Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
It began the first week of April. I had just started work on a new project in Vinton County, and I was writing down travel dates, training dates, and eyeing a few dates for some data collection. Four weeks of my summer were now planned.
I figured that while I was in front of the calendar, I should probably just write out everything else that I had been meaning to write down, but hadn't yet taken the time to do so.
"Gardening season is in full swing, so it's probably time to schedule some food preservation classes. Let's fit that in around the food security summit and policy council meetings. Oh yeah, and the food safety training that requires a three day out-of-town stay."
"Fair week is in late July...I've got those project enrichment days scheduled...project judging is the week before my birthday...I need to schedule time off for my birthday..."
School is only in session for another month, but in that month there's a week of teaching financial management to middle school students, a few days of child care and child development, some decision-making, and building water-powered bottle rockets with the after school kids. On the calendar page for August, I wrote a note to schedule classes with a handful of teachers.
"Kate- are you still going to offer cooking classes to our group?" "Yes, but only if I can switch my usual days with you all. Let's schedule these three days." Since I usually schedule those classes around Chamber meetings, I put my Chamber commitments on paper as well, then Social Service Council, then Drug Task Force, then Food Bank Advisory, then Children's Health Consortium...
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
May through September isn't quite fully booked yet, but it's getting pretty close. As much as I love my job, I don't want to look back on my summer and think that I spent it all in an office. So for fun that night, I went home and used my favorite markers to make some word art that outlined what I want to do on the weekends and the few evening hours I'll have.
Baseball games, visiting Presque Isle again, a trip to Michigan, driving out to random summer festivals, letterboxing, hiking all the parks in Medina, walking 150 miles.
Blowing bubbles, getting ice cream from Bid's, drawing, reading, spending time outside every day, writing, catching fireflies.
I also left space for unknown things that might find their way into my life.
I've likened my summer to the Demon Drop that used to be at Cedar Point: the last month has been the ride up the height of the tower, preparing for everything on my upcoming schedule as much as I could. Last week I reached the top of the tower and was sent out to hang precariously over the edge, just waiting. Today, the bottom drops out; and while the ride will ultimately seem too short, it will be exciting, exhilarating, delightful, and just plain fun.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Monday, April 11, 2016
Enjoying My Seat on the Struggle Bus
I've been thinking a lot about my sister today - specifically, all the little catchphrases she likes to use. I used her mantra, "Life is SO hard," as I complained about trivialities in life. I called someone Ponita. But of all her catchphrases, the one nearest and dearest to my heart today was "struggle bus." I know that she didn't coin the phrase, but she was the first to bring it to my attention. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, I'll save you the trip to Urban Dictionary and just tell you that struggle bus is what you say when you can't handle even the simplest of tasks. I, dear readers, have been driving the struggle bus this last week.
It all started last Sunday when I was proud of myself for finding a restaurant without getting lost. I mean, I did have to ask how to find the Cherry Street Pub ("Uh, it's on Cherry Street."), but I was just happy that I made it to Cherry Street without first having driven to Bremen. I was also proud of myself for finding a parking space right out front of the building. I was less proud when I realized that I had driven the wrong way down a one-way street to find said parking space.
Friday, I found myself trying to load my car with supplies that I would need for Monday's classes. I was planning ahead! I would be able to transition into Monday with ease, which would be appreciated after a week that had been made difficult by illness. All I had to do was fit a rolling file cart and a small tote in my car's trunk and make them fit around the medium-sized tote that was already present. Simple enough, right? Nope. Five minutes of sweaty struggle ensued, complete with me muttering my favorite "French" phrases under my breath and hoping that the paramedics in the next building over couldn't hear me. I eventually discovered that a round Tupperware container had lodged itself in the very back of the trunk and was preventing me from fully utilizing the space. I moved the Tupperware into it's original spot and had everything packed in thirty seconds.
Then there was today...
We have an advisory committee meeting once per quarter. Prior to these meetings, we send out packets of information that inform our advisory board about the work we've done over the last three months. I had six sheets of information to print, and each sheet needed its own letterhead or unique color of paper. It's really a simple task. To write out the entire story would bump this post well over the acceptable length, and would include a lot of details that would make it just that much easier to have me committed, so we won't go down that path today. Instead, I'll just share that it took me three attempts to figure out how to properly load the letterhead into the printer, I printed three different documents on white paper (then had to reprint them on different color paper), and the info I put on the yellow paper required three rounds of emails with my boss and a software installation. Oh, and even the yellow paper had to be printed twice because I accidentally sent them to the printer as double-sided copies, even though I needed them single-sided.
To quote my favorite movie, "Morons, your bus is leaving..." I was the driver.
These are just three of the dozen or so instances I can recall from the past seven days. I'm hopeful that with no small amount of concentration, the remainder of my week won't be so trying. Life is so hard.
It all started last Sunday when I was proud of myself for finding a restaurant without getting lost. I mean, I did have to ask how to find the Cherry Street Pub ("Uh, it's on Cherry Street."), but I was just happy that I made it to Cherry Street without first having driven to Bremen. I was also proud of myself for finding a parking space right out front of the building. I was less proud when I realized that I had driven the wrong way down a one-way street to find said parking space.
Friday, I found myself trying to load my car with supplies that I would need for Monday's classes. I was planning ahead! I would be able to transition into Monday with ease, which would be appreciated after a week that had been made difficult by illness. All I had to do was fit a rolling file cart and a small tote in my car's trunk and make them fit around the medium-sized tote that was already present. Simple enough, right? Nope. Five minutes of sweaty struggle ensued, complete with me muttering my favorite "French" phrases under my breath and hoping that the paramedics in the next building over couldn't hear me. I eventually discovered that a round Tupperware container had lodged itself in the very back of the trunk and was preventing me from fully utilizing the space. I moved the Tupperware into it's original spot and had everything packed in thirty seconds.
Then there was today...
We have an advisory committee meeting once per quarter. Prior to these meetings, we send out packets of information that inform our advisory board about the work we've done over the last three months. I had six sheets of information to print, and each sheet needed its own letterhead or unique color of paper. It's really a simple task. To write out the entire story would bump this post well over the acceptable length, and would include a lot of details that would make it just that much easier to have me committed, so we won't go down that path today. Instead, I'll just share that it took me three attempts to figure out how to properly load the letterhead into the printer, I printed three different documents on white paper (then had to reprint them on different color paper), and the info I put on the yellow paper required three rounds of emails with my boss and a software installation. Oh, and even the yellow paper had to be printed twice because I accidentally sent them to the printer as double-sided copies, even though I needed them single-sided.
To quote my favorite movie, "Morons, your bus is leaving..." I was the driver.
These are just three of the dozen or so instances I can recall from the past seven days. I'm hopeful that with no small amount of concentration, the remainder of my week won't be so trying. Life is so hard.
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