What's Making Me Happy This Week

1. Cake!  Last Sunday was my birthday.  
2. The show Community on Netflix.  We're doing a rewatch of all the seasons as a family in the evenings and that laughter is so needed right now!
3. Coronavirus memes!
4. Small bursts of art in the mornings this week while having my first cup of coffee.
5. I had a Girl Scout meeting where we played "telephone" on Zoom.  OMG it was so much fun!  Then we stayed on just going through old pictures and memories.  Two of them posted on Instagram old pictures of the troop - what a great trip down memory lane.  And speaking of that - this week 3 years ago, I took my troop to the Grand Canyon for Spring Break.  It was our end-of-8th grade trip.  

#corona #covid19 #coronavirus #zoommeetings #zoom #patrickstewart #shakespeare #girlscouts #girlscoutmeetings #family #cooking #cookingduringcorona #livinglavidacorona #livinlavidacorona #socialdistancing #socialdistance #socialdistancecooking #socialdistancebaking #coronacooking #baking #bakingbread #bread #homemadebread #girlpower #friends #socialdistancing #zoom #zoommeeting #sillyfaces #girlscoutsrock #girlscoutmeeting #girlboss #happierpodcast #happierathome #whatsmakingmehappy

What's Making Me Happy This Week

1. Patrick Stewart reading Shakespeare Sonnets! https://www.facebook.com/patrickstewart/
2. Zoom meetings!  I've had quite a few this week.  

   

   Family Zoom! <3

• Tuesday: Girl Scout Troop
• Wednesday: Family zoom in the afternoon and Girl Scout Service Unit Management Team in the evening
• Thursday: Girl Scout Service Unit zoom for all leaders in the area.  We had about 25-30 people on at one point!
• Friday: Playgroup moms and kids
3. Not crying during any of the meetings.  I keep feeling the urge coming on and then it subsides.  I'm waiting for the dam to burst, just hopefully it doesn't do so when I'm on a call.
4. My friends!  I posted about the lack of yeast and friends came through for me and Nadia (who is the one who is cooking up a storm lately).  Thank you to Anita and to Heather for dropping off yeast.  And thank you to Sheri for letting us borrow her barre for Nadia's dance classes.  💜
5. BREAD!

#corona #covid19 #coronavirus #zoommeetings #zoom #patrickstewart #shakespeare #girlscouts #girlscoutmeetings #family #cooking #cookingduringcorona #livinglavidacorona #livinlavidacorona #socialdistancing #socialdistance #socialdistancecooking #socialdistancebaking #coronacooking #baking #bakingbread #bread #homemadebread

What's Making Me Happy This Week

1. My Girl Scout troop.  We had our first Girl Scout Zoom meeting last night! So good to see everyone’s smiling and silly faces - what a mood lifter. We’ll make it through this weird time together!


2. My Girl Scout Service Unit Management Team!  We had a zoom happy hour on Wednesday night. Another uplifting moment!


3. Trying to be crafty with the Cricut.  Cut out a small mandala that we are going to iron on to 9 different canvasses and then each of us take 3 to paint in.  Maybe we'll be done by next week's post.


4. Damian's university resumed classes this week online.  Students have to log on to live lectures at the classes' regular time.  There are pros and cons to doing it this way but I think the biggest pro is that it forces Damian to be back on his regular schedule for the 4 days he has classes.


5. I was able to get my diabetic medicine delivered to me by CVS.  So happy to see my refills arrive within 2 days of ordering them!

#livinlavidacorona #girlscouts #girlpower #friends #socialdistancing #zoom #zoommeeting #sillyfaces #girlscoutsrock #girlscoutmeeting #girlboss #happierpodcast #happierathome #whatsmakingmehappy

Taking Stock: Fall 2017

In doing some research about Bullet Journaling, I came across this list on www.meatmeetsmike.com that many seem to use in Bullet Journaling.  I thought it would be a good way to end 2017 on my blog since I haven't posted since September.

September?!?! Honestly where has the time gone? I have thought of many topics to write about but just haven't done it.  I really want to change that but I'm not sure what the best recourse for that would be for me.  Two schools of thought: schedule it out once a week or even once a month or go all in with a sentence or two every day.

I'll get back to that in a bit to decide.

For now, taking stock of Fall 2017:

Making: Small efforts here and there.
Cooking: Curry.
Drinking: Wine.
Reading: What Happened? by Hillary Clinton; I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai. Also, A World History of Photography by Naomi Rosenblum for my History of Photography class at LAVC.
Next Read: Daughters of the Night Sky by Aimie K Runyan.
Wanting: A less cluttered home.
Looking: A bit more overweight. 😔
Playing: Gummy Drop!
Deciding: To start paying attention, real attention, to my health.
Wishing: For a society that didn't allow racism out in the open.
Enjoying: My children loving each other and being each other's best friends.
Waiting: For Trump to be impeached.
Liking: My electricity bill after we got the solar panels installed.
Wondering: About Damian's future who has been applying to colleges this Fall!
Loving: That Nadia loves her new high school!
Pondering: Small ways to improve our lives.
Considering: How to pay off some bills.
Buying: Amazon's Echo and automating our house.
Watching: Finished Firefly and all 7 seasons of The West Wing with Nadia!
Next watch: The Crown!
Hoping: To be a little less angry in 2018.
Marvelling: At the persistence of people in the fight for equality.
Cringing: At the persistence of the people in the fight for inequality.
Needing: To believe that things will right themselves in the coming years.
Questioning: How the time flew by and I have two kids in high school!
Smelling: Whatever candle I'm burning from Candles By Ari. 💟 I'm getting into the habit of burning a candle everyday if I'm home for an extended period of time.  I find that the gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) smells relax me.
Wearing: Comfy clothes.
Following: A bunch of new people on Instagram.  This past week, I've started looking into Bullet Journaling (as I said at the top).  It's supposed to be easy and simple - but too many people make it all fancy and pretty and Pinterest-y and that overwhelmed me earlier this year.  
Noticing: My hair needs to be colored again.  Sometimes I wonder if I should just accept it and let it go all gray naturally.  This in-between stage sucks though.
Knowing: That I need to make an effort to take care of myself.  I let myself go this Fall and my recent check up showed that.  
Thinking: About how much we did over the past 3 months.  September, we got Damian's name and gender legally changed.  October, Chris and I celebrated 23 years of marriage.  Also, my car died on the freeway during rush hour traffic, but the part that died was still under warranty!  So, STRESS and then not so much stress.  November, Damian got his first college acceptance letter! And he finished a couple of his other college applications.  And Nadia had a couple of shows/recitals.  She is thriving.
Admiring: Countries that have their health care systems in order.  Sure it may be a long wait to get surgery or something like that, but if I feel the need to not take my medication as often as I should because I need to make it last because of the damn health insurance, then me needing something more invasive will become inevitable.  Preventative care is the way to go - and that should be accessible to everyone.
Sorting: Through old clothes and things in the house.  We have too much stuff and I don't want it anymore.
Getting: To the point where I might just have to accept that we will never retire and travel the world.
Bookmarking: My doctor's patient portal so that it is staring me in the face so I check in with her often.
Coveting: Peace.  Really, that's all I want.  I don't need to be rich - just want the stress of things like credit cards, healthcare bills, and expensive surprises to go away.  And if those things went away, the income both Chris and I have now would be enough.  On top of it all, stress of looming college bills.
Disliking: That I have to gall to complain about all that when we have a roof over our head, food on the table, and our (relatively good) health.
Opening: All the mail every day.  I am making the decision to open all the mail every day so that I stop letting it pile up and get overwhelmed by the unopened mail.
Giggling: At the antics of Andy on Parks & Rec.  Damian and Chris quoted him to me earlier today when I was talking about going to the doctor and getting all the tests done.  There was an episode where Andy had to go to the doctor and had so much wrong with him.  But it was hilarious and I was giggling way past the time when they quoted him to me.  
Feeling: Good about the fact that I went to the doctor yesterday and have a plan to get myself back under control.
Snacking: NO!  I need to stop snacking - this is why I'm in the situation I'm in right now!  But last night I was snacking on Gorgonzola crackers from Trader's Joe.  Yum.
Hearing: Don and Paulette's dog barking.  But I like that right now because that means that it is warm enough outside to have our door open.  I know that the rest of the country is having some severe cold weather right now, so I'm thankful for what we have here in Southern California.

This was harder than I thought it would be to fill in all of these items.  

Two weeks left in Summer 2017

Nadia and Damian at LA Pride

Graduation memories!

I end each school year with the idea that I'm going to get so much done around the house in the summer months.  But my house is as crazy as ever.  June went by in a blur - Nadia graduated from middle school.  I remember that the Girl Scout troop met a couple of times (tour of NPR West and a Patrol Challenge day) and Nadia spent a lot of time with friends she's leaving from middle school and we went to the LA Pride parade and we had a bunch of doctor check ups (just your regular yearly exams)...

But July!  July was a busy but pretty great month.  We started off with a fabulous family vacation.  It's the one week of the summer that Chris has off from work so we took advantage.  First, we went to Arrowhead on our annual 4th of July trip with The Five Families aka the Playgroup Families.  These are four other families who we've know for over 17 years now - kids were a part of our MOMS Club playgroup with Damian.  Anyway, every 4th of July we go to a house in Arrowhead that is owned by one of the families and they generously invite us all.  We always have a grand time on the lake. 

Summer fun on the lake.

It's a summer tradition - one that hopefully will continue for a long time.  We were there from June 30th (Friday night) until July 4th (Tuesday).  Then we drove from Arrowhead to Pine Mountain Lake just outside of Yosemite for the rest of the week.  My in-laws' friends have a lake house up there which, again, they generously invited us (and a bunch of other families) to come and relax.  Driving from Arrowhead to PML took us about 9 hours in total but I'm so glad we did it.  The rest of the week was of good food, lots of wine, swimming, and playing cards.  We taught Damian and Nadia how to play poker and they both actually came away with some cash winnings!  We left PML to come back home on Saturday July 8th.  That was quite the ride back!  It was 104 degrees or something insane like that and our AC in the car didn't work for half the ride back!  We had to stop more than we wanted to so that we could go inside an air conditioned restaurant to cool down.  It was early evening when the temp dropped to 93 degrees when the AC decided to kick in!  Oh how we cheered!

July 7th was also important because it was the one year anniversary of Damian coming out to the world.  A full year of Living Authentically.  It was also the anniversary of my full acceptance of him - calling him Damian, using male pronouns all the time.  So much has happened in the past year.  We informed his school of his transition.  He went on T shots.  He cut his hair to fully represent who he is.  We had a big family gathering during the week of Thanksgiving for a wedding and he was fully and completely accepted by my extended family.  He seems so much more at ease with who he is and living that way out loud.  He continues to awe me with his strength.

This is not to say that I still don't struggle with this.  I do.  Facebook's feature "On This Day" is an almost constant reminder of his past and what I used to have.  But I've changed - before I would have said "what I lost".  But I've come to realize that I didn't lose anything.  I now have a child who is more and more comfortable with who he truly is.  I thought I knew my child before.  But I'm learning that I am only now getting to know his true self and he's amazing.

Facetiming with Nadia

Back to our July - the week after we got back from our family vacation was busy with getting Nadia ready to leave for the Bolshoi Ballet summer intensive.  I handled it better than last year, but was still a bit of a mess.  Last minute shopping and packing and making sure she was ready for her flights and navigating a taxi by herself in Hartford....oh, and getting ready for the Girl Scout Twilight Camp (a day camp) which I was volunteering at the following week.  AHHHHH!

So Nadia left on July 15th to Washington DC, staying overnight with my wonderful uncle and cousin, then got on another flight from DC to Hartford on July 16th.  Bit of a delay in Hartford as the taxi company was awful and didn't send a taxi for about 1 1/2 hours.  But luckily she had someone to wait with at the airport....all's well that ends well.  She got settled in (got her own room too!) and started the intensive on July 17th.

Friends from Twilight Camp

Which was the start of Twilight Camp for me.  It's a day camp run by volunteers and Girl Scout counselors.  Remember how I said I still struggle with Damian's transition?  Well, we fought about him going to Twilight Camp.  I know, he's not a girl so why did I fight about him going to Girl Scout camp?  For me, it was mostly about him being with friends he's known forever.  It's his last year - next year he'll be 18 and he would be an adult.  It was about closing out a chapter in his life.  Really, that's it.  I admit I was being selfish.  It's things like this that make me think about the past and what I thought was real.  We fought, but we compromised and he came for 2 days.  I appreciate his ability to compromise with me on things like this.

Getting Senior Portraits done

Finally the last full week of July.  Several things happened.  On Monday, Damian took his Senior portraits!  His last year of high school has begun.  Then, we filed the paperwork in the courts to make Damian's name and gender change legal.  Again...internally I struggle with this, but I do accept that this is the next step.  Should have done this earlier, but I just didn't.  But we have a court date!  September 8th.

The other big thing last week was our first doctor consultation for "top" surgery.

I paused here for a few minutes while writing this because this is emotional for me.  It's hard to process and express what I'm feeling.  After the appointment, I was surprised at what I felt.  I felt ok.  Relaxed.  It hit me again - what is happening is true and real because there is no way that someone would put themselves through all the pain and turmoil and headache of living as the gender that is opposite your assigned-at-birth one. I'll write more about this and the legal stuff later when I've had a bit more time to process it.

Today is July 31st.  The end of a eventful month.  Tomorrow starts another eventful month.  Tomorrow, August 1st, Damian and I leave for NYC and Hartford to pick up Nadia from Bolshoi.  I get the excitement of showing Damian NYC for the first time and then spending the weekend there with both of my kids.  I wish Chris was coming, but he's working as usual.  Then we get back, just in time for Nadia's high school orientation and Damian's senior orientation.  Off on another adventure!

If not me, then who?

Yesterday, someone asked me if I'm stepping down from any of my volunteer positions in the coming school year.

For those of you who don't know, I volunteer with PTA and with Girl Scouts a lot.  On the PTA side, I'm on the board at Nadia's middle school and I'm on the board at the PTA Council level (Council oversees 12 school PTAs in the local area with training and support).  I've been involved with PTA for 8 years now at various schools and at the Council level for 4 years now.

On the Girl Scout side, I am a troop leader for Nadia's troop (I was involved with Damian's troop when he was in elementary and middle school, not so much now though).  I started Nadia's troop when she was in 2nd grade, so this is my 6th year as a leader.  I'm also the manager of our local Service Unit - it's similar to the PTA Council in that we oversee troops in the local area, but there are about 40 troops of all levels and sizes.  This is my 3rd year as SUM.  It's a lot of work, especially during Girl Scout Cookie season!  But I love this position a lot.

Anyway, back to the question...by the time I answered it, I was rambling on.  My answer was so convoluted because I am stepping down from a couple of positions in PTA but taking on another one at the District level, which I'm not thrilled about.  (District oversees about 120 local PTAs in the San Fernando Valley.)  And it got me thinking - why am I doing it if it's not making me happy?  Or is it?  I'm not a weak person to just say yes to everything someone asks me to do.

I know some of you are raising your eyebrows at me.  No, really, I'm not.  I CAN say no if I really want to.  I have said no a few times - just not very often.  lol

The thing is that change needs to happen in our schools.  At so many levels, change needs to happen.  Having been involved in schools on various levels and committees, I see where some of those changes need to happen.  And if we all say "well, that won't affect me or my kid" then how will anything change?  That mentality happens all the time, and not just in the schools.  I know I've said it to myself when I'm tired or overwhelmed with everything that I have to do.  We've all said it - some more than others, but that's for another post.  But we have to band together to make things better for society as a whole.

And so...if not me, then who?

If not you, then who?

Love what you do - do what you love - volunteer for your passion

So, I volunteer a lot.  People who know me, know this is true.  Sometimes to the chagrin of my
husband and my children, no doubt.  But yeah, I volunteer for a couple of different organizations. 

PTA - not just at my kids' schools, where I was Treasurer for two years and then President for three years, but also at the next level.  I was Council President and now am Council Treasurer - the Council I'm in oversees 12 local schools and their PTAs.  I've been nominated to move up to the District, which oversees the entire San Fernando Valley.  I have resisted that move for a while now because I feel that the further I get from the local schools, the less impact my time will have on the kids - which is the whole reason to volunteer.

I also volunteer with Girl Scouts.  I have been a leader since 2011 when Nadia was in 2nd grade.  I have loved being a leader.  Sometimes, the parents are hard to deal with and sometimes the kids have serious attitudes, but overall, I truly believe in the Girl Scout mission to cultivate girls with courage, confidence, and character, now more than ever.  And with Girl Scouts, I have moved up the ranks too - troop leader (which I still am), to Service Unit product sales support, to Service Unit Manager.  I oversee about 40-45 troops in our local area.  It can be an exhausting position, but everytime we have a troop leader meeting (once a month all the leaders get together to get info and exchange ideas), I walk away feeling really good about the support I am giving to our local leaders (along with my Service Unit Management Team).  That support flows directly to supporting the girls in those troops - leaders who are happy and feel supported translate to fun and active troops.

I volunteer because I feel passionately about these two organizations.  But I'm still waiting for the cash to start rolling in.

Say, what?

Well, there is all this advice out there about doing what you love and feel passionate about and the success/money will come.  I'm following that - I love supporting kids and other adults who support kids (like teachers and troop leaders).  I've been doing this since 2008.  And every year it seems to get more and more time consuming.  But I have yet to see any kind of monetary payout.

Are you sure about that?

Yeah, yeah, I know that the skills I use in volunteering, like event planning, human resources, time management, and project management can translate into a career and money.  Ok, fine, I'll stop waiting for the money to start falling from the sky!


All kidding aside and getting back to passions...one of the reasons I volunteer is because I have a passion for fun.  And I volunteer with some seriously funny people!  Some of these people have become true friends and sisters in the cause.   People who I just adore and LOVE to hang out with them.  I also have a passion for kids, which is how I chose the organizations I support.  And I have a passion for making a difference.  After all, if not me, then who?

But a lot of people don't realize that when the fun stops, when the support doesn't get to the intended audience, then the reason for volunteering stops.  Who is going to give their free time to something that isn't giving them SOMETHING back (not money).  Giving them a purpose, giving them a sense of satisfaction, giving them some fun!

Volunteering can be serious work.  I always hated when someone said they would do something and then bailed.  Just because it's a volunteer thing doesn't mean that someone isn't relying on you doing what you said you were going to do!  Because if you say you're going to do something, say run a table at the carnival, and then you back out or even worse, don't show up, then someone else has to scramble to fill your position with another volunteer.  So, while it can (and should!) be fun, it's also something to consider carefully.  Don't just say yes without every intention to do your best.

Because what is just fun for you may just be a passion for someone else.

Women's March LA 2017

What an amazing experience going to the Women's March in Los Angeles was last week!  I took both Damian and Nadia with me, but unfortunately Chris had to work, otherwise he would have gone with us too.

We got to the subway station at Universal City at 8am and met up with two other Girl Scout leaders.  We didn't go as a Girl Scout event, but my friends just happened to be Girl Scout leaders too.  The three of us just took our own kids.  Nadia wore her Girl Scout vest there.  Anyway, so we met up with them at 8am.  Luckily we found parking pretty easily in one of the nearby lots.  There were so many people going so the energy in the air was exciting.  We saw lots of cool signs too.

Getting on a subway was crazy.  We went down to the platform.  The first train that came, we couldn't get on, but got closer to the front of the line.  The second train that came, same thing.  The third train, we decided that if only a few of us could push our way on, then we'll just meet back up at the destination (Pershing Square).  Two of our group were pushing on...the daughter got on but not the mother, so that didn't work.  Then we decided to follow someone else's advice - we got on the train going the other way towards North Hollywood (the end of the line) and just stayed on at the end while the train turned around to back down towards downtown.  In the end, that worked out for us.  Makes sense because the traffic at North Hollywood was CRAZY as I drove by it to go to Universal.


It was a long and stuffy ride to Pershing Square.  The kids were complaining but there was nothing to do about it.  Finally we got there and it took a while to get out of the station.  And then...we waited.  We moved along towards Pershing Square inch by inch - some people were being rude but I think they were mostly people who lived in the area or had to still go to work through that.  I can't imagine.

I think what happened was that there were so many people there that it overwhelmed the organizers and the original route just wasn't happening.  That's what happened in DC and I think that's what happened in LA too.  So many people that there wasn't really a way to march anywhere.  So, we ended up turning around and walking towards City Hall via a different route.


So we marched, listened to and participated in the chanting, and enjoyed the hope that was clear throughout the day.  There wasn't a lot of anger being displayed - there was some through some of the signs, but it really was about being a part of something bigger, being a part of a statement.  It was so energetic to be around that many people who were coming together for the same cause - equal rights.  It was not just a women's cause - it was about equality for all.

Dependability

I've been spending a lot of time working on my volunteer pursuits this month and something that has hit me big time this month is the issue of dependability.

In the non-profit or volunteerism world, dependability is a huge commodity.  Finding someone who is trustworthy and dependable is key to getting projects done.  But often someone will say they will step up to run a project but either can't do it or decide that it's too much work.  It's certainly easy to say you'll step up to run the school carnival...but it is a whole different ball of wax to actually do it and not do a half-assed job.  Way too often, I have come across people who have grand ideas but lack the ability or drive to execute.

School PTAs are prime examples of this.  Sitting in a meeting, its hard to not step up to a position when the President or Principal asks for volunteers.  Especially when that call is put out and no one else is jumping at that chance.  I know for me, I feel badly that the school is going to miss out on making money or the kids will miss out on a fun event because no one stepped up to run the project.  So, I raise my hand.  When I say I'm going to do something, I rarely let anything get in my way of getting the job done.  How many sleepless nights have I spent on projects for my girls' schools?  Too many!

I guess I've been burned enough times to not expect people to follow through anymore.  Sad, but true.  I have a fantastic group of women on my Girl Scout Service Unit management team, but I've been slow to really depend on them.  Our Service Unit oversees 40 troops in our local area.  Recently, we had a huge snafu in a schedule leading up to our Girl Scout cookie selling season and I was up until late into the night working on fixing this for Girl Scouts.  The next weekend was a big event for over 200 girls that we were putting on.  At our last planning meeting before the event, all of these ladies insisted on taking jobs off my plate, so much so that I finished all the tasks I needed to do for the big event a couple of days ahead of my planned schedule.  I was SO thankful to not be stressing out leading up to the big event.  That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for these amazing volunteers who stepped up to help me.

To me, your word is golden.  If you step up for something and don't follow through, it reflects on your character.  I'd rather someone step up to a job, then tell me that they either need to step down or need help or even need a smaller position, than desert the position and all the people who were counting on you.  It's all too easy to abandon the job in a volunteer setting because there is no penalty, like docking your paycheck  But the effects of that are felt by the people who are left holding the bag, especially in an organization like a PTA or Scouts because the people who are being let down are children.

Be honest and open about your limitations.  With yourself and with others.

Why do I do this to myself?

That is the question that Maya asked me the other night as I was stressing out about a spreadsheet I had to submit to Girl Scouts about troops in my area and where they wanted to have their cookie booths.  See, I'm the Service Unit Manager (or SUM for short) for the area and I oversee about 40 troops leaders.  This is a volunteer position, in addition to being an actual Troop Leader for Nadia's troop.  Well, as SUM, I help Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles (GSGLA) oversee things like troop registrations, Fall nuts and candy sales, and Spring cookies.  Usually it's not too much work, but this past week has been the exception.  Cookie sales are starting up, and as the largest fundraiser for most troops, it's very important for it to run smoothly.

It did NOT run smoothly this past week.

Selling Girl Scout cookies in front of grocery stores is usually the fastest and best way to generate sales.  So those locations, and the best days and times, are coveted by troops, especially if there are large fundraising goals by the troop.  For instance, if a troop wants to take a trip with the money they raise.  Nadia's troop is thinking about going to a dude ranch for a weekend.  One that was recommended to us costs about $200 for the weekend per girl.  That means, if we are to cover it with our sales, each girl in our troop would have to sell about 200 boxes of cookies to cover her trip.  Actually a little more than 200 boxes as we get to keep $0.95 per box of cookies sold.  It's easy to sell between 100 and 200 boxes of cookies at just one 3 hour booth.

Anyway, so back to booth locations.  The ones at the big stores like Ralphs are coveted, especially on the weekends and during daylight hours.  So there is an online program that has all the locations that opens up at a certain time for booth sign up.  And this past week, that was on Thursday night at 6:30pm.  It's a mad rush to grab up those good spots!  The system can crash or lag due to hundreds of troop leaders trying to get online and grab up that Saturday 2pm-5pm booth spot at the large Ralphs grocery story on Ventura Blvd.  Those spots can be gone in a matter of seconds.

Well, guess what locations were not in the system at 6:30pm on Thursday night??

OH THE MADNESS!  OH THE PANIC (MAINLY ON MY PART)! OH THE HUMANITY!

I don't know how to share the fiasco that ensued without explaining why this was a big deal.  On the first night of booth sign ups, you are only allowed to sign up for booths in your immediate Service Unit area.  Service Units are divided up by zip code.  So, a troop in a zip code neighboring us cannot sign up for booths in our Service Unit on that first night.  For our Service Unit, this is a big deal because our grocery stores are really busy and are in a higher income neighborhood.  Neighboring Service Units want to come to our grocery stores to booth,  The fact that they weren't in the system for the only night that they are reserved for us was a huge deal.

Yes, Girl Scout Cookies Season is SERIOUS BUSINESS, GUYS.

As SUM, I knew this wasn't fair to the troops in my area.  So I did what I felt was necessary - had to do a private booth sign up session before the next time the booth scheduler program would be open.  All the prime locations were going to be in the system on Saturday night, but it would also be open for any troop to sign up for slots.  So, at 8pm on Friday night, I had a private booth sign up session via email.

My email BLEW UP at 8pm!  It was first email, first served, and I had 40 troops emailing me exactly at 8pm.  I had to go in the order it was received, down to the seconds.  Oh but then came the joy of scheduling all the choices that came in.  I had 4 charts with locations and dates and times, and two spreadsheets with all of the choices.  I had to do all those by hand because it was just easier to have it all spread out on the dining table.  Then had to transcribe it all into the final spreadsheet.  It was 1am when I finally finished that and sent it to GSGLA.  I think I'm still recovering from that evening.

But the WHOLE point of this post came from Maya.  Everyone in the family knew of the stress I was going through over this mess.  She came out of her room around 11pm and sat down at the table with me.  Just to keep me company.  After listening to my endless sighs, she asked me, "Why do you do this?"

At various points throughout this fiasco, I had asked myself this too.  But it's always the same answer: because I believe in the cause.  In this case, it is Girl Scouts.  And the biggest problem with Girl Scouts is that there aren't enough leaders.  We have girls on waiting lists for new troops to start or for existing ones to have openings.  We have a lack of leaders.  So, I volunteer because I want to help leaders who have stepped up.  Because leading a troop is not easy.  It isn't all crafts and cookies all the time!

If not me, who?

My last 4 days of winter vacation was stressful and a blur of dates, times, and troop numbers.  But in the end, if I helped a troop earn money to go on a trip or do a service project, then I feel that it is worth it.