The weather says we're getting snow tonight! I'm really hoping to wake up to a world of white. There's nothing better! Too bad we don't get snow days at work :-)
Sunday, December 6, 2009
My Julie & Julia Moment
I'm going to go all Julie & Julia on you for a moment. Hope that's ok.
I am going to attempt to make cream puffs. Well just the "puff" part today. The recipe is from my mom. I remember her making cream puffs a couple of times for my piano recitals when I was younger. The puffs were always better than the piano part I'm sure.
This time I am going to be adding my own little twist. As these are for a taste testing contest/staff Christmas party tomorrow . . . I am going to make these bite size, and fill them with a peppermint cream. I wish I had little candy canes or mint leaves to stick in them. A good presentation always seems to help people ignore the fact that something doesn't taste great.
Hopefully more to come on this!
I am going to attempt to make cream puffs. Well just the "puff" part today. The recipe is from my mom. I remember her making cream puffs a couple of times for my piano recitals when I was younger. The puffs were always better than the piano part I'm sure.
This time I am going to be adding my own little twist. As these are for a taste testing contest/staff Christmas party tomorrow . . . I am going to make these bite size, and fill them with a peppermint cream. I wish I had little candy canes or mint leaves to stick in them. A good presentation always seems to help people ignore the fact that something doesn't taste great.
Hopefully more to come on this!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
The Extent of Christmas so Far
We make our own snow here. We haven't gotten any real stuff yet (maybe within the next few days!) But this spot sure looks like we're in the middle of winter!
This is the extent of my Christmas decorating so far: 4 pine cones I found by my house.
Today I made some rum truffles (my all time favorite holiday treat). It's a messy job.
Ta Da! The finished product! They are for the taste testing contest at our staff Christmas party on Monday. Hopefully no one will be offended that there's rum in them. Knowing Hume, someone will probably say something about it and give me a hard time. But I already ok-ed it with HR.Thursday, December 3, 2009
Safe. For Now.
When the economy turned and Christian Camping took a hit we definitely started going through changes here. Budgets were cut, vacated positions were not filled, Thanksgiving and Christmas were canceled (well . . . the party and our gifts were), staff retreat was cut, we had to actually start marketing ourselves. . . and the list could go on.
We'd been told from the beginning by our Director, that he would do everything in his power to keep our jobs. That was reassuring.
Over the last little while though . . . we've seen people fired/let go because "we are dissolving your position." It never seemed clear to me if they were letting people go because of the economy and the position needed to be taken away, or because it was about the person, their work ethic, their personality . . . Who knows what. They just seemed like iffy situations to me.
But today it was clear. 8 people were told yesterday that they were being let go. Their positions will be no more. So at least we can know for sure now . . . that we've come to that point. We all received a letter in our mail boxes today explaining that this is indeed because of the economy . . . and that if we don't start seeing camper numbers and contracts come in . . . we may not be done laying people off. There are 6 spots from people who have left recently which will not be filled, plus the 8 from yesterday and with a few others from earlier we are approaching 20 people we've lost in the last couple months. Gotta love change. It's non-stop here.
So I'm safe, for today. I guess working in fundraising in a down economy can be good job security. But we'll see.
We'd been told from the beginning by our Director, that he would do everything in his power to keep our jobs. That was reassuring.
Over the last little while though . . . we've seen people fired/let go because "we are dissolving your position." It never seemed clear to me if they were letting people go because of the economy and the position needed to be taken away, or because it was about the person, their work ethic, their personality . . . Who knows what. They just seemed like iffy situations to me.
But today it was clear. 8 people were told yesterday that they were being let go. Their positions will be no more. So at least we can know for sure now . . . that we've come to that point. We all received a letter in our mail boxes today explaining that this is indeed because of the economy . . . and that if we don't start seeing camper numbers and contracts come in . . . we may not be done laying people off. There are 6 spots from people who have left recently which will not be filled, plus the 8 from yesterday and with a few others from earlier we are approaching 20 people we've lost in the last couple months. Gotta love change. It's non-stop here.
So I'm safe, for today. I guess working in fundraising in a down economy can be good job security. But we'll see.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
November
I'm appalled at myself. 1 blog for the month of November? I really need to work on that huh? It's not like my life has been boring or anything this past month. It's been anything but that.
I drove 1,000+ miles in just over a week. Nathan and I went to socal two weekends in a row. It was a good time seeing friends and family . . . but it's still tiring. It's nice to be home now and know that I don't really have any plans to leave the mountain till Christmas.
Nathan and I have been watching Lost and getting caught up for season 6! I'm really looking forward to it. Today we finished season 4. With Nathan's broken collar bone . . . it's a good excuse to be lazy and watch a lot of tv.
I started a "Business Marketing and Writing" class a few weeks ago. Work paid for it. They're investing in me with this class since I do a lot of the writing and editing for our news publication. It's a great class so far and I'm learning lots.
It's getting cold here now. I think last night it dropped to 16 degrees. No snow yet . . . but hopefully this weekend! I'm really looking forward to it.
I miss Thailand. The transition back was hard. I still need to put my thank you letter together.
That's all for now.
I drove 1,000+ miles in just over a week. Nathan and I went to socal two weekends in a row. It was a good time seeing friends and family . . . but it's still tiring. It's nice to be home now and know that I don't really have any plans to leave the mountain till Christmas.
Nathan and I have been watching Lost and getting caught up for season 6! I'm really looking forward to it. Today we finished season 4. With Nathan's broken collar bone . . . it's a good excuse to be lazy and watch a lot of tv.
I started a "Business Marketing and Writing" class a few weeks ago. Work paid for it. They're investing in me with this class since I do a lot of the writing and editing for our news publication. It's a great class so far and I'm learning lots.
It's getting cold here now. I think last night it dropped to 16 degrees. No snow yet . . . but hopefully this weekend! I'm really looking forward to it.
I miss Thailand. The transition back was hard. I still need to put my thank you letter together.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Welcome Home
After many long hours of driving this past weekend . . . we headed home to be greeted by this:
It was absolutely stunning. It's the fog/haze of the valley meeting the side of the mountain, and blocking the view of the ugly valley. I'm sure blessed to live in such beauty.
It was absolutely stunning. It's the fog/haze of the valley meeting the side of the mountain, and blocking the view of the ugly valley. I'm sure blessed to live in such beauty.
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