats…that have worms. ugh. After two hours at the vet on Saturday morning we have dosed them and are on our way to being worm free.

*We still live among boxes and disorder. I have no idea when I will give a shit about unpacking again.

*Our trailer is working. Electronics, all of it. Just some cleaning and planning and packing and we’ll be ready to go. That is THIS CLOSE to getting crossed off the list.

*bills. bills. bills. Just ready to only pay at one house.

It’s really no more than anyone else in the world. I’ve always said that the only reason my stuff is important, is because it’s mine. Your’s is just as important. I sometimes get so buried that I feel…buried.

I’m juggling. Dropping some..so far they’ve all bounced.

The weeks are a blur.

Every day last week was full and long, every single night was spent at a Back to School Night doing recruiting for Girl Scouts. Things are shaping up there. I’m in my office in Norman, though I have a folding card table and folding chair and many boxes. I’m destined it seems for the time being to live out of boxes.

Our house is in a living place. There are still boxes in the office. There is still stuff in the garage at Brokedown Palace. But we worked ourselves numb last weekend making the house liveable. That has been priceless. I’m thankful for the house being clean enough and put together enough for Mark’s family to have been here last night.

It seems that the only moments of peace are those we find right before we crash. Sitting on our porch, talking mostly of the things we have got to get done in the upcoming days. . . but I’m thankful for those moments.

So many stories I think about writing. I fell at one of the BTSN’s and since then the bruises are fairly awesome, but my wrist if janky. I have a wrist guard that I’m wearing periodically. I think it’s just bruised and maybe a little sprained. But damn. Falling sucks. The children I’ve met at the schools are all so full of awesome and energy and excitement for the new. Even and especially the kids in the Moore school district.

I have an employee now. She started last week unbeknownst to me, so I have some catching up to do, and now there are goals to set and those goals are dependent on my goals and bla bla bla GAAAAAAAH!. shit. My brain is fractured into a million tiny cookies, each one working on a project that in and of itself could be a full time job.

Mark worked like crazy this weekend on our trailer. She is ready to roll! The hitch is attached, the wiring is a go. All we really need is to do some cleaning, and making our lists of what stuff to take and we’ll be ready to hit the road to Colorado in 10 days.

I don’t know when I’ve needed a vacation more.

Oh wait.

Last year, right before I went to Harvest Fest. That’s right.

Saturday morning was spent at the vet with Sam. He’s got the worms. Ugh. It was a good hour and a half and the woman who was our intake nurse person almost got chopped in half. Lucky for her the vet stepped in and we came home with the proper meds and all will be well.

The house is under contract. We had the inspection last week. There are . . . things that have come into play, as one might expect with that place. I think it will all work out. Well. It will. One way or another. I don’t know if we’ll be able to stay on our timeline though and that sucks for all involved. Just really ready for it to be off of our plate.

I have so many other things in my head…so many thoughts buzzing around. I miss writing on a daily basis. Clearly life has transitioned back into that place where I must force myself to take time to write. The entire reason I started this blog to begin with all those years ago.

I’m really thankful though, for all of it. For all of it. For not having to sit at the vet alone. For not having to make a thousand decisions and choices alone. For being able to turn to someone else and say, “what do you think?” and get an answer. For that I’m so thankful.

It’s a blur right now. Recruitment. The return of the students and his job being crazy. Impending trips and houses for sale and boxes boxes boxes.

Someday soon though it will calm down. Someday.

August.

I’m finishing my first week of The Month. I’ve been gone every night. Last night’s CST meeting was in Shawnee, I got home after the 10 o’clock news had already started.

Mark had an unruly and unusually jacked up day yesterday.

We are living among boxes and hallways full of mattresses and trying to find the time to get things wrapped up at the house. That sale looks like it is in the works, but it’s happening in an odd and super fast way, so I’ve been trying to get my end prepared.

I had to cancel the trip to Arkansas this weekend. We just have too much to do.

I’m so sad about that. I need to see my family.

But we also have to get this house taken care of. And we have to get these boxes moved and unloaded and finished.

And next week I have exactly one night where I don’t have a recruiting event.

But you know what? I fucking love this job.

And these women volunteers in my district? I think I’ve got most of them to believe me when I say that this is important work we’re doing. And the opportunity to tell a girl that she can in fact do anything, is not only a honor but it’s something that we should be able to offer all girls. Not just the ones in the age range we want to work with. Every. Girl.

I get my dvr today. It was but for the Grace of Lilli my friend and I could’ve gotten it yesterday but I had zero minutes. Today! DVR! Breaking Bad begins Sunday!

Which means that this time last year we were in Taos. Sigh.

This month. . . woof. I don’t know if I have the bandwidth to survive. I will likely arrive at my office with wet hair more days than not. I will likely have to write myself notes and between the eleventy million full time jobs we have going, Girl Scouts, OU, Norman house, sell Brokedownnomore Palace, find time to be with family, get ready for Colorado which means car maintenance, camp prepping and gathering, find time to be with friends, get the house in order so that we can have our friends over….I don’t know if I have the bandwidth to do it all perfectly well.

But I will do it with the secure knowledge that I’m exactly where I am supposed to be. There is love in this house. There will be some order soon. And this morning, I get to take some cookies to a friend who had some bad news this week.

Then it’s time to take on the world.

This weekend will be brought to you by the words Friends and Nesting.

I came home this afternoon, Friday Im finished early but even earlier today as I needed to meet one of my CST managers in Norman and deliver some supplies and wound up having an impromptu 20 minute meeting. Anyways, I came home this afternoon with full intent to unpack a few boxes, move some things around and out, make some headway.

I napped. Hard. Hard hard sleep.

I’m so tired it seems.

Last night I was dead asleep, and apparently stole every pillow in the bed and when Mark tried to retrieve his, I growled. “But I dont have a pillow” to which apparently I replied,”that’s not my problem” and went back to sleep.

Lord.

Tonight, we are gathering for delicious food and friends and music and fun. My favorite kind of night. Tomorrow Trish is going to come over and we’re going to take a pass at arranging things in the house before we go see her kiddo in the Sooner Theatre show. The weekend will finish off with unpacking and nesting and grocery shopping and prepping for the upcoming weeks. Next week I work every night but wednesday.

It begins.

This weekend, we rest and enjoy our time.

Mom and BonusDad have been married for 25 years this week. Yesterday in fact.

Twenty. Five. Years.

I remember it like it actually WAS yesterday. We put this sweet little wedding together in the front yard of Barbara and Otis’ yard, raffia bows hung from the tree limbs (it was 25 years ago. raffia.) My sister and I sung about eleventy million Anne Murray songs.

I remember that Burl promised to love us. All of us.

And he has. For 25 years he has loved us, when we were at our most unloveable.

And she has loved him. Through the really really bad times, and the good. Steadfast beside each other.

He has the patience of Job. And maybe he wasn’t that way the first time around, maybe he wasn’t that way with his kids, but he was with us.

He bought me prom dresses without a blink, helped me with my car issues and joined forces with my father to pack me up and move me home when my first marriage disintegrated.

They have had their ups and downs. They have seen the births of their grandchildren and the loss of their parents. They are a witness to each others’ life.

And that’s really what we want in this world, right?

For Better. For Worse.

Happy Anniversary Burl and Mom. You’re doing it right.

I worked from home today, answered emails, made many a phone call, ran some errands for my CSTs, met with potential office leasing people. I actually do think I found office space, and barring any unforeseen circumstances should be officing about 8 minutes away from my house by the middle to end of next month.

Total success on that scene.

I started unpacking and rearranging. I think I’m mostly unpacked and organized in the bathroom. Still more to go there but for the most part that one is finished. We tackled the kitchen tonight. Mark went through each cabinet, we made another sale pile, we opened more boxes. “I’m like a box valet” he says. “Just tell me what you want.”

I wanted my kitchen unpacked. And while there are a few things on the counter and I have no idea where the cookbooks will go and we really need to clear out some other drawers and ultimately we may wind up reorganizing it all over again…it is unpacked and functioning.

My kitchen.

I’m happy with that.

He just moved my dresser into a space and off of its side. I can now start putting away clothes and figuring out that part. I think we’ll see some major progress by the weeks end.

Hopefully I’ll be moving into my office by the month’s middle.

Then no more moving. Just nesting. That’s what I want. And time for us to ride our bikes. And time to get the teardrop in shape for our trip at the end of next month. and and and  🙂

I’ve thought about writing.

I’ve thought about it and then like this morning, I look up and it’s time for me to get my lunch ready and get myself ready and get on the road for my commute. So once again, I put this into the draft section and move along and think…I’ll write again. Things are calming down and I’ll have time to do my daily writing again.

Finally.

It’s a week later.

I’m officially moved.

The cats are here.

There are boxes and stacks and piles everywhere. Furniture in every corner.

But I’m here.

I thought I’d write. Write and write and write and tell you all about it. About my garage sale success (over 1500!!! paid off a credit card!) About moving the cats. About a certain showercurtainincident that probably will go unmentioned here. About my job and the actual moving day and the emotions and the cranky. About coming home to the same place. About the caterwauling that happens about 3am when Stormy NEEDS OUT DAMNIT TO HELL. About the new fancy litter box that is the loudest most frustrating 40 bucks ever spent on crap disposal. ugh. About making plans with Mandrea to bookend the shenanigans that Brokedown Palace was a witness to with a bottle of wine on my wood floors. About how life has changed so much since I bought that house.

I thought I’d write about Trisha being here this week (thank you GOD) or about my first CST meeting or about the Tornado Task Force at work. About the 4+ inches of rain and subsequent flooding on Friday, or the awesome house concert featuring a group called Carolina Story that we went to. (I’d tell you to buy their cd, but it sounds like crap. Wait for their new one. Because they truly do have amazing voices.) I thought I’d write about BlogHer what I didn’t go to even though I had a ticket (new job) or discuss how friendships change and shift and how interesting the feelings are that come around when you’ve been “officially” blocked by someone who you weren’t ever really great friends with but certainly have no reason to think you are an enemy. I wanted to talk to you about LTYM and plans for writing in my future. I thought I would talk about the Leadership Conference with Sarkeys Foundation that I’ll be attending in November, because I’m really excited about that.

I kind of wanted to talk about how I think True Blood is a waste of my time and how Newsroom is so awesome and how I’m so excited for Breaking Bad to start and can’t wait for my tv sessions with Michael to resume.

I also wanted to tell you about our impending Colorado vacation and the teardrop’s first trip.

But I’m so freakin tired.

And there is laundry to be done. And cats to be fed. And so many boxes. So. Many. Boxes.

So I guess what I’ll tell you instead of all of those things is this:

I can’t remember being happier in so many areas of my life at one time…and not being scared that it was too good to be true…being able to really feel it and trust it.

I’ll be back on a regular basis sometime soon.

I’ve sold all of my furniture.

My microwave, some planters and wall decor, the Cuisinart food processor and other awesome kitchen wares and maybe a Cuisenart coffee maker. Maybe.

We have things priced. We have things hung up. We have things ready to move out into the yard tomorrow morning. We have change. We have stickers. We have it all. Ready.

I’ve been doing some self check-ins. How am I feeling? Do I really want to sell this? What’s the prognosis on my mental state?

I’m keeping some things, but selling everything I should.

It’s getting exciting, really. Because after the sale tomorrow, we’ll pack up tv’s, clothes, and the cats. We’re all just going to head to Norman. The OFFICIAL move really isn’t until next Saturday, with the whole house being emptied then. There won’t be anything here but my clothes and my bed. No furniture, all the dishes are packed, everything is done. SO, for me, for us, for all intents and purposes…IT IS HAPPENING.

I could not be happier.

My sisser is here. She’s been a cornerstone of strength getting things organized. Just time together. Just..time. So good.

Tomorrow.

Apparently, it all begins tomorrow.

If you’re in the area, come buy some of my stuff.