Service Projects and Meetings Underway

We have already had 3 meetings and been involved in 4 service projects in less than 2 months.

Shoes
The church where I have been visiting with one of my best friends (and co-leader) supported a shoe drive for the Shoe Bank.  We decided to get our girls involved, and with little notice, our girls donated between 25 and 30 pairs of shoes.  The adult shoes will be shared in our Metroplex, and the children's shoes will be sent to Haiti.

Household Items
We are participating in the Goodwill Good Turn service opportunity. Each girl has been asked to bring 2 trash bags full of household items to donate.  This can be clothes, towels, bed linens, dishes, pots/pans, and so much more. About half of our girls have participated, so I have bags and bags of items that I will be donating next weekend.

Exercise, Phantom Energy, and Food Items
Last year we participated in 9-10-11, so this year, we chose to participate in the 10-11-12 initiative.  10--We discussed exercise and being healthy as they got involved in 30 minutes of exercise for 10 days.  This also tied into the Juniors' Get Moving! Journey.
11--To go along with Girl Scouts Going Green, we discussed saving energy.  The girls had to find 11 items in their homes that are plugged in but are not turned on and then unplug them.  These items are using phantom energy. There is a light on, a clock showing, or something else showing they are plugged in but not on.  They are still using electricity even though they are not being used for their actual function.
12--Each girl was asked to donate 12 non-perishable food items that we will then donate to the local Food Pantry. 48 items are ready to go.  We are hoping for a few more items before I donate them next week.

Grocery Shopping
The church where I have been visiting has "adopted" 3 needy families.  Each month, someone at the church goes shopping for each family to purchase $100 worth of food and household necessities. Our girls met us at our local store to do the shopping last weekend. We discussed cost per unit/item, best price, store brands, and so much more.  They had to keep up with what each item cost and get a total of what we were spending.  They also subtracted to see how much we had left when making or decisions.

Meetings
Our 2nd meeting of the year was spent on Journey work and voting on whether or not to spend the night at the zoo or aquarium.  We were very democratic in our voting system. While we wanted to spend the night at the zoo, the girls voted to spend the night at the aquarium, so we will be doing that in the spring.  We are trying to set-up a workshop at the zoo.

Our 3rd meeting was spent with more fun/fellowship than before, so we did not get to our Journey work.  However, we are going camping in about 3 weeks, so we spent a lot of time discussing our camping list and what we will be doing that weekend.


What is your troop doing this fall?

Kicking Off a New Year

We held our first meeting of the 2012-2013 year this past Friday night.  We met with Brownie parents as the girls brainstormed what they want to do this year.  The girls enjoyed a dinner of soft tacos, chips/dip, and fruit while chatting about their first week in school and what they did this summer.  After dinner, we discussed their ideas. Camping, archery, and skating (roller and ice) were at the top of their list.  We already have a camping trip planned that includes archery, so two down and two to go. :-)  While we met with Junior parents, the girls created foam picture frames as their craft.  All in all, it was a good meeting to get us started.

What did you do during your first meeting?
What do you have on your schedule for the year?

We are about to launch a troop website.  Any pointers?
It will be private and only viewable to those we invite.  Privacy is huge with me.  I've been uploading pictures from last year before sending it to everyone. We hope that it will help with reminders and other valuable information. We'll see how it goes.

New School Year . . . New Girl Scout Year

What are you most looking forward to this school year?

What do you have planned for the upcoming Girl Scout year?

We are bouncing around some ideas and just sent out the first draft of our calendar.  Come back throughout the year to see what we are doing.

The Year of the Girl or Woman

The 100th year of Girl Scouts has been deemed the Year of the Girl.

To learn more, visit http://www.girlscouts.org/yearofthegirl.
A Century of Leadership: How has Girl Scouts been changing the world the last 100 years?
Research: Examining issues in girls' lives
To find events in your area, go to this website.  http://www.girlscouts.org/yearofthegirl/a_year_of_events.asp
How to Get Involved:
Where are we headed in the next 100 years and how to do we get more girls into leadership roles, etc?

Here are some interesting facts:

• Only one in five girls believes she has what it takes to lead.
• Fifty-nine percent of girls say the fashion industry makes them feel fat.
• Eighty-five percent of middle-school students say they've been cyber-bullied at least once.
• Although more than 90 percent of girls in fourth grade want to continue studying math, by twelfth grade that number drops to 50 percent. 
• Women account for less than 17 percent of the bachelor's degrees in engineering, make up only 17 percent of the U.S. Congress, and claim only 3 percent of the top positions at Fortune 500 companies.

(retrieved from http://www.girlscouts.org/yearofthegirl/get_involved_today.asp)

When I look at my niece, her friends, and the girls in our troop, I see the future.  Who will they become?  What changes will they lead?  What will their impact on the world be?
I truly wish the absolute best for them and hope that what they learn in Girl Scouts or by my being a role model will get them where they need to be in order to be the most amazing young women possible.

I have been watching a lot of the Olympics this summer.  Over the weekend, they started talking about this being The Year of the Woman, and this talk has only gained speed since then.  I thought that was kind of neat . . . Year of the Girl and Year of the Woman.  The women are racking up medals left and right.  I hope our girls have seen how their dedication and hard work has led them to represent our country in front of the world. Anything is possible.  American, Olympic, and World Records are being broken and more medals are being won by our women than before.  They are great role models for our future Olympians, politicians, business women, doctors, teachers, judges, and on and on and on.

Here's to the Year of the Girl and the Woman!

Pet Peeves on the Highway

Do things along your drive just irritate you?  In the last few weeks, a few things have happened that really frustrate me.

Entering the highway:
In my opinion, entering the highway is a privilege and not a right. Some states/highways have lights that tell drivers when they can enter the highway, but most that I drive do not.  Yes, drivers in the right lane should move over, when possible, to allow cars/trucks to enter the highway, but many times that cannot happen. Cars, and especially 18 wheelers or large trucks, need to enter the highway cautiously and ready to stop if needed.

Twice in two weeks, once as a passenger and once as the driver, I have been traveling down the highway, in the right lane and not able to get over, and had large trucks just barrel their way onto the highway. They gained speed while on the ramp and never slowed down.  As the passenger, the driver did all she could to get out of the way with a car next to her, but I was afraid I was going to be crushed as the truck just kept barreling toward us.  No brake lights!  As the driver, I was scared to death, and thank goodness, I could get into the left lane at the absolute last minute. Both of these situations could have ended terribly, but I know God was protecting me.  Had the truck drivers been more cautious, slowed down, and yielded to highway traffic, neither of these situations would have happened.

Note--My grandfather, uncle, and brother have all driven 18 wheelers, so they hold a special place in my heart, and I respect what they have to deal with on the highway, so I try to drive cautiously around them.

Construction:
I live near a river, and there are no service roads over the river.  If there is an accident or there is construction, then traffic gets really bad. I am all for getting to your destination as fast as you can, etc., but it angers me when people get on the service roads to bypass the traffic on the highway and then expect those on the highway to just let them on.  Really?  We have been sitting on the highway far longer than those cars have been on the service road.  Again, it is a right to get on the highway, and when these cars just push their way on with no regard to others, it angers me.

It would also be nice if the construction workers/company thought about the entrance ramps in the construction zone, even if it is the last one before the service roads end.  In my opinion, if that entrance ramp had been closed, it would have helped move traffic along on the highway so much faster.  Yes, there would be confusion and traffic on the service road (and in this location, it really wouldn't be that big a deal), but instead of 3 lanes going into 1, there would only be 2 going into 1.

Also, there should be an app or site to go to to see all construction zones, delays, accidents, etc.  (There might be one, but I don't know about it.)  Accidents and traffic are hardly ever announced in my area.  By the time I get on the highway and get to the backup, it is too late to get off, go around, or there are no service roads.  If we know early enough, there are no less than 3 other ways for me to get home.  I just have to know in advance!


Do you have pet peeves involving the highway or driving?

A Little More About Me

Do you hear or read something and think it would make a great topic about which to blog?  I have been able to watch The Talk this summer, and there have been several topics that I have opinions about, but when I get to my computer, I completely forget what I wanted to say.  So . . . I found a website that lists the Top 10 Challenge.  At the moment, I don't want to spend a day on each topic and list 10 things for each.  Instead, I will list one thing for each topic.  I'll come back to it every now and again to share a little more.

Fact about yourself: I earned my Doctorate in Education with a focus on Supervision, Curriculum, & Instruction.  Also, I'm an "it depends" kind of person.  When making decisions or having to make choices, I normally say, "It depends," because depending on all the details, my answer my vary.

Favorite . . . 

movie: Sweet Home, Alabama came to mind first, but I know there must be something else

TV show: Army Wives (right now with all the reruns of other series)

baby name for boys: Zane

baby name for girls: Jayne (middle name)

food: spaghetti and meat sauce with mushrooms and meatballs

drink: sweet tea (since it is summertime)

dessert: chocolate shake with hot fudge and Oreos

book series: The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

novel: I need to keep thinking on this one.

actor: I don't watch shows/movies for a particular person, & no one is coming to mind today.

actress: See the "actor" answer.

band or singer: Reba

fictional character: I'm not sure about this one.

song at the moment: We Are Young

sport or hobby: being crafty

game: Bejeweled Blitz on my iPad (individual) or anything my niece & nephew want to play (multiple players)

Thing you . . .

wanted to be when you “grew up”: a teacher

can’t leave the house without: Other than keys?  cell phone

do when you’re bored: email friends

love about yourself: that I'm a life-long learner

wish you could change about yourself: my weight/unattractiveness

Other . . .

Thing on your bucket list: Take my niece & nephew on a European vacation when they are old enough to enjoy it.

Celebrity crush: no one

Website you visit often: Facebook

Physical characteristic you look for in a partner: 

Personality trait you look for in a partner: honesty & compassion (right behind Christian)

Regret: Not having a family of my own; I regret my kids not knowing my mother & grandmother.

Wish: I could find "Mr. Right."

Place you want to visit: the northeast with my niece & nephew

Cleveland, Georgia

We headed to Cleveland, Georgia to visit Babyland General where Cabbage Patch Kids are born.  My niece was so excited about this part of our trip, and it was quite an experience. The nursery was set-up with many adorable babies waiting to be adopted. A sweet nurse was on hand to encourage us to hold the babies, talk to them, etc. Across the hall was the playroom for the kids or toddlers. They were having a lot of fun while waiting for new adoptive families.  The final room was a large room with Cabbage Patch Kids of all shapes, sizes, colors, and themes.  There was plenty to buy and lots of babies and toddlers to adopt.

 

Every 30 minutes, a new baby is born in the cabbage patch.  The nurses are called to help and the doctor keeps everyone apprised of what is happening while helping to deliver the baby.  Everyone waiting is encouraged to help with breathing and in naming the baby.  Yep, there is a new boy in the nursery named for my nephew.  The whole experience was quite sweet.

My mom and grandmother were part of the craze back in the 80s when Cabbage Patch Kids were "the thing" for Christmas.  I was blessed with two kids, Jacob and a little girl, whose name I just can't remember (It starts with an R, and her middle name was Joan.), and one baby, Skipper, that year. My niece had a bald baby named Ash she carried around as a toddler, so being a part of the hospital experience with my mom and niece was very special.

We left the hospital with a new baby, Beezus Ramona, and a toddler/kid named Amelia Hart.  The adoption process is so cute with the completion of paperwork and raising of the right hand to promise to love and take care of the babies.