Better attitude

Yesterday's post was a little frazzled, to say the least. I am still feeling a bit like all the balls I am juggling are getting away from me, but today has gone pretty well. My team has come through very well, and we have all made things work as we are in different offices. Now, I will not lie, I did curse at the copy machine this morning in the 100 degree office because it was not working. I am going back to the 100 degree office tomorrow to try to pack up my things for my move, and I am praying for a better attitude. I am learning through this silly little experience that I do not like it when I cannot control the change around me. I am having to learn to be more flexible and adaptable...and to not curse at inanimate objects : ) My team semi-officially changed to its new supervisor today, and that was a huge weight off of my shoulders. The staff member who is taking over the team is very reliable, highly qualified, and already respected by my team. I honestly think she will do a much better job than I have done over the past year. Although this year in management has had a lot of struggles, I am glad I took the plunge, and I feel that I did the best I could. I am so excited about becoming the Volunteer Coordinator for YV! It will be difficult for the first month or so while I learn my way around the position, but I think it will be a good experience overall with so much room for me to learn about development and community relations.

Get ready for phone calls and emails about volunteer opportunities ; )

Air Conditioning blues

The AC goes out at my office about 3 or 4 times a summer (and the heat goes out about 3 or 4 times a winter). We have just accepted it as the norm. Usually when the air goes out, it is only for a few hours until it is repaired, so we survive. Today, though, was unbearable. The AC must have gone out sometime in the night, because there was no remaining coolness left in the entire building this morning. I sat in my office for 15 minutes, sweating profusely, trying to gather up the files that I would need to work out of another office for the day. We had a meeting a Starbucks and then I hopped into my soon-to-be cubicle at our Operations Center. I called all of our potential foster families to cancel class tonight, and I tried to rally my staff to get work done despite being split up around the city in various offices. Now word is that the mother board of the AC is broken, and we require an entirely new system. Plus side - maybe this AC unit won't go out as frequently as the old one has. Minus side - I am not in my office for the rest of the week, and this is my LAST week in that office, and I have 5 million things to do before moving over permanently to the Operations Center!!! I am trying to remain calm...really I am.

I should get back to work instead of writing this silly blog, shouldn't I?

My worst race ever...so bad I would hardly call it a race...

I have a very bad habit of training hard for a particular event and then just completely falling off the wagon after the event is over. In 2007 I trained a good bit for the Memphis Half Marathon, and after it was over, I don't think I actually ran for almost 2 months. In 2008 I really trained - I mean trained with a coach and everything - for the Memphis Half Marathon, and after it was over, I thought I was doing well. Granted, I didn't run between December 6th and January 1st...but I was pretty steady about running at least twice a week during the winter and spring. I trained again for the Youth Villages 5k in April, and my training paid off with a personal record of sub-11-minute miles. After April, I pretty much stopped exercising all together : ( I blame it on late nights at work, getting a car, and I think some bad weather on the weekends. Really, I should just blame myself for not having the internal motivation to keep going! So, last Saturday, Becky and I decided to run the Gibson 5k. We were trying to be supportive of a friend who didn't actually end up running it with us, and it was 90 degrees outside, and poor Becky had been without power for 24 hours, and I had just been a lazy mess for the past two months, and again we both had a significant lack of internal motivation. As my title should guide you, it was the worst race I have ever participated in. We ran the first mile, and then I had to stop. My mouth was dry, my heart was pumping, and my head felt like it was about to explode. I think if I had looked at myself in the mirror, my face would have been a similar shade to a radish. For the next mile, I kept wondering where the water station would be (this from the girl that has normally scoffed at water stations in 5ks! I mean, it's just three miles! Why would you need water half way through three miles). Oh, but I needed water, badly. I also drank the entire cup of water once we got to the aid station - I would have taken five if they had let me! Becky and I talked about our lack of motivation, reminisced about our other more successful races, our first 5k, our drinking habits while in Europe, and paid almost no attention to how long the race was taking us. Then within 0.1 miles two horrific things happened. At mile 3, the volunteer timer just happened to be an MRTC member who has been very condescending to us in the past, and to whom we have tried to show we are 'real' runners. But no, this time she was shouting out "48:10, 48:11," as we passed her at the three mile mark. I made the mistake of making eye contact, so she smiled back at me with gut wrenching familiarity! Then, as we rounded the last corner to finish the darn thing, there is a man with a camera at the finish line. I hate finish line pictures for two reasons: 1) I always look like a developmentally delayed velociraptor, and 2) the pictures go online for ALL the world...well running world at least...to see. Uggh! Thank goodness for free sno cones at the finish line!

4th Anniversary!

Yay! Today is our fourth wedding anniversary! The only pictures I have of Jonathan and me are ones that other people have taken...um...because we hardly ever take pictures. These two are from our mission trip to Argentina in 2007:

Some things I love about my husband:

• He is a strong Christian and keeps me grounded.



• He is super smart but also very down to earth.



• He puts up with all of my pitfalls.



• He tells me he loves me about five million times a day!



• He likes to dream with me about the future.



• He is very supportive of all of my crazy ideas: getting up at 5:30am every Saturday in the summer and fall to run (me...not him), buying lots of planting accessories when all of my planting attempts fail miserably, eating turkey instead of beef and pork, insisting on making our wedding thank you cards instead of just buying thank you cards...the list could go on.



• He still gets excited when he sees me across a crowded room. (I do too!)

Okay, that's enough! We are very blessed and thankful for four great years, and hope the next four are even better :)

Really?

I seldom watch Fox News. This is part due to the fact that I do not have cable. And part due to the fact that it is Fox News. The only times that I watch Fox News are when a screen is forced in front of my face, usually at my dentist's office. Yesterday, Jason's Deli had Fox News on its screens during lunch time. So, as my husband loaded up his salad bar plate, I watched an interview with some talking head about the environment. It went something like this:

"Sure, a few solar panels on a few roofs are good. But the laws of physics tell us that the sun does not shine all the time, and the wind does not blow all the time. But coal is something this country can count on." (smug smile)

My mouth pretty much just dropped open. I am pretty sure that the sun and the wind are more reliable than fossil fuels. Granted, I'm a social worker, not a physicist...

Pictures from Graduation

Before the ceremony with my mother.
After the ceremony with my Uncle Archie

Yay Jonathan for putting up with my crazy schedule!

Mom, Jonathan, Me, Dad

Sister Katie

Uncle Archie, Me, Grandfather (we didn't have enough tickets, so poor Gran was back at our apartment)

Check out that Volunteer Orange!