First off, we worked on moving our trash to our shiny new dumpster.

Notice the snow gently cupping the dumpster; 2 ft drift inside of it.

We also sold the old kitchen cabinets and got them out of the garage. Yay.

Took up the whole garage.

Tore down the old fireplace.

Begone!

Oh and we found out that we don’t have proper ducting in the ceiling of the hallway or really the proper intakes and vents for whole house circulation. So we are going to have to get that taken care, ASAP.

Yeah, there's supposed to be a duct that connects all those room vents.

The thing that sucks about it, is that there’s a) no way that should have passed inspection. And b) something that wasn’t disclosed &, we feel, we were mislead on. SO. Heads will roll.

Lastly, due to all the lovely snow and ice, our carport started demonstrating a pronounced…sag.

Yikes.

And as the snow melted, it practically RAINED underneath the carport. So, not only is the carport ugly (G’s hated it since we first saw it) but now its not even FUNCTIONAL. Gah. So, its gotta come down.

We had have some ‘scrappers’ helping us out and today the front door saw the setting sun for the first time in years. Yay!

Next up: framing the bar, electric, plumbing, gas & HVAC.

My favorite childhood memories are generally not ones of making trouble- I was generally a pretty good kid- but of fantasy and imagination. And usually involved climbing trees.

For example, from the time I was 6 till about age 9, we lived ‘in town’ in a house on a cul-de-sac. It had the most magnificent climbing tree in the front yard- a smooth-barked, TALL oak tree. I would jump up and swing my lithe legs over the branch that was just out of reach of my sister, and twist up and into a sitting position. Standing confidently, I would hike up into the branches, until I found my sitting place well above the roofline of my neighborhood.

I would look south to the base-ball fields, listening to the crack of the bat in the summer evenings. Gazing north to the Will Rogers Memorial on the hill, I’d imagine that I could fly ‘up the hill’ and land on big bronze statue of Will Rogers doffing his cowboy hat, grinning in amazement at the Wonderous Flying Vicki.

I dreamed of building a treehouse in the branches of my climbing tree. Not just any treehouse, but a mansion. I dreamed of a tree house with different platforms- like floors of a house, hammocks and drawbridges for me and my neighborhood friends. A combination of Swiss Family Robinson and Cinderella’ castle.

~~~~~~~~

When we moved out to the country the year I turned 10, I tried to find another climbing tree at our new house as wonderful at my oak tree. But the trees in the south yard were too scratchy; the trees in the front yard were too narrow and the pecan trees in the back yard didn’t have branches low enough to get started.

But, down in the bottom of the yard, near the chainlink fence, was an apple tree. I ignored it for a few years, until I had fully explored all the other trees. But when I found it, it became my new outdoor house. It wasn’t a castle this time, but a squat, cozy cottage. Climbing to the top was risky business, as the branches were spindly, capable of holding apples, but not a medium-sized girl. I found a seat in the heart of the tree, rigged my ropes and hauled books, blankets & snacks up to the sun-dappled leafy fortress where I wedged myself.

I spent many idyllic summer afternoons in that tree: watching the apples grow; listening to the cows low in the neighboring field and reading. My favorite books at the time were the Redwall novels,  books in which animals lived in abbeys, stone fortresses, and houses. I devoured these books, halfway up an apple tree, ignoring the birds that came to peer at me.

~~~~~

What are your favorite  memories?

On one hand, I don’t blame them. In December of 2007 we had a horrible ice storm which left people without power for up to 10 days. I remember G. and I actually looked at the apartment that we’ve lived in for the past 3 years, during that ice storm. The power was out in the apartment, and when we moved in a few weeks later, the heater needed replaced. Winter in Oklahoma isn’t that bad, but if you don’t have the proper ‘coping’ tools- it can be miserable.

Last week, G. and I stayed hunkered down the first few days in our cozy apartment, eating junk food and watching T.V. Which, sad to say, is not nothing more than a normal weekend, so it just felt like a long weekend.

We did get out- after getting stuck in our apartment’s parking lot-  and go over to the house to check on the pipes, roof, etc. Everything was in good order, except for our newly delivered dumpster, which had a 2 foot snow drift in it. And our carport, which seems to be uninterested in holding up 11 inches of snowfall.

I do love the pictureque snow, but its seriously hampering our efforts at doing work on the house, as we’ve about reached the point where we need to call in contractors. In the meantime, I’ll comfort myself with the piles of cash I’m making off of selling household leftovers on Craigslist. Mwhahaha.

Last night, we got another round of snow. Jury is still out on how long we’ll be stuck in the house, but if my new waterproof snowboots have anything to say about it, it won’t be more than a day or two. I’m busting out of here, see?!

This was on a Tuesday. Our Lifegroup came over on Wednesday to see the place (and I bought a couch that morning). We started renovations on Saturday.

When I said our new house was a fixer-upper I was NOT kidding y’all. The former owners were smokers and had lived there 15+ years. They had helpfully put down new carpets to put it on the market, in every room except one, which gave away the smokers smell. This new carpet, which was both cheap and ugly, covered up the original hardwood floors. Which, I mean, why would you DO that???! Anyway, the owners asked if they could take the carpet with them, if we didn’t want it. Be. My. Guest.

We have a list a mile long of stuff to do to the place to not only restore some of the original elements, but also bring the house into the new millennium.

This includes, but is not limited to: New flooring (combo of tile, carpet and hardwoods), paint, trim and doors throughout; new kitchen and bathroom cabinets.; some electrical work.

So far, we’ve done the following:

• remove tack strips left over from carpet (=3+ hours scooting along the floors with a crowbar in hand) Check.
• remove icky tile/tile laminate in entryway/kitchen/bathroom/over half the hardwood. (took ALL DAY on Sunday) Check.
• take down half-wall. Check.
• Take down kitchen cabinets, sell on Craigslist. Uh, half-done.
• Take down all trim. Check.

We have to finish dismantling the bathrooms, kitchen, and bash in some walls. That’s this weekend.

We’re making progress!

Goal: finish demo by this Sunday; pros come in next week.

For example, when I was dating G., I could NOT FREAKING WAIT to get married to him. After about 3 months of dating, we knew that we were going to get married, so the remainder of our courtship (close to a year and a half) were fairly angst-ridden, at least for me.

Same with buying a house and having kids, I fully expected to be out of our first place together- a perfectly charming 1950s apartment along the river- around the one year mark. Three years later…I have truly had it with apartment living- schlepping laundry to the ‘mat,  neighbors jumping on our ceiling/throwing away my plants/stealing our lawn furniture/throwing FOOD in the common courtyard like their mothertrucking compost pile!, midnight ambulances along Riverside, etc., etc.

We started investigating rent houses, but were horrified to find that cute Midtown rental would run us upwards of $1200/month, almost double our current rent. So, when we did the math on a mortgage in a moderate price range, we decided that maybe buying would be smarter (historic lows on interest rates were certainly a bonus!) Thus, we FINALLY started looking at houses.

The Road to Lortondale

After looking around for a week or so, with a random Realtor that we picked up at a open house, we decided to wait till spring, not seeing a whole lot in our price range.

Well, we got hooked up with a different Realtor, Dustin Thames of Chinowth & Cohen, who LIVES in our desired neighborhood and is an all-around cool guy. He took us around to see some more houses, including one we’d seen with the first guy. We decided to put in an offer on a cute 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom Mid-century Modern house in the historic Tulsa neighborhood of Lortondale, which was super-cheap, but had a super ugly kitchen that would need redoing.We offered, they countered, we countered, we were gonna get it! Then, due to some shady dealings on the seller’s side, we didn’t get the house. G. and I were both CRUSHED, like you can’t even believe. I had mentally picked out furniture, paint, etc. for the place, and was inconsolable for a few days.

So, we mourned. And decided to wait till spring. But then our Realtor sent us some more listings, and we looked at ‘just a few more’ houses, in a couple of new neighborhoods. But none of them were right for us, like, in the least. Except for one with a picket fence…which I couldn’t get G. to pay attention too.

About this time, we were mulling putting in an offer on a fixer-upper in Lortondale, when Dustin, invited us to the Lortondale progressive Christmas party. Now, we had fallen for this neighborhood back in the summer of 2009 when G. went with one of his co-workers at the time, Cole, to go take photographs of a home tour of renovated Mid-Century homes in the Lortondale neighborhood. So, this was like Home Tour Redux: MORE awesome houses, met the owners, talked shop on renovations, made instant friends with a few folks and pretty much had confirmed for us, that Lortondale was the neighborhood for us, fixer-upper or no.

So, we bid. On a 3bed/2bath fixer upper in Lortondale, with a bunch of concessions- like air duct cleaning, $1000 repair cap & full inspection. They countered, we countered, got to an agreement. (yay!).

Inspection Drama

Then, the inspections happened. Good lord, was that dramatic. Everything with cool or fixable, with one teensy exception, our structural engineer first insinuated, then INSISTED that there were major structural issues and that we needed like NINE piers under the foundation. All without taking any measurements. So, needless to say, everyone was freaked out (& I was really pissed that we had to pay the dude almost $600 to tell us we were buying a crappy house). Deal was off, right?

Fortunately, the cooler heads of the realtors prevailed and we ordered up a 2nd structural inspection (sellers paid for that one), which came back as recommending NO piers. WTF? So one guy says 9, the other says 0? G. talked to the 2nd engineer who explained that yes, there was movement, but it was due to soil shift (dry summer and fall) and not anything to worry about. In the future (5-10 years) we MIGHT need a couple of piers, but only in 1 wing of the house. That, we can live with. Deal moves forward.

Paperwork Drama

Closing is set for January 6th. G. & I realize that we can’t get renovation money without accessing a certain type of loan (FHA 203K if anyone is interested), so we had to switch lenders , which moved our close date by a week. Then we have to get an FHA inspector out (house passes no problem), assemble quotes for work that needs to be done (that takes another week). Then our earnest money check bounces (because I can’t read numbers apparently and put the money in the wrong account), so we have to get a cashiers check- which they MAIL. Then its the holidays, so nothing gets done. Cashiers check is MIA. Suddenly is Jan. 1 and we close in 2 weeks. We scramble to get paperwork and funds in place. Cashiers check for earnest money arrives. Bank needs more paperwork, funds verification to close. Some of the funds for the down payment get mailed to G.’s folks (??) and then it takes another FIVE days to get to us (his folks live an hour away). Bank can’t close without the funds in hand.We miss our close date. Sellers are furious. I’m so stressed that if I weren’t already ON antidepressants, I’d need some emergency Xananx. Even calm, cool and collected G. can’t sleep at night. We text each other constantly about whether the mail has come.

Closing?

The check comes on a Friday (closing was on Thursday)- there is much rejoicing!! Closing is scheduled, tentatively, for the following Tuesday (because of course Monday is a bank holiday). Which brings us to today, that infamous Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.We will probably close tomorrow. If we don’t, I’m going to need that Xanax, stat. Stay tuned!

1.Realtionships/Social ~ I always thought it was a little weird to set goals for relationships, like my goal is to obtain 3 new friends, nurture 2 existing friendships and eliminate 1 negative friend. So, I changed it a little. I expanded it to include relationships in general and social situations. For example, this year my goal is to get together more often with my teenage nieces and also to get back to attending Social Media Tulsa meetups.

2. Health- Most people make a New Years Resolution to lose weight. And we as a country are notoriously bad about exercise, so we know how that’s played out- ‘obeseity-crisis’ anyone? I have made a very deliberate choice to not focus on weight loss numbers, but rather activity. I know for a fact that I feel better when I move more, when I break a sweat- whether that’s jogging with the dog, pounding out a couple of miles on the treadmills or vigorously cleaning my house, my body like to move. And I like being in my body more when its active. This past year, I worked out with a trainer, for the first time in MY LIFE, and lo, it was awesome. Expensive, but awesome. Mostly, because I had someone to talk to and to meet with and to ask questions of- mostly social stuff, but when you hate going to the gym as much as I do, a cheerful chatty friend who I”M PAYING and therefore CANNOT blow off, is a strong inducement to go exercise. I plan to continue this partnership in 2011. Oh, and run the Tulsa Run (for reals this time) in October 2011.

3. Financial- this is a tricky one for me- my SW manager always had us goal-set for how much we wanted to earn in the summertime- i.e. how many units we had to sell in order to reach our goals. These days, I’m more focused on breaking down our credit card/student load debt load so that we can be free of it, while still living a comfortable lifestyle. In 2011, we are buying a house, so my goal is to pay for new furniture and decor with cash, and not go further into debt to kit out the house. And in fact, go ahead and pay off that pesky Bank of America credit card and at least one large student loan.

4. Career-Hmmm, this is a toughy. To be honest, I’m not really sure what to goal-set for in terms of my career. What I’ve been feeling for the past few months is that non-profits are not really where I fit best; although I loved being ‘plugged in’ and feeling like my day to day work had Purpose, I hated the stress, politics and unrealistic expectations that came with non-profit work. On the other hand, I still like the classroom, but am having a hard time finding a full-time teaching gig that doesn’t pay beans.

So, the job search goes on. Honestly, l’d like a part-time job that’s diverse and different and then to stay home when I have kids. I’d like for that to be this year, but there’s no guarntees of that. So, we’ll just go with job that doesn’t make me cry on the weekly and is not boring, pays decently. Not a terribly specific goal, but as I’ve discovered this year, my plans for big stuff like this, haven’t always panned out…

5. Travel- I love that traveling is even on this list! of course, my manager loved to travel and i think just encouraging us to think about travel as an important part of our lives was an important, wise, urbane thing of her to do. Sort of as a result of her encouraging me to think this way, travel was an important part of my college years; I’ve wanted to travel internationally again, but haven’t had the chance to do in the past few years. This year, I plan to go to Nashville to visit D&G; Portland to visit B&J and will shoot to make it to Mexico for our wedding anniversary.

6. Creative/Intellectual- I took a pottery class my last semester of my undergraduate career, as sort of ‘blow off steam’ class. It was challenging, but I did really enjoy it and still have several pieces of my own making that I proudly display at home. I would love to- and fully intended to- take another class and brush off my limited technique. In 2011, I will take another pottery course, probably at WaterWorks.

7. Spiritual/Service- I am pretty involved with my church (LifeChurch.tv, holla!)- my husband and I volunteer in the nursery on a weekly basis, we have a wonderful small group (or LifeGroup) that we attend weekly and are really bleassed to be part of a church that is “real” and challenging. For example, this past weekend, the message was about “Firsts”- Pastor Craig challenged up to put God first in our day (daily prayer and Bible study), first in our week (attend church), first in our finances (tithe) and first in the year (fast). This last point is a new one for me, I’ve not ever successfully completed a total food fast (hello, hypoglycemia!) and wasn’t terribly keen to undertake the all fruit & veg fast that my church is doing together. However, G. & I decided that we would, in the spirit of being intentional and giving up what is comfortable for us, fast from eating out. We eat out fairly regularly- after church, with friends, on most date nights, when we’re feeling lazy, etc. So, I’m having to plan my meals (healthy ones of course) and he’s packing his lunch everyday, instead of just when we have leftovers, etc. We’ll see how it goes- its easy now, but the weekend may be a challenge. Also, as a LifeGroup, we are doing a Bible reading plan together; I’m excited about that, because I’ve also never completed one of those before either (Consistency is not, apparently, my strongest spiritual discipline).

Overall, though, this year, my spiritual guideline is to “Stay in the Boat!”- this comes from a sermon series we had back in October (just after I got fired from job #2), wherein we looked at the story of Jesus and the disciples out on the Sea of Galilee with the storm. Not the one where Jesus walks on water, the other one- where he calms the storm by telling it to “Be Still!” And the point of the story is, what did the disciples do to calm the storm? Nothing- they just stayed in the boat. They couldn’t do anything stop the storm, they couldn’t get the boat to the other side faster with their worry, rowing wasn’t working, etc. Jesus was the one who calmed the storm, not them. And obviously, the interpretation is that Storm= Life, duh. It was a very comforting message to me and is a good reminder to a control freak like me to let God deal with the storm that’s happening in my life; I just need to stay in the boat of His will.

Don’t lose hope and jump in the sea, stay in the boat.

Don’t try to row against the waves, stay in the boat.

Don’t worry about what’s on the other shore, stay in the boat.

Don’t listen to the other disciples freaking out, stay in the boat.

Look to the One who calms the sea with his voice, he is in the boat with me.

~~~

So even though, we are buying a house (scary!) and I don’t have a job (even more scary!), I have peace and purpose as I go into 2011…I can’t wait to see where the boat will take me.

Wow, its been awhile since I’ve posted on here- namely, because just a few weeks after my Grand Adventure of speaking at Ignite Tulsa, all hell broke loose in my life- on Sept. 27th, I got fired for the 2nd time in 6 months. And I went on anti-depressants the same day. And boy was I glad I did, because I was safe in my emotional fallout shelter as the wreckage of my ego fell in flaming bits outside. I will be eternally thankful for my support system- my husband, my friends, and in particular, my LifeGroup. I was angry, shell-shocked, crushed and relieved, in different turns. I was glad to be released from a situation that I felt overwhelmed by, but mortified by the fact that I couldn’t “make it work”.

Relief came just a few weeks later in the form of someone else’s misfortune- my friend S. at the University of Tulsa called me out of the blue one day and wanted to know if I would be interested/available to finish teaching a section of 3003 for a TA who had to be removed from the course, for reasons that she was not free to discuss. Mysterious circumstances notwithstanding, I was thrilled to be back in the classroom; the experience really confirmed for me that teaching (rather than non-profits) is where I belong- interacting with students, teaching them something useful and managing the assignments, grades, and being generally respected as someone who knows something, etc.

Also in there somewhere, G. & I started looking at houses to buy. So that’s been an adventure- one that deserves its own post really. Currently, we are under contract on a crappy, er not very well “kept up” Mid-Century Modern house in our favorite neighborhood of Lortondale! We are set to close January 14th, plan to do extensive remodeling in Feb and hopefully move in March. This a majorly awesome thing, and quite a way to welcome the new year!

Overall, 2010 was a bit of a mixed bag. For example, in 2010:

I went snowboarding for the first time, but fell on the slopes and goobered up my tailbone up something fierce. But I also hired a personal trainer for the first time, and can see my leg & arm muscles again; plus I got my poor, broken bum to the chiropractor (after 6 months of pain) and got my back and tailbone straightened out.  Overall health = improved.

Job situation sucked- got fired twice. Oddly, both times relieved a lot of tension in my life, and I learned a lot about what I DON’T want in a career or in a boss. The fallout from losing my income, has not actually been that devestating, because of unemployment (PTL) and also, because G. got a new job, making what what he and I made last year combined (!!). As a result, we’ve actually been able to pay off one credit card, pay off some debt to the IRS and save up earnest money for a house. Plus, our apartment has never been cleaner. So, overall financially= not bad.

Finally- I’ve been really comforted by my relationships- my family has had a rough year what with cancer treatments for my MIL and foreclosure for my grandparents, which in turn have made my own problems look very small. In addition to this, I’ve also had great support from my friends, plus made some new ones have really added a lot of joy to my life. I’m so grateful for my LifeGroup- who offered spiritual and emotional support this year in such a tangible way- hands down the best part of this year has been joining the Roby lifegroup.

So, that’s a sense of what has happened for me this year. And because I got married on the 30th of December, and have always been a bit of goal-setting nut, I tend to do a lot of reflecting this time of year. So, if 2008/our 1st year of marriage was tough (and boy was it), and 2009/2nd year was a vast improvement, then 2010/3years has been a rollercoaster, a lot of highs and some serious dips… nevertheless, I have hope for 2011. I feel like with what I’ve learned and the support that we have, that G. and I’s 4th year of marriage can only get better.

Along with reflection, comes vision casting…goal-setting, making resolutions, whatever you want to call it….stay tuned…

You know how when you go to Starbucks (or the ilk) and they ask you what size, you kind of stumble over the choices? Large is smaller than grande? Venti is bigger than grande? Ok then.

That’s how I felt about my latest adventure- a little overwhelmed at what I was getting into.

I submitted a talk idea to Ignite Tulsa earlier this summer, after meeting one of the founders at a Tulsa Blogger meetup. It sounded like a cool idea and I am all about being a part of cool stuff.

Ignite Tulsa (and Ignite OtherPlaces) is essentially a public speaking/Power Point presentation speed date. You get 5 minutes to talk, accompanied by 20 Power Point slides, automatically timed at 15 seconds apiece. The question/prompt for Ignite is: What do you know about that the citizens of [Tulsa] also need to know?

After much brainstorming, I decided that the denizens of Tulsa needed to know about Small Adventuring- what it is, how to do it and why its awesome.

So, I merrily submitted my idea and promptly forgot about it. When I got the notification email early one Saturday that I’d been chosen to speak, I was thrilled because it felt like I had been chosen as part of cool kids club. After I saw the list of speaker, including several ‘famous on Twitter’ folks I knew, I was instantly sobered, because clearly these were people with Things To Say, and I? had submitted the rather mundane sounding idea of “The Importance of Small Adventures.”

Dutifully, I put together my slide presentation (20 slides long, to be timed at 15 seconds each) and submitted them the day they were due (a whole 2 hours before the midnight deadline). And then trouble set in.

I couldn’t find the time to practice my speech. I had too much going on at work. I was too tired. My dog was too needy. Etc.

So, night before: I’ve finally locked myself in the office to practice. Goes ok. Until I start timing myself. Then I realize, my 5 minute speech? is rambley and nearly 9 minutes longs. Eek.

The whole next day, I am slightly queasy. Am queasy all the way up to drinking an entire beer during the presenter pep-talk. Mercifully, I am on early in the evening. The packed-house crowd is warm, generous, delighted, attentive and kind. I miss a few timing cues, a sub-point and gesture unneccessarily at the screen a few times, but ultimately, survive.

And as I gratefully descend the stairs and trot to the Ladies Room (small bladder), I realize that for all my talk of Being Present, Dangerous and Intentional for the Small Adventure, that I myself, have just had a rather Grand Adventure.

Special thanks to Courtney (& Bill) who came out for support; Lindsey my nonprofit buddy; and my hubby G, who always supports, always believes that I will rock, always is right.

So, yeah, today started off annoying… and ended up horrifying.

Annoying- forgot my suglasses at home. No you don’t understand, I’m like a bat, I can’t go out in the sunshine with my sunnies! I am all squinty and eyeballs ache, especially when commuting, towards the 7:30 am horizon.

Exasperating- stopped at my local gas station/coffee/breakfast sandwich emporium for some of each of those items. Whilst squinting into the sun, shifting gears and navigating construction, I managed to drip iced cappuccino on my fancy turquoise silk shirt. Grrr! Nice coffee stain, that’ll look sharp at the networking lunch later today.

Inconvenient- 11amish- I’m working away at my snazzy new job as Director of Development at A New Leaf: printing out thank you notes to donors, writing new grants, managing the agency’s Twitter and Facebook Fan page, etc. etc. The ‘housekeeping crew’ is vacuuming the hall. The lights start to flicker. My computer doesn’t go down, but a weird beeping starts. Then the whole building goes dark.

Turns out that our transformer had SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTED and had caught fire!! So yeah. We had to send all of the clients home, most of the staff and get the greenhouse ventilated. Yikes. We may or may not be open tomorrow, we’ll see.

In the middle of all this, I had to leave because I had a networking luncheon to go to, as an agency representative, and then a photo op at 1.

Horrifying- The luncheon was fine actually, but en route to the photo op with two of my program directors and a state sentator and the DIRECTOR of Developmental Disability Services Department, the clutch on my BRAND NEW (to me) MINI Cooper went out! Standing me en route to my destination. What. the. heck.

This was me.

Three hours later (I can’t bear to recount all of the sweaty, horrible details)- the car had been towed, the husband had come to rescue me and the dealer had promised to cover half of the repair cost. Talk about service after the sale- seriously, check out Jerry Petty Motors for some awesome customer service; not their fault that clutches go out at 90-100K miles; our had 93K.

So, yeah.

But like in the classic children’s book, I felt better after curling up in bed and having my hair stoked.

Unlike, the classic children’s book, I have a glass of wine (or two) to further dull the pain- things will be better tomorrow. Fortunately for me, I’ll probably be able to work from home for most of the rest of the week. And I got my first paycheck today, so at least the financial sting of getting a clutch replaced ($$$$$) is not as frightening. AND we have a fabulous mechanic who was more sympathetic than snotty about my misfortune. So, it ain’t all bad. But MAN it sucks to have your new car in the shop for the 2nd time in as many weeks.

EDITED TO ADD: my husband is teh awesome. He totally came to my rescue today. He helped push the Mini into position for the tow truck, waited with me for an HOUR & A HALF in 105 degree heat for the tow truck, drove me home while I cried & stoked my head and told me it would be ok. And it will. Even if I didn’t believe it there for a few hours.

As many of you know, I went of the job market full time back in March (which is a nice way of saying I got sacked and had to get serious about looking for a job). Job hunting went well, I worked 4-6 hours every day on it, chasing down leads, sending out resumes, writing custom cover letters, etc. I even went so far as to build a ‘portfolio’ website which now houses ALL of everything- writing samples, work history, references, etc.

Finally though, I got called in for an interview with a small nonprofit in Broken Arrow, A New Leaf, Inc.- which ironically, I had applied to in February when they first posted the position. The person they hired didn’t work out and they were looking again. I guess me applying twice got their attention and I got called in. I was there for about 3 hours for the first interview and went back the next day to meet some of the Board, including the President. I have never been so calm and downright eloquent in my life. It was weird. Anywho, they offered me the job of Director of Development and Communications and after some salary/vacation negoiating, I accepted (WHOO!).

Thing was, because of the 4th of July holiday falling the way it did, I didn’t start for a week- so vacation! Actual vacation. I planned to get a massage, take some extra naps, hanging out with friends and that kind of thing. Which I did, and it was lovely, except for during this time, we are also still a one car family. So, I had to get up and take G to work, and try and run errands before it got too hot, never really managed a nap or anything super relaxing. Even my massage was way too intense and not what I was looking for. Ultimately, I was never so glad to go back to work as I was this past Tuesday when I wrenched myself out of bed at 6:30 and rolled up at 5 till 8.

I am NOT a morning person, but I am determined to be on time this time around; I think having to factor in a 20 minute commute with actually help. Because formerly, I lived so close to work (2 miles) that I thought I could get there in less time than I really could, so I always left later than I should have. Now, I know that I live a solid 20 minutes away, maybe more depending on traffic, so I’m not going to kid myself about how long it takes to get there.

Also, I’m not going to mind the commute as much because I got a new car!!! Remember how I left my car in Iowa? Yeah, we decided that I was gonna wait (patiently, oh so patiently)  to get another vehicle, until I got a new job. I honestly didn’t expect it to only take 3 weeks, but I’m glad that’s all it took! Taking G to work was getting tedious, though not so bad as I thought it would be.

I had been stalking Mini Coopers on eBay Motors for several months, so by the time we decided to pull the trigger on the car hunt, I knew what I wanted (sunroof), how much I was willing to spend (8-10K), and where to look.  LONG story (which involves almost going to Houston to buy the wrong model) short, we found the perfect Mini (silver, sunroof, cloth seats, decent mileage) here IN Tulsa and bought it on Friday the 2nd, and spent all holiday weekend practicing driving. Manual transmissions take a little getting used to if you’ve never actually OWNED one, which not counting my scooter  (RIP Rosita), I never have. In fact, this new car is a rather large change for me in that not only is it a manual but its the ONLY car I’ve ever own that is less than 10 years old. Praise the Lord and Hallelujah!

The first week of work went well- getting settled in always takes some time- and I’m excited about my future with the agency. I feel like its a really great growth position. I’m looking forward to the new adventures that I will encounter along the way.