- I am going back to limiting my news intake. Watching Airforce One take off from Kabul with people literally hanging on as it took off was heartbreaking to see. I also need to stop reading about the Delta variant of COVID and the number of people hospitalized or dying each day. I cannot disband the Taliban, and I cannot convince people who do not want the COVID vaccine to get it, so reading about these things is just not helpful.
- I found out this week that my Girl Scout position is not being cut for the 2022 program year (Oct 2021 – Sept 2022)! I also learned that I was tapped to create self-paced programming for girls to complete either alone or with a teacher at school, which means going into schools this fall is not happening. I created something similar last summer and had a lot of fun with it. This programming will have more content and hopefully reach more girls.
- Parents Connect is up and running. It is a moderated Facebook Group for parents of preteens and teens (the idea came to me while at the lake earlier this month). We already have over 100 members and the feedback has been overwhelming positive. With my Girl Scouts position intact, this also gives me more time to grow the consulting side of Parents Connect. Win/Win!
- I have a new volunteering gig with Beautiful Together. Back story: a few years ago, I chose Beautiful Together as our non profit to support for the year (we pick one to focus on each year). I love that there mission was to improve the quality of life for children waiting for their forever families. Their current mission focuses on creating a santuary for vulnerable animals – joining the most vunerable children in foster care with the most vulnerable animals. Adoption, animals…hello, perfect fit for Kristan! I will be using my experiences working with Girl Scout volunteers to support the amazing folks who foster animals waiting for their furever families. Not to toot my own horn, but my retention numbers when I was in the membership dept were always super high. Why? If you volunteer with me, I will do whatever it takes to make you happy so that you will continue to volunteer.
Things feel like they are moving in the right direction for me. And most of all, my brain has more TO DO! Starting Monday, I am putting myself on a schedule. Each day I need to write in some capacity (blog, Parents Connect, or my pandemic puppy book), exercise, organize or clean one thing, do something outside in the gardens… take a damn shower and put on real clothes! My brain is grateful for Girl Scouts, Parents Connect, and Beautiful Together.