I had lunch today with a group of blogging hotties (and Doghouse!) and I have to say it was the highlight of my day, by far. Well, okay, Ace flirting with the waitress was probably the actual highlight, but the (somewhat more) adults rock too.
The rest of my day so far has been much less awesome.
Back in November I spent weeks working on a grant application to get funds for some continuing education programs. Today I get an email saying we'd been approved. I'm doing the twirl-in-my-chair happy dance right up until I actually open the email and realize they'd approved us for approximately 1/3 of the amount we'd requested. Well now. That presents some interesting delimas.
In the application I broke out the cost per session. The amount they approved will fund one and a third sessions. Um. Did they READ the application? The application also stated that we were not going to have funding from other sources. I don't think it'll be a problem if we now request funding for the remaining sessions since they opted not to fund them, but the 2/3 session could be a problem. I fear the solution is going to be to return the extra funds, which just grates on me considering how much effort it took to GET those funds in the first place!
Not to mention it's a bit late in the game to be submitting brand new grants for a funciton in MARCH. And I'm running out of sources. Seems like every time I do this there are fewer and fewer organizations offering the type of grants we need, and I've used 4 of those sources in the past six months!
However, on the bright side, I'm going to a function with Jen tonight that should involve an absurd amount of homemade chocolate goodies. I can feel my heart getting healthier just thinking about it.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Clarification
To anyone walking by my house in the past 30 minutes who are now looking up the phone number for PETA:
I was not torturing an animal. I was trimming his nails. He can be a bit dramatic about such things. He can also be quite immature about it, such as when he finds a way to sit on all four paws so that I can't reach any of them. No animals were physically harmed during this process, although I'm sure the animal in question considers himself victimized and emotionally scarred. I have since given him a treat, making it all better.
I was not torturing an animal. I was trimming his nails. He can be a bit dramatic about such things. He can also be quite immature about it, such as when he finds a way to sit on all four paws so that I can't reach any of them. No animals were physically harmed during this process, although I'm sure the animal in question considers himself victimized and emotionally scarred. I have since given him a treat, making it all better.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Socks
I'll admit that my sock drawer is a mess. With my new shiny boots I need black trouser socks, but I've had much frustration finding matching sock sets in the chaos of my sock drawer. Tonight I fought back. I pulled out all of my black trouser socks to match them all up and put this wrong to right.
In the end, I have 4 pair of matching black socks. And 11 individual orphaned black socks. I don't think I've ever owned 11 pair of black socks, so I really don't know how I have 11 orphaned black socks, PLUS 4 pair. I think the 4 pair were inter-breeding, creating the 11 mutt black socks that don't really resemble any of the others. It's the only explanation I have.
In the end, I have 4 pair of matching black socks. And 11 individual orphaned black socks. I don't think I've ever owned 11 pair of black socks, so I really don't know how I have 11 orphaned black socks, PLUS 4 pair. I think the 4 pair were inter-breeding, creating the 11 mutt black socks that don't really resemble any of the others. It's the only explanation I have.
Another Story
Some of the comments on the last post reminded me of another story that I thought I might as well share.
Several years ago I worked with a good friend who was married with a baby and seemed to be on a bit of a financial roller coaster for various reasons. She had started doing some part time sales for a skin care company that paid commission. It wasn't a lot, but it helped a little at a time.
Anyway, she had a appointment one night that she really wasn't wanting to do and didn't expect to be very profitable. She had considered sending somebody else. As it turned out, her baby had been sick and the doctor bill came in the day before. She didn't know how they were going to pay it, so she decided to keep the appointment in the hopes of earning a little to put towards the bill. The next morning she walked into the office and the first words out of her mouth were, "God is so amazing!" Turns out she'd had a great meeting the night before and earned EXACTLY the amount needed to pay the medical bill. To the dollar. Not a dollar more or less, but to the dollar.
What struck me was the fact that she didn't walk in and say, "You'll never believe what I did!" or even, "What a relief!" The very first thing was, "God is so amazing!" That conversation had an unusually profound effect on me for a lot of reasons; and I can't tell you how many times I've thought of that over the past couple of years when something crazy happens. Even something as simple as somebody asking to rake our yard, which kept us from having to make a purchase we really didn't want to make. It's a little thing, but we didn't really need a big thing at this time. It was just enough. There was a time when I would have just blown off the coincidence as good luck, but there have been too many of them, too many that were a lot bigger when we needed bigger, for me not to realize that God is amazing, even in the little things. I don't think it has anything to do with what we want to happen, I think it has to do with encouraging us along the path God wants us to take, so long as we're willing to go there.
I'm not sure I ever told Nic how much that little conversation meant to me. I think I'll email her and make sure she knows.
Several years ago I worked with a good friend who was married with a baby and seemed to be on a bit of a financial roller coaster for various reasons. She had started doing some part time sales for a skin care company that paid commission. It wasn't a lot, but it helped a little at a time.
Anyway, she had a appointment one night that she really wasn't wanting to do and didn't expect to be very profitable. She had considered sending somebody else. As it turned out, her baby had been sick and the doctor bill came in the day before. She didn't know how they were going to pay it, so she decided to keep the appointment in the hopes of earning a little to put towards the bill. The next morning she walked into the office and the first words out of her mouth were, "God is so amazing!" Turns out she'd had a great meeting the night before and earned EXACTLY the amount needed to pay the medical bill. To the dollar. Not a dollar more or less, but to the dollar.
What struck me was the fact that she didn't walk in and say, "You'll never believe what I did!" or even, "What a relief!" The very first thing was, "God is so amazing!" That conversation had an unusually profound effect on me for a lot of reasons; and I can't tell you how many times I've thought of that over the past couple of years when something crazy happens. Even something as simple as somebody asking to rake our yard, which kept us from having to make a purchase we really didn't want to make. It's a little thing, but we didn't really need a big thing at this time. It was just enough. There was a time when I would have just blown off the coincidence as good luck, but there have been too many of them, too many that were a lot bigger when we needed bigger, for me not to realize that God is amazing, even in the little things. I don't think it has anything to do with what we want to happen, I think it has to do with encouraging us along the path God wants us to take, so long as we're willing to go there.
I'm not sure I ever told Nic how much that little conversation meant to me. I think I'll email her and make sure she knows.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Pine Straw
Greg was about halfway through raking the yard this past weekend when the rake broke. We were going to have to buy a new rake. Unfortunately, we hadn't budgeted for a new rake. Now I know it won't cost much and we could rearrange some things to pay for it, but we've put it off because... well, because we weren't in a big hurry to get back out and rake the yard.
This afternoon we had a knock on the door. It was a guy that works for the nature center down the road. He wanted to know if we'd mind if he finished raking our yard and took the pine straw. Seriously. They need it for mulch for the flowers. He's coming back tomorrow to get it. Said he'd come back in a few weeks and rake again, if we didn't mind. Do we mind not having to buy a new rake this week? Do we mind not having to rake the yard? Hmm. Let me think about it and get back to you.
When I walked back into the house after talking to him at the door, Greg was doing the happy dance. You'd think we'd be used to the little things working themselves out like that, but it's still always a surprise.
This afternoon we had a knock on the door. It was a guy that works for the nature center down the road. He wanted to know if we'd mind if he finished raking our yard and took the pine straw. Seriously. They need it for mulch for the flowers. He's coming back tomorrow to get it. Said he'd come back in a few weeks and rake again, if we didn't mind. Do we mind not having to buy a new rake this week? Do we mind not having to rake the yard? Hmm. Let me think about it and get back to you.
When I walked back into the house after talking to him at the door, Greg was doing the happy dance. You'd think we'd be used to the little things working themselves out like that, but it's still always a surprise.
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