February 2012

Yeah. I know. Been a while. Lots of changes in the last six months. I wanted to post many times, but I was either yelling in my head, and couldn't type fast enough, or was too embarrassed to say what was going on, or too busy with the holidays, or just avoiding reality.

Here's the deal. I was fired from my job. It was a very bizarre and surreal moment, and because blogs can be read by anyone, I hesitate to say too much. I loved my job, I loved the people I worked with, but I didn't love the lack of trust in me by the powers-that-be. I stood up for my decisions, got in trouble for my boss' decisions, and just wasn't allowed to do the things a development director should be able to do to raise funds for the school. This happened in October on a Monday. I went home sobbing- but the troops at home were not very sympathetic, and still aren't. But I digress. On Tuesday, I sent an email to my network of friends and former colleagues and said I was looking for a new opportunity. On Wednesday morning, a colleague opened her email, called me and told me to come in Thursday to talk. And that was it. I showed up for work on Monday.

I've been working part-time for Girls Inc since then. This woman, this Executive Director, had worked with me on a project, and wanted me to help her. She trusts me. I can write a letter to a donor and not get yelled at or see it come back with red pen (yes, red pen from another boss) all over it. Or have someone lecture me for fifteen minutes on the use of a particular phrase (what a waste of time. Just tell me it's wrong and I'll change it. Jeesh). We make recommendations to each other. She hands me responsibilities left and right, which is challenging to accomplish in four hours a day. But the goal is to become full-time. And I can't wait. Because I won't have as much time to obsess over that other place.

Yes, in the last five months other things have happened. I had my whole family home for Christmas. I got to go to a UConn game with my sister. Rosie graduated from college and is an almost full-time nanny while working on her writing. Grace is surviving in Tennessee. Christine and Leaf had a housewarming party, and the Giants gave them the BEST present. Emily is still sending us "Guess who I just met" stories from L.A. (because we are celebrity gawkers). Caprice declared a major and continues to make the Dean's List. And Matthew was tapped to help a troubled department while maintaining his senior reactor operator license (too long to explain).

So that's the haps from 4 Thomas Pointe. Hope all is well.

Love,

Valerie

invitation.mov

shoes.mov

Christine and Leaf Wedding Cake Topper

So much to say

Things I want to write about soon:

1. preparing for the wedding, 
2. crafting for the wedding, 
3. the wedding, 
4. after the wedding, 
5. updating my art room, 
6. lessons learned from the wedding,
7. the silence after the wedding.

Those posts and pictures will come soon, but I have to say I have an incredible family and group of friends who are also my family. They were so helpful before, during and after the event- in so many ways. It really helped me put things in perspective, re-prioritize and begin the process of preparing for the future.

just as rewarding

Not as fun as making panda cupcakes, but certainly as rewarding, we worked on the garage last night. We- as in Caprice and I. In anticipation of a new refrigerator this month (fingers crossed) that I will use for party prep, and for the couple's reception items, we pushed, pulled, yipped (or "ewwwed"), and strained to move things, sweep and organize. This also include at least 30 minutes of untangling cords, hose, and lights.

This morning I will take Emily's books and movies and Caprice's school things to the storage unit. I will retrieve reception items, and I will take some ungodly amount of computer parts and a refrigerator to the recycling center.

It doesn't seem like a garage would be an integral part of a wedding weekend, but it is. We will be orchestrating the greatest step, ball, change over that very lengthy weekend. We have to do this now, so I can drive with Grace back to Nashville (in two weeks), move Caprice back to UD, and plan some way to cook over a weekend when I won't be cooking. Impossible, you say? Ah. Watch the magic and the chaos unfold.

Panda-momium

My friend Krista just posted this on her blog,

http://dustingoffidlevisions.blogspot.com/

We worked on this baby shower for our friend/co-worker. It was very lucky that the building was shut down the day before the shower, so we could play in my kitchen with these cute little guys (not Scott and Randy. The pandas!).

Each one of them seemed to have their own little personality! And the cake pops. I had tried to make them for a family party a few weeks earlier. Epic fail. The ones that were left in the freezer kept getting eaten (hmmm). So, I made a decree to STOP eating my experiments without permission. With just nine left, it made a perfect little teapot bouquet for the mom-to-be.

I've also been playing with tissue paper for Christine's wedding, so I had plenty on hand for us to make lanterns and gift wrapping. Simple, 70's and cheerful.

Yeah- the sad looking square lanterns. Not the made-by-someone-with-nimble-fingers-and-from-a-faraway-land-round ones. But it was fun to play all day. How often do we get to do that?

It is the people I work with/days like this that help me endure enjoy my job.