I'm going on sabbatical

I wish I were going on a real sabbatical, but I'm just going on a blog sabbatical. Summer has started and it is proving to be a VERY busy time at work and will be for the next two months. I'm afraid if I blog it will be about how stressed out I am at work and I don't think anyone wants to read about that on an ongoing basis. I do have some fun trips planned this summer, one to New York with some friends in a few weeks, and a work trip to Chicago next month, so maybe I can find some fun things to write about when those trips happen. OR, maybe I will write about how irritated I am that I have to take my laptop to New York and do work in the evenings because we will have online classes going on.

So instead of blogging, this is what I'm working on instead:

• We just submitted our grant proposal for the second year of the Pilot Pre K program in Sedgwick county and should hear back next week as to how much $$$ we are awarded. Once that happens we'll starting planning for the next school year. We had 10 classrooms this year and are hoping to add three more with the expansion money. Part of my job is to oversee this grant - a project that is a lot of fun for me!
• We have another big grant due in two weeks and my boss decided to break her shoulder over the weekend, so I have a feeling I may be doing more writing of that grant than I originally thought, but that's okay. I like grant writing. This grant will include the eLearning online classes that I help teach.
• Starting July 1 my boss has asked me to take over managing out eLearning program. I will continue teaching classes, but will take on some oversight too. I'm excited about this and will be working with our contractor to brainstorm new ideas and try to think outside the box on how to expand the program more in the next year.
• My last big project (there are a million little ones!) for the summer is that they just put me in charge of our training charter which is supposed to be pulling together a staff development plan for all of our employees statewide. We've done some work, but there is lots left to do and I'm a little overwhelmed with how we are going to get it done. Anyone know of any good ethics or customer service trainings we can provide???
• Oops, I forgot one. Or two. My work trip in July is to go audit a child abuse prevention program in Illinois and I just got all of their pre site stuff this week. It will involve about 20 hours of prep time to get ready for the audit, and then I just found out that they changed our standards and I have to go through a 15 hour online training before I can start going through their presite stuff. I started the training today but it gave me a headache so I finally gave up and went home early. I also have a two day training to give in Kansas City the first week of August, so sometime over the summer, I need to prepare that curriculum.

See, I was right. All I am able to focus on is how overwhelmed I am work. The problem is that i love my job and all the projects they give me. There just isn't enough time in the week to do them all!!!

I promise my next post (it will be weeks away) will be more positive. And funny.

I want to play too!

The church bloggers are playing this game and even though I didn't get officially tagged, I'm going to play anyway. Here's my seven facts...

1. when I was kid I used to love to organize my books and my baseball cards. I would take all my books off the bookshelf and then put them back alphabetical by author, then take the off and do them alphabetical by title, then by size, then by topic, etc. I had about 3000 baseball cards and I used to sort them by different categories too, just for fun. I would sort them all by teams (the obvious choice), then position, then by the number on the back of the cards, etc. Organizing things has always been a fun game to me.

2. when I make a friend, they are a friend for life. It takes me a long time to make new friends and once I do, I keep them forever! I put a lot of effort into keeping in touch with my old friends and treasure them very much.

3. I am an INTJ (we just had to do the myers-briggs at work this week)

4. I love to work. Even though I complain about my job non-stop, I love to work and actually enjoy going to the office everyday. I love being productive.

5. I hate sports. I hate playing them and I especially hate watching them on television. The only time I like to watch is if someone I know is playing, like my friends' children. My summer vacation is going to NY to watch the Yankees - how ironic is that? At least "live" games are tons better than watching on television.

6. I love to travel to places I have never been before, and I really enjoy traveling alone with no itinerary.

7. I am freakishly addicted to my to do lists. I have my official work to do list that I type up every few weeks. I take it with me to every meeting and bring it home almost every night. I also usually have a daily to do list at work that I put on a post note it or note pad and keep right in front of me. At home I have a weekly to do list that I carry with me around the house and put by my bedside at night so it is the last thing I look at before bed and the first thing I review in the morning. I also have my church to do list where I keep track of the children's ministry stuff I have to do. I once read that to do lists are a coping mechanism that people with anxiety issues use. I like to think of it as my medication. Instead of taking anxiety meds, I make to do lists.

7 1/2. I have a cruel sense of humor and have often hurt people's feelings with my sarcasm and lack of sensitivity. When people ask me a question, usually the first thing that comes to my mind is a smart alec remark and it takes more effort to keep that to myself and give a straight answer. I can thank my dad for that. For example, at house church this week Jim was talking about the Trinity and immediately I thought - the Trinity is like Kris and Paul and Anna, they are all dependent upon one another (at that moment Anna and Paul were crawling all over Kris and she was not looking very happy). But I kept that thought to myself because it was a serious conversation and I didn't want to ruin it. I couldn't think of anything serious to say, so I made no comment.

Happy Summer

from my friend Jack in Denver...he was named after me. My middle name is Jo and my friend Tracey wanted to name her son after me so she picked a "J" name. Oh wait, I think he was named after C.S. Lewis, who also went by Jack. I have read many books by C.S. Lewis, so it's still sort of like he is named after me. Sort of.....maybe his middle name is Joe. Jack Joe Lawrence. That's pretty!

my new bathroom

This weekend I had our church leadership team over for a cookout and for most of them it was their first time to visit my home. While the guys were out back, I decided to have a little fun with the women so I told them I had just redecorated my main floor bathroom. Of course they swarmed to the bathroom to see my skillfull decorating skills. I assumed that once they walked in and saw the atrocious wallpaper and old flooring they would laugh and realize that of course I had not redecorated my bathroom. I intended to redo it, and it's been on my to do list for over three years, but in actuality, I have done nothing to it.

I don't know if these women are just really that nice (they are actually, that nice!), or if they really think I have interesting decorating tastes, but they proceeded to ooh and aah over the bathroom and compliment my wall paper hanging skills. I moved back away from them and starting laughing so hard I was crying. Finally Kris (who is much too in tune with my orneriness to fall for something like that) told them the truth and we all had a good laugh. It was almost as funny as our meeting a few months ago when Paul sat on a whoopie cushion, but not quite.

Thanks all you kind, gullible women! You made my day by falling for my joke!

Kara's Graduation

My little niece is all grown up. Kara graduated from High School on Sunday! It's hard to believe she could be out of high school already!

Congratulations Kara - I'm so proud of you!

Happy Birthday Tracey!

To conclude my week of birthday honors, today is my friend Tracey's birthday. Tracey and I met in college and have remained close friends ever since. She is one of my funniest and smartest friends. She is my go to person for all theogical questions (she is getting her doctorate in theology or something closely related, I can't remember the exact title) and when I need a good laugh. Though she lives in Colorado, she can entertain me for hours on IM....earlier this year she kept me amused through the entire state of the union addresss.

Tracey and I celebrated our birthays together on choir tour when we were in college. Our college choir (the Celebration Singers) always went on a two week tour at the end of May when school was out. I wanted to go on tour, but I don't sing well enough to be any choir, so I joined the hand bell choir (the Inspiration Ringers - go ahead, it's okay to laugh!) so I could go on tour too. Tracey, being the multi-talented person she is, was in both.

Here's a photo from our first year of choir tour, when we headed east to Washington DC. Our fellow tour friends decorated a special "birthday" seat for us to share.

And another photo of one of the many, many games of cards we played as we traveled the country on the tour bus!

And one of my favorite choir tour photos....drinking coke with our friends Sheri, Laurin, and Kevin (I have no idea whatever happened to him!)

Happy Birthday Tracey!

Happy Birthday Becky!

Tomorrow is my friend Becky's birthday. Becky and I met in junior high and have been friends ever since. We were in a lot of classes together at school through the years and attended the same youth group. So many of my teenage memories involve Becky and her sister Bonnie, not to mention their mother who was our Sunday School teacher and whose series on Revelation is still the most comprehensive I ever had! The memories range from traumatic (when I slammed Becky's thumb in my trunk when we supposed to be out canvasing a neighborhood), to hysterical (every youth group trip we ever took - and there were lots of them!). We had lots of sleepovers, parties in her basement (and mine!), great bible study time after school with our youth pastor, and birthday celebrations at the Wichita River Festival watching the fireworks. And so much more.

Here's a photo of Becky and I with Renee, another good friend from high school. This is from one of our many trips to Colorado with the youth group. We were doing pretend senior pictures with the pretty scenery. And my pretty swatch shorts, for those who might remember the swatch phase in fashion when not only did I have numerous swatch watches, but clothes to match! Don't you love the 80s?