work, developmental disabilities, heritage arts, wisconsin, self-sustainability and MORE!

Today was one meeting after another - It started at 8:30 with the supervisory meeting, and ended at 12:00 with the safety committee meeting. Then lunch, and a long long long conversation with various co-workers about our program. Those are the talks I like the best - when we talk specifics about our clients and get into the WHY's behind their behavior. I don't get to do that very much, because I'm not really in a department, I'm doing my own thing.

That was one of my favorite things about working for Young Adventurers Day Care - the monthly staff meetings where we discussed in GREAT detail about specific kid situations - kids who were acting out and why we thought it was happening...we heard about the family situations, the sibling situations, and talked about what approach we would all take with them. I love that.

Here at PI, I am working with adults, but they are all developmentally disabled, and many a behavioral issue comes along with that. There's A, who saves every piece of shavings she gets when she sharpens her pencils - has jars and jars of them. There's S who tapes the wrapper from every piece of gum he chews to his apartment wall - with the date he chewed it written on it with pen. There's T and G and their relationship - to each other and to food - there's J and his 8+ times a day phone calls, B and her hugging, D and her fascination with textiles, J and his lists - I mean, MY list goes on and on and on - and I LOVE IT. That's why I'm in this field, that's what holds my interest and fascination with this population. They are fantastic people with a slightly more obvious explanation to their outward behavior. Our different groups of staff who work with them weekly get together and do this discussing at their staff meetings. I listen in sometimes, when they are meeting during my lunch. They go through each client on their load and talk about how they are doing....

Anyways, today involved lots of informal impromptu THAT, and it's incredibly satisfying for me.

At our Supervisory Meeting we are continuing our series on "first, break all the rules" and have moved on to the guy's 2nd book - which is all about playing to your strengths. It's about disbanding the thought that to improve yourself you should spend most of your time working on your weaknesses - not only is it frustrating, but you see fewer results and successes leading to less self-efficacy, and you bring yourself up to mediocre rather than excelling at what you are already strong in. I read something similar in a leadership book a few years ago when I was housesitting for KJ - flip the 80/20 rule - spend 80% of your time working on your strengths, sit back and WATCH yourself get excellent. You don't ignore your weaknesses completely - but you channel your strong suits and get better n better.

I really like this idea. It feels GOOD to do things you are good at. This is the way you create expertise - which is something I have long pursued and admired in many people. I always felt like such a dabbler that I was afraid I would never achieve expertise in any one thing, and I really looked up to the people in the fields I was interested in who had what I thought was pure self-discipline to focus on one thing until they became an expert.

At this point I don't feel the need to abandon all of my pursuits to focus on just one - but I like the thought of developing my strengths and applying THOSE specific things to all areas of my interests.

I also am better at labeling my interests - I might feel as though I'm interested in a gajillion things (which I am) but you know what? A HUGE amount of it falls under the umbrella of "heritage arts" - voila. If I was feeling inwardly scattered before, I have just neatly organized myself without taking a single thing away.


In any case -

Today was a good day at work. I finished the shawl I was working on this weekend and took a few photos for ravelry. Last night I hung out with my mom and dad for a while which was nice, because even though I see them pretty frequently, I hadn't had good catching up time, especially with my dad. My hyacinth are beautiful. Adam and I are going to June Lake next week for a mini-vacation. I called his dad yesterday and set up some Juno-training time for this weekend. My dad and I might go see a movie this weekend. I went to Joann's, piled yarn in my basket, then emptied it all and only took 3 of the 15+ skeins I'd originally wanted (thank you, self-control and the article I read on sparksavings about impulse buying last week) - 1 of the skeins is blue cotton for the market bag I started crocheting this weekend, and the other two are for another shawl.

I've decided shawls should definitely make a comeback. I'm wearing one right now, as a matter of fact. Talk about your heritage arts - I need to do a study on shawls and their importance, because I know they are, I FEEL they are, but I don't have the facts to back it up. But I feel very connected to - well, don't laugh, but - Laura Ingalls when I wear one. She IS my barometer of all things heritage-artsy, after all. My one day camp should probably be named "Wilder" or something, just for her. You know (tangent alert) when I was little, my aunt bought me a few bonnets and I had a dress that was exactly western-expansion style, and I wore that more than my real clothes. I should go back and re-read Laura Ingalls Wilder. I should go back and not only re-read her, but try recreating some of the stuff they did - like making maple syrup candy in the snow. (Second tangent) - that was one of the coolest things about the time I spent dating a guy from Wisconsin - the day I was visiting his family and we went and tapped the maple trees that they had. Straight out of Laura Ingalls! Also, they made really, really, really good apple cider. ;)

So I've got this shawl, another one on the needles, the market bag, two pairs of socks that are each 1/2 done, a dozen or so felted coin purses that just need to be needle felted and have zippers sewn in, and a bunch of granny squares waiting for lining and purse handles.

I want to go back to the time I spent in Wisconsin for a minute - and tie it in with my time in Alaska. For that matter, I want to tie Oregon in it too - something I love, and respect, is self-sustainability. I mean this in big and little terms. I'd love to live on my camp with systems that we created, maintained, repaired, and benefited from, without taking from other people/resources. I want to have animals, gardens, get my fibers from these things, make the dishes and the furniture and the food - get back to the beginning of everything. I am not in a place to do that completely, nor do I feel as though I have the knowledge to do that. I'd get frustrated and things would be a mess. So what I am trying to do is one project at a time - make the ceramics in my house. Make the blankets. Make the hats and the gloves and the cushions and the picture frames. I think it is more beautiful, and it means so much more to use a cup I made from start to finish.

In Wisconsin, my then-boyfriend's family built their own house, and except for some grains, ate mostly what they grew/gathered. The shower was water boiled on the stove, taken upstairs, and a gardening can hung on a hook from the ceiling. The salad was gathered from the greenhouse right before we ate. The side dish were nettles I'd accidentally stepped in earlier. There were things I did not like about their lifestyle - they were SO self-sufficient with a fair dose of shy that it didn't seem as though they spent much time in the company of other people, and I think I would have gotten very lonely - but I really liked the food aspect of how they lived (except for the miso soup. I will never like miso soup. Never. Never. Never.)

In Alaska, that was one of the neatest things that really, I felt, permeated the culture in which we were immersed. When something broke - no one called a plumber or electrician or mechanic - you just looked at it, stood around with your arms crossed for a minute - said a few words to the person standing with crossed arms next to you - and went and got the tools to fix it, while the other person cleaned up whatever mess it'd made. Cars weren't cosmetic, they were functional - and kept functioning as long as the people could hold them together with wire and duct tape and parts from snow machines (in alaska snow mobiles are snow machines, they don't need the things that make the snow ;)). The cabin needed a new outhouse? We dug a hole, moved the structure, covered up the old one. The path was swamped? We dug out the mud to let the water flow under, and built a new one - using a birch tree WE cut down and stripped of bark. Porcupines getting under the cabin? We attached the chicken wire. Toilet broke and water flooded everywhere? We fixed it. Needed a shower? We made one. Granted, I lived in a cabin and on a ranger compound, so we had tools, but even at the people's houses we met - they were the ones putting on a new room, building the dock - there was very little talk of HIRING anybody to do something around your own house or land.

On a smaller scale, that's one of the things I really like about the time I've spent in Oregon, too - not so much the fixing everything with your own two hands, but using the stuff you have. Want to grow herbs on your windowsill? Chances are, in one of my friend's apartments, there are jars that have been saved from peanut butter and jelly that you can use. I guess this is the recyling portion of the blogpost, but for all of you who do not live in Orange County, California - it is a VERY DIFFERENT CULTURE HERE. Not that we are incapable of saving one thing to use in another way, but it's - different. A different focus or emphasis, as a whole.

I made marmalade from my trees, and was thrilled that I did it, and everyone acted like I'd gone to the moon.

I think it would not have been such an unusual thing in other places.

I live in a weird little out-of-touch bubble. I do love where i live - I grew up here, 5 minutes from the ocean, 2 hours to snow, 1 hour to real desert, 30 minutes to museums and downtown city stuff - but the lifestyle I want to lead more and more is not the norm in this area. Is that a problem? Maybe it's a cop out, to move to somewhere where it's *easier* (or more widely accepted, understood, just done) -

my rambling has gone on long enough that I am tired of the sound of my own voice - even if I am writing.

Things I'm thinking about.

And I finished the shawl.

gratitude and my life

I love days when I feel recharged by work, as opposed to drained by it. I wasn't terribly thrilled to get up out of bed at 6:30am this morning - Adam's been having some deep-coughing issues for the last few days, and his coughing and wheezing woke me up on a pretty regular basis last night. I have a new phone, and the unfamiliar alarm sound was jarring. But I did it, I got up out of the house only 15 minutes after I'd intended - and still made it to work 15 minutes early. I had time to DO things before my morning meeting, and at the meeting I created an actually manageable to-do-list, rather than an overwhelming list of vague wants and desires.

The reason I am recharged is because of the Walk for Independence - this has been both the most frustrating project AND the most rewarding for me. We had some issues getting up off the ground - all stemming to my vision being distinctly different than the executive director's vision. I felt like I wasn't being trusted to run a good event - and she felt like I was letting what was important to HER slide through the cracks. But now that we've got some stuff decided, we have momentum, and we actually have people registering, both of us have relaxed and can just enjoy the show.

I am personally gratified that my pleas to my friends on facebook have come through in such an amazing way. I wanted to raise $260 - because I couldn't quite get all of the food donated, and I felt bad about that. $260 covered the cost - I asked them to donate even if they could only donate $1.00 - and some people did just that. I received several $1.00 bills in the mail - which actually DOES provide an entire lunch to someone, and is a very helpful contribution. On the other end of the spectrum, in the last hour, I received 2 $100.00 donations. I've received everything in between, and have basked in the funny little notes and well-wishes that have also been included.

We have 59 people registered now, with many more people saying that they are *going* to register, so I am feeling better about that too. I was afraid it would just be us at the park...but it looks like we will have some company. :)

Because of this walk, too, we even got an elevator donated to our building. We still have to raise $100,000 to install the thing, but the elevator could have cost us as much as $75,000 - and it was DONATED. All because of the walk.

I've been interviewed by newspapers, we're in the AAA magazine, we have an inter-departmental competition here, we made a fantastic video of our clients, we've harnesses the amazing support of PI staff, clients, board members, family, friends and strangers... I'm inspired. Really and truly inspired today.


In other news - yesterday was a good day too. I went to a Bridal Expo with my sisters and cousin...it was intense, and made me really glad that I am not planning a wedding like that. I am glad to have had the experience, though. We got bored wit it after a couple of hours, so headed to the MAC store at South Coast Plaza, where we did makeup trial runs for my wedding! My cousin in law has a discount there, so I got to purchase a bunch of stuff and not break my budget. She's going to be doing my makeup for the wedding, too, so I won't have to pay a makeup artist.

After that we stopped by my aunt's for a goodbye dinner for a friend of the family's - played Pop5, the BEST PARTY GAME EVER, and then I went home and did a 10 minute sparkpeople video for day 1 of my new bootcamp. I realized at the last minute that I needed to cook chicken, and all I can say is - God Bless the Crockpot. I threw in chicken with some broth, a few carrots, half an onion, a bunch of mushrooms, some garlic, and a cup of dried lentils..and this morning had stew ready to take for lunch. After I did that, I fed dogs, crocheted most of a hat, wrote in my journal, and fell asleep watching The Office once Adam came home.

Today at 4:50 I will put on my gym clothes and head to the Brookhurst gym, where I will do 20 minutes on the exercise bike, and 42 minutes of walk/jog combo (5 walk, 5 run, 2 walk, 5 run, 2 walk, 5 run, 2 walk, 5 run, 2 walk, 4 run, 5 walk). Then I'm going to go to Walmart to use my gift certificate to buy a stability ball, go home, do my 10 min. bootcamp video, take Juno for a walk, make lunches, spend 10 minutes working on my camp-to-be, write in my journal, pack for santa fe, and take my bag/spinning wheel/rosie's yarn over to my parents.

Tuesday, work and working out, Wednesday work, Thursday work til noon, then Santa Fe til sunday! When I get back I need to remember to call Adam's dad for some Juno training sessions.

I am very tired. I am looking forward to habit getting me to the gym, and the gym waking me up. I need to increase my liquid intake over the next few hours, and head for fruit if I get snacky. Luckily, I brought a bunch of oranges, grapes, and an apple with me.


my backyard lemon tree, the inspiration for my wedding!

Walk for Independence!!!

Hi,
For those of you who don't know, I work with adults with developmental disabilities at a fantastic non-profit in Orange County, CA. One of my big projects this year is putting on our FIRST Walk for Independence. The date is set for January 17th, in Huntington Beach.

This is MY baby project, and the success of it is hugely important to me, not just for my own accomplishment, but for the people I work with. We recently bought a building, and hold many of our events and meetings here, and this building - despite the fact that we work with people with disabilities - does not have an elevator. We are more than a little ashamed of this, and are trying very hard to rectify it - hence the fundraiser Walk event!

I recently was able to get most of the food for our walkers/volunteers donated by Mobile Taco Grill, but we still need to pay $260.00 for materials. I am trying to get this entire food cost donated. This means that I have a personal goal of raising $260.00 for the event.

I figure, I've got over 300 friends, right? ;) If everyone donated just ONE dollar, I could accomplish my goal! That's why you're getting this message. Please help! I figure everyone can afford a dollar!

If you can help me with my goal, you can send check/cash to Roya Sorooshian at Project Independence, 3505 Cadillac Ave. Suite O-103, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

If you can donate more than 1 dollar, I would, of course, hugely appreciate that! Also - if you are interested in registering or volunteering for the event, please go to www.projectindependencewalk.org

THANK YOU for reading this message and for your consideration. I really appreciate it.

You can donate directly using paypal here:

video and website

I am really, really, really excited about my company finally embracing social networking sites in connection to the Walk for Independence! This is a video that we have ALL had our hands in (see if you can count the number of times I say I'm walking) - staff and clients have all contributed to this wonderful little video. Please go take a look, forward it to friends, send it to everyone you know!


Walk for Independence Video

If this encourages you to register, you can do so by going to This Website.
YAY!

the park, elks lodge, and a clean house

Sneezing today - it just sort of occurred to me that my eyes are kind of sensitive and my throat hurts a little. Time to guzzle some water.

I had the strangest workday today - met two of my interns at HB Central Park at the location where we are doing the Walk for Independence on Jan. 17th (contact me to register!!!). I got excited for the Walk all over again - it's such a great park. That's where Adam, myself, and our friends usually go to play disc golf. It's where Adam and I used to go running at 2am, when the coyotes would come out and alternately play with/want to eat Rommel. It's got lakes, playgrounds, disc golf, dog park, picnic areas, Shipley Nature center (where I worked, actually, for a few months), and across Golden West the park continues with more lakes, willow trees, the best library ever, and a humongous and fairly new Sports Complex. It's a fantastic park.

Anyways, we stayed there for a while, and designated where we are going to have everything, then I came back to the office, did about 30 minutes of work, and then it was time to rush out to the Santa Ana Elks lodge to meet with one of the parents of my clients. She is arranging it so that we can use their ballroom for free for our holiday party - so we got a tour of the place, and it was just...a whole other world. First off, you have to use your membership card to even get through the door. She showed us the ballroom, a smaller banquet room - and the meeting room. Seats set up for 400 people, with this odd podium thing in the middle for their "Exalted Ruler" (so not joking. How do I get that job title?) Then she walked us past the lounge - a dozen or so older men drinking and smoking at 11am on a Wednesday - and then into the restaurant. She knew everyone in there, of course, both diners and staff. She treated us to lunch and told us all about what else the Elks do, how to become an Elk, etc. Have I mentioned, it's a whole other world?

There is something awfully appealing about it, though - I don't know if you know how many members Elks lodges have all over the US, or how much money they raise and donate - but you can't DO the kind of philanthropic things they do without the huge amount of sheer power that comes from that many members. I was a little awed. I loved being in Girl Scouts, I can totally see why people join sororities, there is also something about being a member of a club - you know, one where you have to use your card to get through the door - that I can understand wanting to have a part in. Apparently Elks only let women join as recently as TEN years ago. In their newsletter, the Exalted Ruler and Lead Knight (yeeessss) sign their statements "Fraternally," and "With Brotherly Love."

So we did the schmoozing thing for a few hours - finished it off with some chocolate pudding from the buffet, and now I'm back here. I have 2 hours left, and a bunch of stuff to do, but my head is spinning - and part of it is from my day, and part of it is from whatever is making me sneeze.

Adam cleaned so much of the house yesterday it's amazing, and I need to keep it that way. He put away a bunch of things that were stacked up in annoying places, and although I didn't think it looked that cluttered before, without them, it looks so much better. He cleaned up the yard, washed both dogs, washed my car, did laundry, and started dishes. I hereby VOW TO NEVER PUT ANYTHING DOWN IN THE WRONG PLACE EVER AGAIN. I heard once that clutter is always formed by not putting something away right away, and the reason you don't put it away right away is to avoid making a decision. Well, I am a Decision Maker! It's what I'm good at! So here I go.

Also - with the base of the house clean like this, I can see how to go the next step and make it *pretty* - which is really what I want to spend my time doing. So I not only am going to not put anything down without putting it away ever again, but I am going to do one extra cleaning thing a day to keep it looking so sparkling.

Yes I am. I like my house like this.

Okay. Time to go do Very Important Things now.

I like my life

Today I registered for the Sparkpeople Convention happening on May 2nd, in San Diego. It's a very full day which starts out with a "fun run" at 7am, and then speakers, panels, prizes, stretching routines, etc. etc. The website Sparkpeople is SO innovative and amazing, that my expectations are already pretty high for their convention. I am really, really, really excited (I am also really excited about the STUFF you get for registering..t-shirt, totebag, fitness dvds...) I can't wait til May. :)

I am incredibly good at my job, and every time I have a mandatory meeting for one of my overnight trips it comes back to me just how satisfying it really is doing something that I enjoy this much and that I am this proficient at. Event planning, especially when you are talking about taking groups of 40+ adults with developmental disabilities, is not for everyone. I am uniquely suited to it, I think, and I LOVE it. LOVE IT LOVE IT. So last night was our meeting for the Hollywood trip in two weeks, and I am finally excited for it. We'll be going to Griffith Observatory, staying at the Ramada in West Hollywood, seeing a movie at Grauman's Chinese Theater, and then spending the 2nd day on a Movie Stars tour and going to Universal Studios. It's going to be totally cheesy and wonderful. :)

I baked my 2nd loaf of bread in the bread machine yesterday - smells wonderful, tastes good, but is a funny looking loaf. They've both been really SHORT. I don't know if that's how they are supposed to be or if I am doing something wrong.

I want to finish my Moose at Sunset cross stitch - I am so freaking close to being done. When I finish, it will be the first humongous cross stitch project that I ever actually saw to completion. I have a smaller geisha girl who is beautiful, and to most people she looks done, but I never technically finished some of the top embroidery and cross hatching. The Moose at Sunset don't need added embellishment. ;)

After Moose, I think I'll start on the Bear Catching the Salmon, to keep going with the Alaskan theme. I did send away for the missing instructions for my Yoruban Women, so I could finish that too..but I'm just not feeling it right now.

At some point I'd like to get out those granny square bags I was making and SELL some. Now that the weather is improving, I really, really, really want to get a booth at the craft fair in LB and sell all my stuff. I have made a necessary promise to myself that I just can't buy more material or even make many more things without first selling what I have. My art room is full to overflowing. It's time to get the items moving.

I think I might sell some of them at the Spring Fling Festival I am holding for Project Independence. I'll donate a percentage of what I make to PI, that way everyone wins.

Okay. It's nearly 5. I can leave now. To the dry cleaners, then HOME, for hopefully a LOT of sleep tonight. SO TIRED! Also, very into capital letters today, apparently.

work and sister

I mailed 1500 copies of the most recent newsletter to my clients last week, so this week I am swamped at work with finalizing the events and registering participants. I use junky old excel spreadsheets that I formulate - which are fine for your basic stuff, but don't do half the things I need to do (for a very simple example: print mailing labels, make payment invoices, etc.) Anyways, so it's a busy time for me at work, plus I am co-in-charge of our holiday party which is TOMORROW, so my office looks like drunken frat boys broke into Santa's workshop and went crazy. Not to mention, this is piled on top of birthday decorations that I just haven't had time to take down. I haven't checked my phone messages yet today either. Yikes.

My dad sent me a few photos from the turkey tournament from this weekend. They're pretty spiffy. Ladies and gentlemen, my little soccer playin' sister Rosie:

birthdays at work

So my place o' employment has the tradition that the night before someone's birthday, their friends/supervisors stay a little late and decorate their office for them. That way, when the birthday person gets into the office the next morning, they are greeted by streamers, balloons, etc. I've seen some entertaining office decor before - top prize goes to Emily and myself for filling Monice's office top to bottom with balloons, and then ceran-wrapping them in to the cubicle. I'd say second prize goes to yours truly for Emily's office, just due to the sheer difficulty she had in finding her computer and chair under the streamers. I shoulda known payback was coming.

So the day after tomorrow is my birthday, but since we have thanksgiving tomorrow, they decorated my office for me this morning. I completely forgot about that, until I walked into the office and it looks like a clown exploded. There are streamers. Balloons. Ribbons. Bows. Banners. And confetti like you w0uld not believe. To top that off, Rosie made me a sash and a crown that I have to wear all day. I will post photos eventually.

I just wanted to write this post right now, even without the photographic evidence, because I was feeling sort of down the last few days, and this picked me right up. Three cheers for Rosie and Emily. It's good to have friends.

Time to unload

Phew. I have that feeling right now like life is starting to get just sllliiightly out of my control - and it would be very simple to solve that feeling, I just have to stop, breathe, and take the time to organize.

This feeling tends to be induced by a messy car. I don't know what it is with me and a messy car - but as soon as there starts to be more *stuff* than carseat, I start feeling a little anxious. It starts to feel like water is rising while I'm sitting at the drivers wheel, and it's stressful trying to keep my head above it. Like I said - ten minutes of cleaning out my car would do the trick, it's mostly just a bunch of jackets and water bottles and my karate clothes spread out in the backseat. But it's one of those things I procrastinate which then makes the rest of my life feel tense.

The other thing that is looming is a presentation I am doing tonight at Whittier College for work. It's turning into being a bigger deal than I thought (students are getting extra credit to come listen to me speak). I am wholly confident in my ability to get up and speak, but I am not wholly confident in my factual information regarding specific developmental disabilities, nor am I wholly confident in my power point. What would fix that? Spending a solid hour today updating the powerpoint to include the information I want it to include.

I have been doing okay with my sleep schedule - the last two nights I ended up sleeping around 11-11:20, which is getting to be a little too late again. I would really like to be in bed by 10 tonight. However, there is a Young Alumni Mixer that a few of my friends are going to, who I haven't seen for a long time, and it would be nice to see them. I don't get done with the presentation til about 7:30, then I want to go to karate, then am I meeting them for dinner AFTER that? I won't get to bed til midnight-ish if that's the case. I don' t know when I got to be such an old lady, but it's very apparent to me that I just WORK BETTER with more/earlier sleep.

I am also trying to get the newsletter for work DONE - I am trying to send the giant file to the printers. As soon as they say they have it, that will be a load off my shoulders.

Last night I attached handles to a few new bags, and started crocheting another one. The canvas straps that I bought at the fabric store seem to work well! I am excited by this prospect. My goal is to have enough stuff to sell at a craft fair in December. Amber and I talked to the lady who runs the Long Beach Sunday Craft Fair, and she said all she needs is a few days notice, so we are going to split a booth in December. I am SO excited about this! I am going to try to have a bunch of bags done, and some ceramics. It's time to crank up the production line.

Oh - one more little stressor is my psychology class. I need to spend all of my spare time reading my textbook - I have a quiz tomorrow, and I have one more chapter to read.

Last night Adam and I went to the gym and I did day 2 of Week 5 again. It's two 8 minute runs. This run was the easiest of any of them so far. I was really, really pleased with myself. I listened to Les Miserables and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and sang along in my head and actually enjoyed running. Could this turn into something I like to do after all?

I am still tracking my weight watchers points, I am into week 5 of doing that now also. I have no idea how much I weigh, but I feel really, really good, so that's all that matters. I'd like to start doing more crunches and ab things too - when I go to the gym I do things I could do at home..I just don't do them at home.

Okay. You know how I love my lists. Here is the list I am going to stick to today!

1. Call Commonwealth Printing, make sure they got the newsletter. Ask about timeline.
2. Tell Rudy what day Day Program should come help out.
3. Print labels (compare them to Bernard's, make sure I don't overlap)
4. Print Movie Night labels ready for Nancy when she gets here
5. Update powerpoint, print notes pages. Go through and decide who will say what.
6. Print directions to Whittier.
7. Bring extra paper/pens for activity.
8. Lunch, pick up Nancy, do other work.
9. Presentation
10. Karate
11. Stuart and Sal?
12. Wrap pencil holder.
13. Read at least a few pages.
14. Throw away trash in car

Tomorrow (friday)
1. Work
2. Read other chapter
3. Take quiz
4. Do activity/discussion board
5. Mail pencil holder
6. Go running
7. Sew linings for bags.

Okay. That's all for now. Enough updating, time to go do the things that will make it all better.

earthquake preparedness

Something we are talking about a LOT at work is earthquake/disaster preparedness. We serve so many adults with developmental disabilities in so many different ways that it's really incredibly daunting trying to figure out how to be personally prepared, and support our clients. I am on the safety committee, and..well..phew, it's overwhelming.
I am glad for the chance to really think about my own preparedness, though - for those of you who don't live in Southern CA, WE HAVE EARTHQUAKES. :P We're about 150 years overdue for the next "big one" and in an effort to stem the flood of panic, I am trying to PREPARE!

Today we participated in the Great ShakeOut. Over 5 million folks participated - it was a HUGE earthquake drill. Schools, businesses, and individuals all over So Cal paused at 10am and pretended that we were having a 7.8 earthquake.

My first order of business is to make a Go Kit in my car - with food, water, first aid, etc. So no matter where I am, I can have it. Because it can be expensive to do that all at once, we put together a timeline for our employees to follow - one item every two weeks starting in January. I figured I'd post it here, so if you were so inclined to become better prepared yourself, for whatever type of emergency scares you the most, you could follow along!

Timeline

□ JANUARY 9th Water
3 Gallons (that’s enough for 1 person for three days) (Water in specialty disaster containers have a 5 year shelf life – regular water bottles have to be changed every year.)

□ JANUARY 23rd Food
Non-perishable food that doesn’t need cooking
Energy bars, dried fruit, jerky, peanut butter, canned food that can be eaten cold. Take a look in your cupboards for food you already have!
Also remember: can opener if using canned foods, salty foods make you thirstier, do you have any allergies or special needs?
Enough for three days

□ FEBRUARY 27th First aid kit
Target, Home Depot, Rite Aid, and Walmart all have first aid kits starting from $4.99+

□ MARCH 9th Comfortable, sturdy shoes
Don’t throw away your old pair, they’ll last you for three more days!
□ MARCH 9th Change of clothes
If you can’t spare anything from your closet, make a trip to a thrift store for something your size.

□ MARCH 24th Cash and coins
So you don’t have to worry about using an ATM in an emergency, and to use a payphone if your cell phone doesn’t work

□ MARCH 24th Important phone numbers
Put inside a ziplock baggie to make sure they don’t get ruined. Maybe you could put your change in there also, in case you have to make a payphone call!

□ MARCH 24th Emergency Blanket
Sometimes they are included in the first aid kit!

□ APRIL 9th Flashlight with batteries

□ APRIL 24th Hygiene kit
Tissues/toilet paper/feminine products/medication/hand sanitizer, etc.

ATTENTION ETSIANS!

As you may or may not know, I work for a company called Project Independence. We serve adults with developmental disabilities all throughout Orange County. That means we help over 750 people who have mental retardation, autism, and Down Syndrome live more independently. We do this through several programs - Independent Living, Supported Employment, Behavioral Supports, Day Programs, Banking and Budgeting, and Access to Adventure, our travel/recreational program.

We are a non-profit organization, and it is frequently hard to provide every service we wish we could give. This December we are holding a Holiday Ball in Anaheim for all of our clients - and one thing we would like to do is give every client a gift. Sadly, we can't afford to buy a present for every single person, so we are holding a raffle instead!

I have been soliciting items from corportations and businesses - and it suddenly occurred to me that I am part of a community that could make a HUGE difference! Why didn't I think of it before? Etsy + Raffle items = THE BEST GIFTS EVER!

So I am asking you, my fellow fine-feathered etsy folk, to donate something beautiful and handmade to our Holiday Raffle. I have a Federal tax ID # to give to you, and you will be listed in the next newsletter as a supporter of our organization. So not only will it make you feel warm and fuzzy, but you'll be spreading the joy of making and giving handmade to a population that has been exposed plenty to what they see in tv commercials, but maybe not to the fabulous handmade creation YOU can make!

Please contact me either through a comment on this page, through a conversation on my etsy site (royaboya.etsy.com), or by emailing me at rsorooshian@proindependence.org

THANK YOU ETSIANS! Together we can save the world from mass production!

--Roya

I've been tagged!

I was just tagged by leakymouth! I have to mention 7 random facts about me, then tag 7 others to do the same.

Here's the rules:Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.~ Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.~ Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog.~ Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

The FACTS:

1. I am an elementary school drop out! My mom pulled me out of school to homeschool at the end of 4th grade. I consider myself an "unschooler" which means we never did curriculum or set lesson times or anything - we just lived life and learned because we are naturally curious people! I spent my time with swim teams, girl scouts, Rainbow Kids (our homeschooling park day group), and Bard in the Yard, the LB Shakespeare Company, until I was about 13. Then I also added classes at Cypress College, and fell in with the ceramics department. I did a lot of traveling, spent a lot of time in the ceramics studio, and eventually transferred to a 4 year university - although I would still, to this day, consider myself an unschooler.

2. My name means "sweet dreams" in farci. My dad is from Iran, he moved here in his early twenties to go to school. My parents met at USC - my dad was the only person in a tough economics class that got an A on the first test so my mom decided to study with that guy. She speaks farci as well, even though she's as white/blonde as can be from Long Beach, but they both speak it less now that they aren't trying to keep secrets from their little children. Farci was my first language, but I lost it when I started going to school. I can say "devar moosh derat moosh goosh derat" which means "the walls have mice and the mice have ears."

3. I have, on occasion, been asked to speak at homeschooling conferences around the country. One of my favorite talks EVER was the mom and daughter talk I did at the Live and Learn conference in Saint Louis, home of The City Museum. This year I will be speaking at the Good Vibrati0ns conference in San Diego.

4. I spent the summer of 2007 as an assistant Back Country Ranger for the Alaska State Parks. My boyfriend and our giant german shephard spent a week driving up to Alaska in his dad's white truck, camping along the way. The closest town to where we were was Willow - start of the Iditarod. Of course, Willow was basically a post office and a library, and The Burger Bus. The place we drove to to get groceries was Wasilla - now known as the home of Sarah Palin. We were working at Nancy Lake State Park Recreation Area - at the end of the road there was a trail that headed out to Red Shirt Lake. It was 3 miles to get from our truck to our cabin out at the lake. It was an amazing summer - one that I wish every day I could replicate. At "night" (lots of daylight, remember) we would sit in our yard and watch the eagles, the beavers, and the moose.

5. I once spent about 6 months living in Madison, Wisconsin. I heard Ralph Nader speak, learned how to knit, spent a lot of time walking, read every PJ Wodehouse in the library, worked at a Quaker camp, set my apartment on fire, shopped at the Co-op, got hit by a car, saw fireflies for the first time, lived in snow for the first time, spent a lot of time going to the farmers market, to state street, and using a friend's spinning wheel.

6. I once weighed 201 pounds. The day I stepped on the scale and was over 200 pounds I realized I needed to do something. That day I started exercising and watching what I ate. I lost 50 pounds. I lost the initial 50 by myself (well, with support from people, but no official "program") but now I am doing the weight watchers thing and tracking my points. Healthy living, exercising, and eating good food are huge parts of my life now - I can honestly say I have been changed forever. It's also not about how much I weigh anymore, but about adopting certain guidelines in my life and just feeling good! I never knew that I would get to where I would feel out of sorts and icky if I didn't exercise. Now it's a part of making my day good.

7. I want to run an art camp - I have wanted to do this since I was about 11, and it's something that burns inside of me and doesn't go away. Everything I do is with the thought that it might one day assist me with this goal. My degree is in Recreation and Leisure Studies, with certificates in Outdoor Recreation and Non-Profit Management. My current job is to run the volunteers/interns program we have, and to run Access to Adventure - the travel/recreational/social program for our clients. Our clients are all adults who have developmental disabilities, and one of the most rewarding parts of my job are not arranging transportation to Disneyland, etc, but putting on art workshops every few months and seeing the results. I am currently taking some online psychology classes in order to get my next degree - one in Art Therapy. Ohhhhhh how I want this camp!

so that's me, folks, and my 7 facts. I am now going to tag the following seven folks:

1. http://www.heidilogic.wordpress.com/

2. http://www.shellmitchell.blogspot.com/

3. http://maryeb-blog.blogspot.com/

4. http://twozanyzebras.blogspot.com/

5. http://lazytcrochet.blogspot.com/

6. http://lostmittenblog.blogspot.com/

7. http://paperwires.blogspot.com/

Friday morning

Today I apparently have allergies. I have never had allergies before. I am not sure what to do about it, other than just sneeze and sniffle a lot. Maybe it's not really allergies and I am getting sick. I don't know which would be better. :P I need to drink a lot of water today.

It's a hard day to be at work - the sky puts crayola cerulean to shame - *leaves* are actually falling. It's warm outside and so cold in my office. It's Friday, and there are very few people here.

I am making some progress with Alex's scarf - it's very cool. After this one I am excited to use my new intarsia skills and do all sorts of images and patterns. Although I do think my first order of business after this scarf is to knit myself some fingerless gloves. Holy moly it's cold in here.

Yesterday my big afternoon project was cleaning out The Closet of Doom and organizing my desk to make it more ergnomically friendly. My intern and I did great things - she tackled The Closet of Doom with a verociousness that I lack when cleaning, and I timidly approached my desk drawers. I have to admit, that it was all worth it this morning when I got to my office and was surprised all over again by how nice and uncluttered it was. Just another reminder for me that I really do work better when I am organized and uncluttered - the physical clutter feels like it messes up my brain. Sadly, being organized/not messy does not come naturally to me, but it's definitly worth being conscious of it and making it happen anyway.

I really like my job, but I am looking forward to the day when I don't have to work fulltime. This is a huge motivator for me to get my master's - I want to do what my mom did, which was be at home with her kids during the day, and teach nights. That sounds just about right.

It's time for me and my puffy eyes to go do some work - yesterday I mailed the first notice regarding our next big trip - the 2009 Walt Disney World Resort and Cruise! I am anticipating many a call for that today. I'm excited - this will be my first big trip that I orchestrate from start to finish, and I feel really good about it. We've got a year to plan (we'll be going Nov. 2009) and I learned a lot from the Alaska cruise.

I also have a newsletter to finish, so that's what I am going to go do now. (the photo is one I took of a bald eagle in Sitka, AK when I was there on the Cruise.)