Well, I've been - not blogging. Let's face it. If graduation is such a utopia, facebook friends would deduce it and anyone reading this blog - doesn't know or most likely stopped reading. That being said, I'm going to see if I can become more habitual about it - and eventually I'd direct more people here. Social experiment? Yes please.

Hannah, Rowan and Oona - no you might not know them - are all blogging these days. As for myself, I live life these days and some of you might be nodding in approval. Life is still very focused on work - for which my efforts are appreciated and fawned over. That being said, my boss is simply amazing and I would follow her anywhere. Thus, I'd hate to dissapoint her. The Oscars are approaching and I'm making an effort to get to the movies more - I really do love going. The cooking is going quite well if I do say so myself. I'm juggling my household stuff, social life and work all easily, but it keeps me busy.

I'm wondering if and when I'll figure out if I have time for more substantial things. I've been trying to do yoga a few times a week to work on strengthening and flexibility - it certainly feels good. I'd like to get out more, be more cultured. However, on another positive note, I am reading again - slowly, but surely. I'll post a short book list later, but again, another positive development.

I've realized that in the past few months, I'm a good listener with a much greater ability to reflect and make accurate observations to others and provide a sounding board. I write a monthly column for the Monterey News and it actually serves a blog style writing outlet, which is probably why this social experiment is suffering. Needless to say that's been a five year adventure. No need to stop now - I've always been shocked at home when people come up to me to thank me for writing - it's a true pleasure through and through.

I'd write more about ideas for future plans, but everthing's so up in the air right now that I am just thankful for a cozy home, great job, making ends meet and a wonderful circle of friends. My family is behind me, my home in the Berkshires is solid, my support system at Middlebury is mostly - enough - intact, and I really do survey my surroundings and feel utterly blessed. The future is mine to seize and define - whenever I feel like I'm ready and able to do so.

The goal? To post every Monday night. Reality? who the heck knows :)

Work finally gets frustrating

Hey so work is finally getting to me. Best news ever - London bound in about four days.

Editorial board makes me want to hit things; they are the most ridiculously clueless oblivious unfocused group of Roosevelt students I've ever worked with. I realize I send lots of emails, but honestly? They never answer, nor do they ask, and when they do - it shows. GRRRR. I'm onto PLAN C.

Whew - just saying. London is just around the corner; three weeks of yes, freedom :)

Figuring out a new psychology

I don't know how to blog regularly - that seems to be the case anyway. So right now at work, things are busy as all heck. Just returned from a great trip to midd to celebrate the graduation of the 09.5 class. Big shout outs to Rowan, Kasima, Ryan (suitemates forever!), Callie (new suitemate), Chelsea, Alexis, June, Alicia, Evan, and many others that I've met and perhaps did not get to know as well as I could/should have. I wish you all the best and wonderful adventures. It was great because Dani and her husband and adorable son came over from Germany to stay - fantasticness...

So work - yeah, basically I'm in charge of fostering the evolution of a newly structured alumni network, overseeing all publications/editorial boards, running logistics for the summer academy, planning big mailings and eventually supervising Hyde Park Summit 2010. Oh and that is never minding the day-to-day stuff that piles up, website issues and requests, blast content, mailings, office supplies, documentation, staff email blasts, etc.

Social life - need to make a greater committment to that - same thing with a lot of positive life changes - time doesn't allow for everything one wants to do in life.

Goal: I'd say update every weekend - let's see how that goes shall we? Donna - this one is for you :)

Home for Thanksgiving

I always begin posts the same way it seems - by realizing (and apologizing) for not updating sooner. It's the reason I haven't really publicized this blog yet; until I get into the routine of updating. So here goes another "failed" attempt. I am sitting at BWI airport at six am on Tuesday before Thanksgiving - Super Shuttle picked me up at oh about four thirty. Thrilling. Gotta remember how much I dislike early flights - yawns.

Anyway so the last few weeks have been pretty busy. We had all of our conferences in our five regions. There's the small dollar fundraiser (do I actually have to dress up for this?) on Dec.2nd, and then of course the annual mailer (which is a gigantic mail merging pain in the a**). Then there's this new think impact program we're running to incentivise local work on the chapter level, trainings to schedule, materials to send out, a Copenhagan story arc to finalize (by Dec.15th), then there's a staff retreat in January and a exclusive writing conference with Mr. Bowman Cutter (from the Obama transition team and Carter/Clinton Administrations) also that same weekend in January (oh boy travel arrangements). We have new interns coming in, we have at least two (up to four) journals/publications we're soliciting for and planning the roll-out for - not to mention stuff that hasn't even officially been decided upon yet, and internal logistics like staff transitions.

Oh boy oh boy - anyway so that's the work life.

I recently went to Philly to visit a Midd friend/alum who lives outside the city. She and her husband put me up and I went to some law school classes with her and a bible study - both truly interesting experiences. One made me more curious and the other reaffirmed my beliefs, of why I am not religious - at all. Period. But still - worthy of my time for sure.

We also went to the new national constitution hall - a frekin' awesome exhibit - omg. I highly recommend it: I got so caught up there that by the time we ate in Reading Terminal Market, I barely had time to see the liberty bell before leaving. Clearly Independence Hall is the first thing on my list for next time. I also ate a cheesesteak at one of the most racist restaurants ever - well in my life. It had "only serving americans," "speak english/order only in english" signs EVERYWHERE. sigh. It was a decent sandwich, although honestly, I've had better tasting ones, maybe they were not authentic I don't know.
We also walked around 9th Street/Italian Market Street; interesting. And South Street down to the Delaware River - saw all those cool murals etc etc. I would say I'd upload pictures - but honestly my track record on even text posting is pretty horrendous....so we'll see if that everrrr happens. Facebook has some pictures - if you want to do that.

And that wraps up this little ramble - more during the holiday. I hope.

Working....sort of

So I'm turning into a southern gall when it comes to weather. I'm returning home to New England for a bit (ten days) at the end of the week and the weather makes me cringe. Possible snow? Mid-40s? Ewww. Today however, it's chilly, cloudy and such down here.

I still miss New England in the fall however - the colors etc etc - but we have had some beautiful 60s and sunny days down here. I suppose I can't complain but I am looking forward to the trip home.

Columbus Day - at a non-profit, getting federal holidays off is pretty cool. The fact that this is a holiday is beyond disgusting - but I'm "working" throughout the day so I'm trying to pretend it's a normal day and I just happen to be working from home. It eases the guilt (a little).

Also. Washington District of Columbia? Columbia, Columbus...namesake? Ugg, hadn't really crossed my radar until I moved down here. Apparently the city is named after "two founding fathers," I forget who described it as such - but thankfully they made a face as well. Seriously? Ewww gross.

I'm actually trying to learn how to write intelligent blogs - no easy task, but the new roosevelt website has a nice easy feature for student members to get their thoughts and commentary out there. I'm impressed that so many students are blogging and I keep encouraging students to get familiar with it and such...it's good practice. It's also a skill to write a minipaper argument in an engaging way. Hard, but good.

What else is going on? For the most part things have really ironed out - I have to start looking for a great volunteer match organization for myself when I get back towards the end of October. I'm not complaining about having Fridays off, but now that I've adjusted to the work week more-or-less, often I feel like I can manage some volunteer hours.

Haven't seen a movie in forever - but on Sunday that'll be taken care of - kid cousin and I are going to grab food and a movie. Thank goodness. I miss movies, I'm no longer entirely obsessed with them, but I do still love them.

I'm looking forward to a weekend with friends at Middlebury and then the following weekend I'm going to a conference at Yale for Roosevelt. Some 60+ students have signed up; gotta love how close the Northeast states are. I love my former alma (Roosevelt) mater.

I think that's in for now....back to "blogging."

Routines and Menus

Real life - it's a rather fascinating concept. One that I am slowly transitioning into. First things first...

Job

I delegate well, and I organize and manage well - I do not deal with excuses, blameshifting, or avoiding responsibilities well. When I say this - I mean that when others try and do anything on the previous list, it tries my patience. Big time. So, I'm trying to remember that it's sugar and honey (as opposed to vinegar) and that I need to remember to build in time to go for a run at least twice a week.

Big projects that are in full swing:

10 Ideas Series distribution - a massive undertaking and one that I'm coordinating. Whoo hoo. This involves: collecting all addresses of chapter leaders (so each school/chapter gets two copies), adding in the right number of extra journals for authors that wrote at that school (and tracking down individuals who were not at a chapter or who have graduated); ordering enough envelopes for sending these all out (mostly done); printing out address labels so no one gets a writers' cramp (so not done yet); getting 200+ sets of journals tied up (six journals per set) with ribbons so they can be set out looking nicely (about 15 are done); and finally, getting them to the damn post-office (and we're shipping media mail which I don't think they come pick up). grrrr. Fun? Well, no. Necessary? without a doubt.

I should note here that our science journal "Catalyst" also needs to be more specifically distributed to chapters and authors - and that this project is also a current shit show. Whip Cracking? You bet.....but seriously, I don't have enough hands for all the whips I'm supposed to be cracking.

Next Years' 10 Ideas Series Action Plan

Happily, this project is largely completed. I had to begin by talking to our policy director and head of the editorial board, as well as our layout specialist to make sure the dates I settled on were agreeable to all teams involved. Then I had to write out what would happen and when. Next came a memorandum on the editing communication between the editorial board and the policy strategists (about the selection and notification process). Then I had to create a submission form for all who submit pieces....and finally, this stuff has to be uploaded into a google calendar (and this last step is the only one that hasn't really been completed). Score.

Annual Fundraiser:

Previously, left something to be desired in terms of coordination, organization and professionalism. Oh well, live and learn. But now, it's my baby (one of many). I've laid out a calendar, thought through all the steps to the process (coordinating between our office and our NY office); what materials we need, who we're targeting, if we should do an email and a hard copy mailing; etc etc etc. This is a huge thing though and it's only going to get more stressful as time goes on. Seriously though, it can wait until after the 10 ideas go out next week. But they do have to go out.

Then there are the various odds and ends, Thursday I send out the internal staff blast, Monday is our staff meeting and my meeting with Hilary - Tuesday is our all office (NY DC and Hyde Park) call at 3:30. Monday I've got to get my bank account set up (yah real life!). I've started going out some and seeing friends who are here. Tuesday I have an NCIS night with the family I've stayed with in the past.

Overall though, I'm finally starting to figure things out and settle in. There are a few new things that continually come up and things that I need to deal with - but all-in-all it's under control.

The menu and eating thing has been the most interesting (I'm sure many of you know that I don't cook)...bake maybe, cook? hahahah. But, although the house always has food (if I get totally overwhelmed and don't have time), I prefer to do my own thing.

Sample menu for this week. Goals? Easy - somewhat well balanced, not time consuming, avoid buying lunch, and for a total eating bill of about 50 dollars. See if you agree (the food bill for today by the way was 41.98).

Monday:
Lunch: Cheese and Tomato sandwich; tortilla chips (10 minutes in the morning to make)
Dinner: Tuna and Potato Casserole (left overs)

Tuesday:
Lunch: Shrimp Caeser Salad (cooking shrimp on the weekend) (monday night prep)
Dinner: NCIS night

Wednesday:
Lunch (Chicken -rice and steamed veggie) - all cooked on the weekend
Dinner: Pasta, salad and garlic bread (probably about 25 minutes to cook, heat sauce, create salad, garlic bread is already pre-made, so good!)

Thursday:
Lunch: (chicken rice and steamed veggie) - ibid
Dinner (Salad and pizza) (oven, rabbit food chopping)

Friday - too far ahead to think about....

So - I think that's about it for now. It's Saturday, been sleeping in the past two days, tonight I'll do some food preparation for this week - do laundry and watch a movie...maybe do some work as well. Last night I went into Dupont, had some coffee and a drink with one friend and dinner and more drinks with another friend at the James Hoban (named after the dude who designed the house over there at 1600 PA Ave).

This weekend (the holiday one), I'll probably work from home on Monday and I'm headed to the Berkshires on the 15th. Reunion at Middlebury, week working from home and probably visiting a few schools, and then the Yale Fall Conference in New Haven on the 23rd and 24th, I'll fly back to DC on the 26th.

Some Daily Job Details

I had a wonderful time at my friend's wedding last weekend, and a great visit with many professors and friends up at Middlebury. There is something odd returning to the institution after getting a diploma from them; public safety and I will have an epic battle over tickets until the end of time. I have to park in town next time most likely. Go figure.

Anyway, I realized that even though I love the campus, and absolutely loved chatting with the professors I managed to visit with, that I am also an ex-student. I can't go back, maybe grad school, but I couldn't imagine myself back in that world, in any true sense. I've moved on, something has changed, things are different.

I have just gotten back to work again - although I worked while I was gone as well. Things in the office are busy, but I'm so ridiculously productive it almost drives the people I work with nuts. I'll probably slow down after the initial rush wears off. Honestly though, our national office is still getting the hang of what it means to serve students - our hope is clear, but what guides our work is important. If we want to engage, empower and promote students in everything we do - it also requires that we do just that all the time. If we do not respond to them, do not solve their problems, then really - we're just undermining our own legitimacy. I am simply not prepared to let that happen - so a lot of my job involves ensuring that we as a staff are keeping up with the needs of our network. It's a small office, and there is a lot to do beyond that, but our students won't trust us, nor will they participate in our activities or work with us unless we prove that we are responsive. Just as a general context.

My day to day responsibilities thus far have been a mix. I've gone through all our old chapter folders in the office, made cover sheets, updated them and created a new list of chapters in our network. I've taken all our old google documents (shared online docs through gmail) where we kept records of last year's chapter work, formated them, printed them and filed them in the chapter folders. It is the first step towards building a historical record of work and development. A lot of the processes and systems I create and implement will be part of making the office run more smoothly and building institutional memory for years to come. For example, when a chapter orders materials, there was no centralized place for tracking all the information. My first step was making sure that a google doc got created, and then that our organizing team (regional coordinators) got shared on it - so they can update it as they get requests. The office needs to stay on top of the requests. I ask for materials, shipping addresses, quanity, date it is needed by, payment method etc. So far that is ironing out well. If a chapter needs to pay for a banner (the only material we provide that we ask them to cover some of the cost for), they'll send us a check (I needed to create a procedure for processing those so we know they paid) or they ask for a grant (I needed to make sure we have a process for tracking those). So basically, in regards to banners, we know how much money we paid, how much we "gave" as grants to chapters, and how much chapters gave us towards the total cost of those banners. Good times. The grant process applies to anything that a student asks for. By looking in their folders, we can see all the printouts of grant requests (and their approved/denied status) and know how much "chapter service money we provided). So there are things like that.

Then there is the project of building up our alumni network, both for money, but also for the benefits it offers our current students. Another project I am beginning to get on board with this week after work with a group of alumni over dinner (and two other office colleagues).

Next, we're doing our annual fundraiser soon, and it's always been a bit of a mess - I've been asked to tighten up the process and make sure it runs smoothly this year; I think I'll also end up pulling together a 2008-2009 annual report for potential donors.

Then there is follow up from our Hyde Park Summit, I sent out a survey, and I have responses from students that I need to analyze, and make a series of recommendations and observations fairly soon to help guide our work and make sure we're addressing the feedback and concerns of our membership and improving our own performance at the national office.

I'm also in charge of doing lots of website updates, and responding to a number of student questions about the site itself (for those of you who know my lack of computer skills, it's probably funny). http://www.rooseveltcampusnetwork.org/
That website does take up a lot of my time though. I'm also uploading resources and whatnot for students for chapter maintance and policy writing. My recent project was to create google web forms for students and embed them in the webpage so students can request materials (a notch above the google doc that regional coordinators enter information into) or request a policy training from us.

I've been taking care of much of the custom banners that have been ordered recently, and making sure students get them.

Another project of mine is doing the internal staff email blasts every week, so that we're all on the same page about big stuff (usually three news items); I take notes on our conference calls every other Sunday evening as well.


I figure those things will keep me busy well into October, but come the end of October, we'll be seeing more student policy work, more success stories and many regional events. I'm sure something will come from that.

As you can tell from the wordy outline above, lots goes on and there is a lot to do - it's never dull.