Counting down to Christmas.

“What do you want for Christmas?” Words that have mixed feelings for me. On one hand, it’s nice to get things that I don’t necessarily need, but are wants. On the other hand, I’d love it if I could just have someone that knows me well, look at what I like to do and choose some great gifts accordingly. Got the best of both worlds this year. But more on that later.
The first hint of Christmas came for me in September. I had stopped at a WalMart in Cadillac on my way to Mackinac Island, so that I could buy an adapter to listen to my iPod in the car while driving. I spotted some great Star Wars popcorn tins so bought two for the beginning of the boys Christmas. Put away in plain sight in Scott’s room for the duration.
Second hint – though we had talked about not exchanging gifts this year because of our vacation in Europe, I accidentally discovered that Steve had bought me a motorcycle jacket for Christmas to match his jacket for the ST. Ok, felt like the last thing I needed was a third motorcycle jacket. Matching doesn’t have as high of a priority for me. But the thought is what counts. (And it is a nice looking jacket.)
Fast forward to oh, probably November. The first uttering of that question, coming from Scott on one of our weekly phone conversations. Honestly, had no idea at that point. Expected to come up with some items, I gave it some thought and made a short list for the boys. Didn’t figure on anything else from Steve since our finances had changed since he made his purchase.
Thanksgiving was here. Normally, that weekend would be the big weekend to pull out the tree and other decorations. I made myself a promise, though, that I would finally get a start on taming the paper tiger, so to speak, and get our old accumulated financial paperwork sorted out. No tree until it was done.
Got a good start on it, too. But like many good intentions, didn’t complete it. In the meantime, Steve had decided that the one and only thing he wanted for Christmas was a cruise control for the ST motorcycle. He had to do some research but finally decided on a model that worked. We ordered it, and the boys pitched in a share of the cost so that it would be from all three of us. But one item to open under the tree – doesn’t seem like Christmas.
By around the 10th of December, we were still treeless except for the forest of sorted papers on the dining room table. I had errands to run that day, a funeral and a birthday party with time and space between the two events. Drove past Lowe’s and remembered that Steve had commented favorably about the new double drive screwdriver advertised on TV and available only by mail order and at Lowe’s. So went in and bought one for him.
At work we needed to submit a list of ideas for our $10 gift exchange. I updated my list from the year before, and submitted it. The staff party was on the 14th. I had drawn a guy’s name, as I had done every year (this would be my fourth Gilda’s Christmas) – what are the odds when the majority of the staff are female? Bought him a Schuler’s Bookstore gift card. Came to the party, we were to distribute our gift to their place at the table. Managed to get my gift to the right person without their knowledge. I’d made a batch of peppermint bark to go with the card. It was appreciated and shared with those around him. My “gifter” ended up sitting next to me and I was already seated so no surprise there. That was ok. He gifted me with a Barnes and Noble gift card and a nice red pen (that I had asked for – RedhedMary always signs her cache logs in red and I was running out of good pens, or at least the ink in them.) So I exchanged one gift card for another. Nice party, received a reversible vest from Gilda’s (LaughFest logo on one side, Gilda’s logo on the other) as well as a porcelain drink mug, a framed LaughFest smile picture, and two tickets to a LaughFest performance.
Received our first Christmas letter around this time, from Mom and Phil of course. She’s so good about getting it done and sent out quickly to avoid the rush. Nice to have a gift card from WalMart enclosed.
Somewhere in here I shopped online for Scott. He had given us a list of Blu-Ray DVD’s that he wanted for his collection. Amazon had a nice selection at good prices with free shipping even to APO addresses. Though I didn’t get the fun of wrapping the gifts myself, he was happy with what I’d chosen. I also shopped online for my mom and stepfather – my now traditional gift to them for both their December birthdays and Christmas is movie passes to use throughout the year. My mom thinks that’s great – so why mess with a good idea?
On Thursday the 15th, I also exchanged gifts with my “practice grandchild” at Gilda’s and their family. I had made a photo calendar with pictures of the baby, also burned a CD with all the pictures I’d taken since he started in July, and bought some baby designed toy cars for the baby. They gifted me with an Amazon gift certificate, and a really neat candle that crackles. They were leaving on vacation so this was our day.
Thursday night was also our Geocaching potluck with Santa visiting. Steve actually met me there. I’m thinking more for the food than for the fellowship with geocachers. Nonetheless, he got a full tummy at least. I had a good time, and then stopped for some Christmas shopping on the way home. With the help of a 10% off coupon, bought three pairs of lounge pants for the three guys I was shopping for. (Steve, Eric, and Steve’s dad.)
Oh yes, the tree. I was really feeling the absence of the tree so decided to break my resolve and put it up anyway. First brought out the nativity scene and set it up in front of the TV. Did not use the barn, just the figures, with the wise men up out of the way on the tall china cabinet since they didn’t visit the manger. Then put up the tree, had Steve fluff the branches out and got the garland up. Brought out the glass bird that I’d bought in Germany at a Christmas store there, then opened the box of ornaments and got one ornament out before another task took me away from the tree. That’s how the tree looked for a good week or so at least. Lights, garland, and two ornaments.
Then the eternal debate. I would flick the switch for the lights, enjoy them for a while, then leave the room. Steve would find the tree “on” and turn it off since nobody was in the room. I’d come back and turn it on again. I feel like people passing by enjoy seeing trees in people’s windows, even if I’m not in the room enjoying the tree myself. He got more tolerant as Christmas grew near, but I still had to flip that switch an extra time or two each night.
Cookies. Wanted to send some to Scott, plus give some to Eric, and then the Gold Wing Christmas party came up, where they always have an auction of baked goods so that the profits can be contributed to charity. All good excuses to do some baking. Planned out my recipes, the ingredients I needed, and the timing for all (temperature, does the dough need to be cold, etc.) My trip Thursday night was to get the rest of the ingredients as well as some gift shopping.
Friday morning, started up the process. Got a new KitchenAid stand mixer last spring that I hadn’t done much with, this was about the first time I’d really given it a good workout. With the first batch, I discovered one important fact. Don’t add the dry ingredients and then immediately turn it on a higher speed. That flour goes flying out fast! Even Max got flour on him and I don’t recall him standing all that close at the time.
Mixed all the dough that would need refrigeration, then started baking. Soon discovered that dual ovens were not really an advantage when baking cookies – it takes a while to form the cookies on the sheet and by the time you get one sheet ready, the last sheet is done baking. So turned off the bottom oven and just used the top after a while.
Didn’t get everything done the first day so finished on Saturday. Packaged up several trays of cookies for the party. Also discovered a new recipe for potatoes in the crock pot which turned out well. I have a new potluck dish for the future! A bag of frozen hash brown cubes, cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese, and a bit of onion. It was good!
The party was ok. I don’t know our Gold Wing club people as well as Steve does, and he is about the youngest one there. I’m pretty sure I am the youngest. The party was at the chapter director’s house, in their basement equipped with a full bar. We had a nice potluck dinner then held the auction for the baked goods. Back home in time to watch a SyFy movie that Steve had been wanting to watch.
On Sunday, boxed up cookies to send to Scott, and finished writing our Christmas letter. Harder to write this year with the juxtaposition of talking about a dream trip to Germany and Switzerland combined with Steve losing his job. But managed to finish it up and get it printed. Steve approved the letter but wasn’t crazy about the Christmas verse at the bottom of the paper. Went out anyway as it was with no changes.
We worked on the cards and got them sent out on Wednesday. I had cut way back, only to close family and those frinds who sent us cards. Steve decided to send cards to everyone in our Gold Wing grou, though. He did the work.
Tuesday, we had appointments so I took the day off work. We got some more shopping done between appointments and even had a nice dinner out, a rare treat when you’re on unemployment. Did it taste better knowing the government was helping to pay for it? Not really.
Eric called us for approval – he had discovered he needed a good watch as he starts nursing school in a few weeks. He’d found one that would fit his needs and wanted to go ahead and buy it (we paid him back as part of his Christmas of course.) What can you say except go ahead?
Thursday morning, I did some shopping before work, then again on the way home. Mainly stocking stuffers and the like, though I did look at humidifiers for Eric since his had broken and I still felt we needed to get a little more under the tree for him. Came home, brought the first load in the house, and went back for more. The first load included a bag from Target with a mesh bag of small dog tennis balls for Max. Came back in, unpacked the bags and thought nothing amiss. Later realized that I hadn’t unpacked the balls. Looked out in the car, and in the kitchen. Finally figured they’d been left out of the bag. Called Target and they said to bring the receipt in and they’d replace the balls. Well, about an hour later went to take Max outside and found the balls. All eight of them. Neon orange. Scattered all around the living room with remnants of the mesh bag all around, too. And we’re still finding little pieces of the bag. How he got them out of the bag without taking everything else out, too, is still a mystery. And there was chocolate in the same bag, too. So lucky that he didn’t get THAT as well.
Friday, Steve and I went out looking at humidifiers again. First stopped at Meijer as I’d forgetten to get fruit for the stockings. Then to Target where I’d seen some humidifiers on sale. Soon learned Steve’s criteria for a quality humidifier and that Target’s selection didn’t meet them. So on to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Even with coupons, he wanted to look at Home Depot before buying one there. We did buy a turntable at a really great price to convert vinyl to mp3, for me for Christmas from Steve. He asked for suggestions, well I brought him right to what I wanted. The price was too good to resist. Before Home Depot, we went up to Bath and Body Works where I had a B1G1F coupon. Had to use that before Christmas! The “Paris Amour” body lotion and shower gel went under the tree for me.
Home Depot’s selection was ok but didn’t have a long enough run time before refilling. So back to Target to check on the run time on theirs. Not long enough either, so we made another trip to BB&B and bought one there, using one of the 20% coupons that I had.
Before we left on that shopping trip (while Steve was still sleeping,) I finally opened that box of ornaments back up and got some of them on the tree. It wasn’t as full as usual but looked nice nonetheless. Also brought up the stockings, the holders, and the Christmas linens. The house finally looked more like Christmas was just around the corner.
Saturday. Christmas Eve. Presents wrapped, food bought, everything done but that forest of paperwork still occupying the dining room table. I worked into the late afternoon on it, made a good dent in it, then Eric arrived for the rest of the weekend. We had decided to open presents on Christmas Eve as church was on Sunday morning. So after a nice dinner of Chicken Pot Pie and some sneaky stocking filling, we were ready. I had asked Eric to be in charge of my stocking so I wouldn’t have to fill my own, and he did a marvelous job , even better than I had done on theirs. Then we tried to persuade Max (who was wearing his doggie Santa suit) to distribute the presents to us. No go. So we took turns choosing one to give to the recipient. I think we were all happy with the presents we received. Still, awfully quiet to just have three of us. Can’t wait for the next generation to come around and liven things up a bit! Two of my gifts from Eric were the movies “Midnight in Paris” and “The Kings Speech.” We spent the rest of the evening watching both of those movies. Eric liked them both, though Steve thought Midnight in Paris was just a chick flick. You just gotta appreciate Paris, I guess.
Christmas morning, we all went to Eric’s church to celebrate the real reason for the season. Missed the instrumental music and the traditional Christmas hymns but nonetheless a good morning to give thanks for God’s greatest gift. Came back home afterwards and chilled for a while, waiting for Scott to call. He called right on schedule and we enjoyed a good hour and a half’s conversation. Feel bad that he had nothing to open on Christmas and was by himself. Many of his Germany buddies have already moved on to new duty stations. We are really looking forward to seeing him in February when he comes home between Germany and Korea.
After ending our conversation, we headed over to Heather Hills to visit Steve’s dad. We brought him new slippers, a new clock, and some lounge pants. He seemed to be glad to see us. The dementia is taking further hold each day – he repeats the same stories and forgets many details about the past and present. It’s hard on Steve (and us) to see him this way but he just can’t be on his own any more.
Back home after our visit, still had half a table full of paperwork. Did what anybody else would do, which was to gather up the tablecloth with the papers inside, put it on my bed, and put the Christmas tablecloth on the table so Eric could set it with the good china for Christmas dinner. Ham that had been in the crockpot all afternoon, plus mashed sweet potatoes, corn, and rolls. Pie for dessert was not my shining moment. When I started to put together the cherry pie that I planned to bake, I discovered that one can of filling wouldn’t be enough. What to do to extend it…the only other can of pie filling I had was peach. Let’s try it. Well it wasn’t the best pie I’d ever made, let’s just say. Steve and Eric bravely had a piece each, but I’m fairly certain the rest will go to waste, not waist.
We spent the rest of the evening together, watching a James Bond movie and talking with family. Heard from both my sisters and my mom in the evening. Felt bad that they called me before I had a chance to call them. But very good to talk to them all.
Well, enough ramblings about Christmas for today. A nice quiet December 26 morning with Steve still in bed. Five pages in my word document, and just over three thousand words. Hope to get it published to my blog this afternoon at work. I’ll try to remember to write in word and not wait until I have wifi access to publish to the blog. Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas, too!

New technology - MAYBE?

We've been frustrated with our AOL dialup for a long, long time. Have been trying to find a solution to that. AT&T doesn't have anything for us. Comcast does, but wants us to pay $700 to extend the line from the pole that is at the end of our driveway to our house. Nope. All of it is location, location, location. Somehow we're not in a good one. Technology-wise that is.

We bought a cheap little external modem when we bought the new computer in August. I should say Steve and Eric did this. I was at camp at the time. Anyway, we've had a lot of trouble connecting to dialup and staying connected. We've tried so many solutions. Finally I decided to install the AOL software on my netbook and use the modem with the netbook. After a few glitches we were successful. Worked fine that evening. The next morning, had the same problems connecting that we've had with the desktop. We'd figured it was a software conflict on the desktop but after having the same issues we figured it's probably a problem with the (cheap) modem. You get what you pay for, right?

So went to Best Buy yesterday to buy a better modem. While there, the salesman talked us into trying wireless broadband. The Verizon map showed we did have coverage. So we brought home this little gizmo, charged it up last night, and started monkeying with it today. I am using wireless broadband right now as I'm typing. Very rarely would dialup cooperate enough to get me onto this site, part of the reason I haven't blogged much lately. The signal indicator has mostly been red showing a weak signal. We've had either one or two out of the four bars.

Steve was trying to send some Goldwing pictures to some friends. Very slow there. But I was just as slow sending pictures from work to him. Plus there are file size limitations. He's just not sure that this is going to work. Biggest reason (I think) he's hesitant is that if we don't return it within the three day trial, we are locked into a two year contract.

Plusses in my opinion are that we are online without hassle - important for him when he is job hunting and checking email. Plus the phone line is free - Scott should be calling about any time now and we're not blocking him by being online. Might not be as fast as he's used to at work but it sure is faster than dialup!

We're also not sure how much we use at a time. Our "plan" is for 5 GB per month, we're not sure how long that will take us to use. Waiting for one of our more tech-savvy offspring to give us some enlightenment on that. Eric spent a good part of Friday with us, so not sure if we'll see him today. Will ask Scott when we talk.

So MAYBE we will have better internet. If we decide this doesn't work, our only option seems to be satellite with a few hundred dollars to invest in set up fees and equipment. With this, we had to pay $35 activation, it's $50 per month, and the little gizmo was free. And we can take the little gizmo anywhere to get service, not just have it at home.

I'm hoping we stick with it.

Playing catch-up with the blog

Can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. I keep writing posts in my mind but then don't have time to go online and get them actually written. I should just write them in Word and then post when I can. Oh well.

It's been a roller coaster month. Pow-Wow was on the 15th of October, that was lots of fun and a bit challenging as I was asked to take on the science session at the last minute. That plus cooking and geocaching made for a busy day. The Wood Badge dinner was that evening, and in the same town, so got in some geocaching between the end of the Pow-Wow and the dinner.

The following Monday was not a good day in Cooper land. Steve lost his new job of six weeks duration. They had hired him in anticipation of a contract they thought they were getting. When the contract fell through, so did Steve's job. As of this writing, nothing promising yet. He was in line for at least one job that went to someone else. It's been very discouraging for him, to say the least. And now we have two COBRA payments to make, for a total of over $600 a month. I have faith that the Lord will bring us through this. Saddened that Steve does not have that faith. As I posted before, our house is paid off and we are debt free so we could be much worse off. I am hopeful that I will get more hours at work soon and also hopefully move into full time status so that I qualify for health insurance. If nothing moves for either of us by the first of the year, I am going to have to start looking for full time work with benefits. Much as I hate to lose my current job.

The next weekend was the fall edition of COAST at Camp Gerber. As usual, a great weekend of training leaders in outdoor skills and having a good time with all my friends on staff. Halfway decent weather for the end of October, though a bit chilly in the mornings. Got to do some good geocaching on the way up and back. Friday was the best - went to Duck Lake State Park, practically nobody else there, and did a bunch of good caches. One of the best was called "Lost Scout Camp" and was at the former site of Shawandosee which was the Boy Scout Camp where Gerald Ford had worked as a counselor in his youth. The caches on Sunday weren't as good, many placed by teenagers in Whitehall which were in poor condition, in glass containers, or otherwise had problems.

Since then it's been just the day to day. Getting used to the new routine of being the one to be quiet in the morning getting ready for work, and having Steve home when I get home. Max sure likes having Steve home, I'm sure! This month has been doctor month so far. Went for my eye checkup last Wednesday - my cataracts are a little worse but still not bad enough to do anything with yet. Today was the doctor for my diabetes check. Not proud to say I'm not doing so well. So hard to get back on track and with the holidays just around the corner I'm not optimistic. I'm going back to a second medicine which I really didn't want to do. But it's my own fault.
Next Wednesday is the dentist.

Will try my new plan of writing in word then posting when I can. We'll see how it goes.

Art Prize 2011

If you remember back in my blog last year, I spent quite a bit of time viewing Grand Rapid's Art Prize competition last year. It's back. Unfortunately it started on Wednesday night, then Thursday morning I left for Mackinac. So missed out on the first round voting all together between the trip and my work schedule. Last Friday afternoon I set out to see what I could. Hit most of the main downtown venues. I know I missed out on quite a bit but time was not my friend this year.

Lots of favorites even from what I did see. My vote went to Mantis dreaming, a huge metal sculpture of a praying mantis with a butterfly perched on his claws. There were some other great ones, too.

Might get to see a bit more tomorrow but voting is done now. They announce the winner tonight.

Mackinac Rendezvous 2011

A belated post to share my great weekend at Mackinac Rendezvous 2011...

Left on the drive north on Thursday morning (the 22nd of September.) Of course, my plan was to cache along the way. Hence, leaving on Thursday morning when I didn't have to be there until Thursday evening...

44 caches along the way. Some of those were part of a power trail just south of Petoskey that I wanted to try to do. 100 + caches, all about a tenth of a mile apart. After doing some, I realized that it wasn't much fun to pull off to the side of the road, turn off the car, get out of the car, go find a film canister or similar sized container, sign the log, go back to the car, start it up, and move a tenth of a mile down the road and repeat. So decided to go back to regular caching. Got to Mackinaw City, ate dinner at Burger King so I could use the wifi, then arrived at the campground about 8 p.m.

Friday morning, we got things ready for the scouts to check in starting at noon. I was in charge of the blue area, with a staff of three others. We had a little shelter, and as the units came in, one of us showed them where to go and made sure they got their vehicles unloaded and removed to the parking area. A lot of waiting time between units so we had time to talk and such. Cool but no rain until that evening. We had the last units checked in at about 10:30 p.m. then went back to our cabin and hit the sack.

Saturday was the reward for working check in/out. Took the boat to the island and had the day to myself. Rented a bicycle and rode the 8 miles around the perimeter of the island. A bit misty at first but turned out to be nice enough weather considering it's late September. And caching, of course. 21 caches while riding around the island, then 4 more after I returned the bike and did a little hiking. The obligatory fudge stop and then back to the boat and return to the campground. Dinner and a show completed our evening.

Sunday morning was check out - we were done by 11 a.m. Then off to the bike trail across the highway from the campground. There were about a dozen challenge caches there and I qualified for most of them. So another three miles on the bike to get those. Unfortunately, I think the riding was offset by the fudge...

More caching on the way home and I made it home at about 8:45 p.m. If I'd have written on this right after, probably would have had more detail. Oh well.

Back to Gilwell, part 2

I've been back to Gilwell and now am back in the real world. Left straight from work on Thursday, and arrived at Gerber about 7:15 p.m. after two short stops for geocaches/dinner. Most everyone else had arrived, and our staff meeting started shortly thereafter. After the meeting, we walked to Gilwell field and ran through some things, then back to Chaffee to get anything done we needed to. Most were in bed by midnight or so.

Friday morning dawned bright and early...after a breakfast burrito we proceeded to the pavilion together, where several patrols were already waiting to be checked in. As health officer, I needed to do a health recheck. Unbeknownst to me (at least at first) one of my troop guides was telling people in line to answer my question "how are you feeling today?" with various assorted ailments, ranging from cramps, bloating, and even hemorrhoids. One even asked if he needed to drop his pants...I caught on fast and laughed like the rest of them. Gilwell Field was at 9:30 - so nice to be singing "Back to Gilwell" again with so many of my scouting friends. Presentations followed - since mine was last weekend, I didn't have a lot of important tasks. I mainly just helped make sure everything was running smoothly. Lunch with a patrol, then dinner with another patrol, were both great. Friday evening was the participant's campfire - great to just sit back and watch that play out! Had hoped to get a little more sleep that night but my allergies disagreed and it was a restless night. Finally turned on my iPod and read one of my library e-books for a while until I got to sleep.

Saturday dawned bright and early (too early...)and I headed to breakfast with the Fox patrol. Good food and even Amish cinnamon rolls to accompany. Much of Saturday was taken up with reviewing tickets for the two patrols I was assigned to review. While reviewing tickets, I missed the conservation project, which was waterway cleanup. My heart wasn't broken. Ate lunch with the Eagles. The afternoon was more ticket review and watching the patrol presentations. They were great. We had a staff dinner while the patrols had dinner by themselves. Then the final ticket work began. Many of the tickets were already done by then; the hope was to have everyone done by early evening. Well, define early - is it midnightish? That's when we were done. That IS earlier than 2007 when my last participant finished at 3 a.m! Senior staff hung out at the pavilion - and we were joined by many of the patrols at one point or another. Lots of camaraderie in each patrol as they helped their patrol mates finish up.

Had just returned to Chaffee when I was notified that a participant who hadn't been feeling well earlier (I'd already visited him twice) was really not feeling well so I drove out to the site (to get there faster) and checked on him. He had been vomiting. Though he was feeling better, a camp resident staffer had already been by and offered to let him stay in his trailer that night, much closer to Chaffee in case he felt any worse through the night. That offer was accepted and I transported him (with puke bucket) to the trailer. He felt much better in the morning! Finally got to bed sometime after 1 a.m.

Sunday - way too little in the cumulative sleep department by now! Breakfast with the Owls then back to pack up at Chaffee while the participants had a chance to break down their camp. Gilwell at 9:30 where we were honored to have our council executive speak about 9-11 as yesterday was the 10th anniversary of those attacks. We also were able to do a Scout salute, the first in our council outside of the main salute that has been going on every 9-11 since 2002 at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids. We are the only Boy Scout council in the country that has been doing that all along. Chapel followed then a presentation.

Closing luncheon was pretty special. Before the luncheon, I had been given a card that told me to find a cache (without my GPSr) I had to follow these clues. First was to find the "Kung Fu Panda." Each clue directed me to a staffer, who gave me the next card. The final clue directed me to the "Kahuna" who turned out to be our course Scoutmaster. He said he couldn't find it so would get back to me. Ok. After lunch came presentations, and he directed me to his special chair where the cache turned out to be. It was a beautiful clear acrylic keepsake box, laser engraved with my name and patrol totem, from my troop guides as a thank you. I noticed beads inside but it didn't click then to look at them. After thanking them, I presented each of them with a lapel pin with the critter they had been troop guide for, along with a note of thanks for all they'd done. Other patrols then did presentations. I took a closer look at the box while these presentations were going on, and discovered that the beads inside were engraved with my course number & critter (Bobwhite) for my course, then a third bead engraved with my course that I earned the third bead for and the critter I was troop guide for. Wow. I will cherish them. And though my original beads will always be special, if Scott ever takes Wood Badge I plan to give him my original beads when he earns them.

One other special part of the luncheon. One of the patrols (Eagles) that I had ticket counseled for called me up and presented me with one of their patrol patches in thanks and recognition for my work with them. The presenter asked those who had been helped in Scouting by me to raise their hands. I was speechless and humbled by the large number of people that raised their hands. Another wow.

After lunch there were several closing presentations, including showing clips from the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus." The end of that movie always makes me cry, and I'm not alone in that, even many of the guys were crying. Closing Gilwell Field, then forming a congratulations line down the path as the participants left for home.

We had plenty of tear-down to accomplish but I managed to get out of Gerber about 6ish I think. Stopped for two caches on the way home but was home by 8 or so. Scott called shortly after I got home so I didn't miss his Sunday call after all. In bed by 10 (early for me) and still quite tired today.

I'll be working with several participants as their permanent ticket counselor, and I'm sure starting in six months or so attending quite a few if not all of their beading ceremonies. Sad that this part of the process is over but looking forward to things to come. It's been an interesting ride, starting last fall when I was asked to be on staff.

Lotsa changes

Came home from Wood Badge on Sunday night to find something I'd never considered would ever be there. A new computer! The old one, which I'd been trying to convince Steve needed replacing, finally died and Steve decided that since he was trying to find work it would be a good idea to replace it. Ya think? Anyway, new computer was a very nice surprise when I got home. Eric had helped him set it up, all but a modem which had to be ordered since they don't come standard anymore.

Then the second surprise. A message to call my boss. The person in charge of Noogieland (and the mom of the child I've had there since I started, 3 1/2 years now, plus his sister) took a new job and will be leaving. Now this is the only job I'm qualified for at Gilda's so it holds the possibility of change for me.

As of now they're only going to give me one of the evening groups on a trial basis. They are looking at how they want to structure her responsibilities so I probably just wouldn't step into her role. I'm thinking they want to preserve me with the kids. Down to one though when the other two leave. So mixed feelings for me there. Plus the night they want me to cover is Wednesday so I have to give up Awana. That makes me feel bad as they are pretty short staffed this year.

So the next day brought the third surprise, best of all. Steve was hired by AeroTek to work at ADAC Automotive as a designer. He started yesterday and so far so good. He says its a nice "normal" place as opposed to where he came from and he thinks he'll get along great. I'm so glad for him. And realize that we have been so blessed in this, for him to only be out of work three weeks. This is contract work for now but pretty much guaranteed to turn into direct employment in about six months or so. Doing the happy dance!

So this has been a week of surprises. Looking forward to a relatively quiet Labor Day weekend. Just a few ticket counseling sessions over the weekend with Wood Badge participants, then heading back up to camp next Thursday night.