Sunday, July 27, 2008
I am miserable with the way that I look and I know it’s my fault. I’m really doing great with working out, but it’s just not enough. The part I struggle with is the food. Yesterday I did really well. For a while anyway. I worked out hard and ate well… then the evening set in and, as usual, I got snacky. Nicole was at the clubhouse on the internet so I didn’t feel guilty snacking, and I still didn’t do too bad. I had healthy snacks, just several of them when I wasn’t the least bit hungry. And then I went out dancing, so I’d like to think I burned off all the extra calories that I ate. Tonight, however, was not quite the near happy ending as the night before. I worked out really hard this afternoon and I felt great afterwards, but I was really craving some pizza. My plans was to only eat 2 pieces to satisfy my craving and my appetite. I ate 6 pieces. Hours later I felt completely disgusting and guilty and just plain awful. It’s easy for me to eat well when I’m living with Sandy because I can feel her constantly watching me and judging me. It’s different here. My boss pokes fun at me for working out so much and my coworkers often try to encourage me to order burgers and such instead of salads when we go out to eat. It’s torture. I’m a member of the Biggest Loser Club online and it’s a program that you have to pay a monthly membership to. I can keep track of my daily calorie intake, my workouts and my weight loss progress, but I have to have internet in order to do this! We don’t have internet in our apartment so we have to go to the community clubhouse to use the internet there, and that only works two thirds of the time. It wasn’t working today so I wasn’t entirely sure where I was at calorie wise. The staff at the clubhouse are trashy and don’t care about anything, especially the status of the internet. Right now I just wish I was in Austin so I could loose the freaking weight that I want, I could use the internet when I want to and could be around people who care about me and actually want to talk to me. I definitely LOVE my job, but I don’t love Pickwick, or Nicole at the moment or my eating habits.
Anyway, last night Amber invited me to go down to Broad Ripple (think 6th street on a smaller scale) with Andy and a couple of their friends. Nicole couldn’t go because she’s not 21 yet (2 more weeks!) so the only people that I knew were Andy and Amber. Amber had a friend in town and we met up with some more people that they knew and it ended up being awkward for me. Amber didn’t really talk to me much, she more just stuck to her friend Erica so I ended up feeling like a third wheel. After I’d had a couple of drinks I got brave enough to hit the dance floor. I ended up dancing with one of Andy’s friend, who wasn’t very cute, but I was so desperate for someone to talk to that I didn’t even care when he started hitting on me. Just when I was starting to have some fun Amber told me that she and Andy were ready to leave. It was about 12:30. Matt, the guy I’d been dancing with, had actually rode with us there and was going to stay and get a ride with someone else. He offered to give me a life home if I wanted to stay longer, and he wasn’t really creepy, but I still felt like it was best for me to leave with Amber. I guess my main reason for that was just so that Amber didn’t think I was interested in him or wonder what happened after she left or any other option in that direction. I did have fun that night, but it was when I was dancing with strangers. I just felt like Amber invited me out of pity so I wouldn’t be sitting at home, which I appreciate, but it also would have been nice if I felt like she actually wanted me there.
Tomorrow Nicole and I have Risk Management training at a hotel with a bunch of consultants from other sororities. I’m not really looking forward to that. Christ told us it’s probably going to be quite boring and that the main reason for it is to meet people. I suck at meeting people. Ugh.
Monday, July 28, 2008
I learned a lot today. Not so much about Risk Management, but just a lot of stuff about a lot of things. I did learn a few interesting things about Risk Management that I’m definitely going to pass along to other chapters, like secrets about Sober Sister or Roadside Assistant Sister and about guests lists, etc. I also learned some things about transitioning from college life to the real world (it’s quite the transition really). One of the first things we learned is that the Golden Rule does not apply in the work place. Rather than do unto others as you would have them do unto you, it really should be “Do unto others as they would like to have done unto them”. We came to this conclusion after having done a mini communication styles quiz to identify what kind of communicators we were. The four categories were Regulators, Analyzers, Moderators and Exponents. It was really interesting and we talked at length about the different characteristics of the different communicators in different work place and real life situations. The fundamental point of the exercise was not just to identify what we were, but also to identify what those around us were so we could more effectively work with them. If our boss is a regulator, we need to keep that in mind and cater to that when communicating with them, hence the change in the work place golden rule. In doing this activity I felt I was able to identify what kind of communicator me and some of my friends are. Elaine and I are regulators. I believe Becca to be an analyzer, Hannah and Crystal to be moderators and John and Samantha to be exponents. We all posses characteristics of each kind of communicator, but these were what I felt were most fitting for us. When I took the test it said I was a moderator, but we only answered 10 questions when it’s usually about 150, so he told us that these results may not be quite accurate, but the descriptions of the different styles would be more accurate and tell us more about ourselves and others.
I also learned that things that are good to do in college are not going to be so great to do in the work place, such as doing everyone else’s work, doing exactly as your told, waiting to be taught, broadcasting your complaints and taking a 3 month summer vacation! The presenter went on to talk about qualities that are valued in college versus qualities that are valued in the work place. For example:
COLLEGE WORK
-independence -team work
-individuality -conformity
-entitlement -duty
-equality -hierarchy
He was a very good speaker and he told us that making the transition from college to the work place is very difficult. He compared it to the transition you go through when you become a parent. In college, it’s all about finding yourself and expressing yourself, and most of the time, that’s not really the case out in the work place. He gave us a list of 15 things we can to do to become a better employee and a website with more resources (www.jobbound.com).
I also had a much better day today emotionally (and with food) and I learned some things about myself on this day out. There were several different speakers that got up and spoke throughout the day. One of them was the other author of I Heart Recruitment. We met with Jessica last week to talk about recruitment stuff and today Colleen got up and talked about what it’s like to have mental health issues in college, including eating disorders. It was really interesting to hear her tell her story. After she spoke, another woman got up and talked about hot to deal with helping someone else with an eating disorder. When she first got up there, she told us that she herself used to be overweight and has lost 85 pounds in the last 4 years through a 12 step weight loss program called Overeaters Anonymous. I made a note of that in my notebook to look it up later. When I came home I did and I think it might be something worth looking into. It’s not a program that you have to pay for at all, which is a plus for me given my current lack of an adequate income. It’s also based on the same 12 steps and 12 traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous, which I’m very familiar with since the majority of my family has been through that program and I used to attend Ala-non meetings in middle school. There are meetings and you get a sponsor and everything. I think I’m going to look up some meeting times here in Indy and go to a few (the recommend going to 6 different meetings before deciding if it is right for you and settling on a particular meeting group) and see if I think that’ its right for me. It’s all about identifying the issues in your life and helping you to deal with those in relation to eating and helping you to abstain from overeating rather that simply making a diet plan and restricting what you eat, etc. I also realized that what I’m doing at the moment may be working, but I’m just so freaking impatient. Even with the mess-ups that I’ve had, I still have not gained any weight in the last 4 weeks, which is good. But I lost 4 pounds rather quickly and then slowly lost another 2 and I need to recognize that it took me 3 years to put this weight on, so it’s going to take me some time to take it off. That’s really hard for me. I guess it’s also hard because back when I did the south beach a couple of years ago I lost like 15 pound pretty quickly and kept it off for over a year. I’m frustrated that I’m not able to do that again. I need to remember that I am a completely different person now than I was back then and my life style is completely different and will never again be as simple as it was then. This new program is something that (if I decide I like it and is worth it) is something that I think I can do while I’m on the road and will simply compliment what I’m doing now and also help to improve me as a person. I won’t be able to regularly attend meetings, but I will have contact information for people that I can talk to on the phone and get support from them as well as the materials that I can read. I’m not sure how much time I’ll really have to read these things because I’ll have so much going on and the time I will have off I will want to spend on things I enjoy, like personal reading and movie, but I’m going to give it a shot and see what it has to offer. Even if it’s not something that will work for my life right now, maybe it’s something that will work for me later in life. After reading through pages and pages of material on the website, I realized that I do have an eating problem. I may not be morbidly obese, but I don’t want to wait until I am before I start addressing the problem, especially when I see it now. I’m also proud of myself because I got up and worked out this morning. I didn’t make it to the gym, but I did crunches and lunges and things of that sort for 20 minutes. I was exhausted when I got home from the workshop this evening but because I’ve been so good about making it to the gym and because I didn’t do bad with eating today and because I did make the time this morning to work out, I was ok taking a day off from the gym. I don’t want to get burnt out on it, so I don’t force myself to go when I’m just not feeling up to it. I really enjoy working out so I end up going like 5 days a week, which I feel is very acceptable.
There were consultants from 16 different sororities there today and I got to meet a lot of people. The people that I felt would be useful are the two consultants that are also going to Clayton State in Georgia to start a chapter. I gave them my business card and we chatted with them about our worries, etc. It was interesting to talk to all these other girls and hear how differently their organizations do training and to hear about what their sorority experience was like at a big school. Alpha Sigma Alpha tends to be at smaller schools with smaller chapters. We are at some big school with big chapters over a hundred women, but we were hearing stories about 600 plus women going through recruitment with new member classes of 80 and chapter total being over 200. It was nuts to imagine a chapter like that! It did get me worried about dealing with bigger chapters and universities. I know I won’t be dealing with anything quite that big, but Greek life elsewhere is still going to be a major shock to me since I really don’t have much to compare it to. From what I’ve heard from other consultants and from woman at convention, Greek life at Schreiner is not a good representation of what real Greek life is like. This is something I’ve always suspected (clearly) but now I know for sure. When the show Greek first came out, a lot of the Greeks on my campus were upset about the way it portrayed Greek life saying “It’s not like that at all!” but now I’ve heard several people say that it really is pretty accurate of what Greek life is like on a lot of campuses. I have no idea what to expect! There were also 16 women there who were second year consultants. I know that you can reapply to be an LC again if you wish to do so, but it’s not that common in Alpha Sigma Alpha. We’ve had I think 3 women do it for 2 years in the last 30 years, whereas there was one chapter today who had 7 returning consultants and 6 new consultants. That was also a shock that they had 13 consultants compared to our 2 (though we soon hope to have 3). I’m not going to make any decisions now, partly because I kind of like the idea of not knowing what’s going to come next in my life, but who knows. Maybe this is something that I’ll want to do again next year.
Some random, disturbing facts about the apartment complex that I’m currently living in:
Nicole was at the pool the other day and struck up a conversation with someone who told her that there have been a lot of reports of theft in the complex lately. We had just been talking about the number of cops we see driving around the complex, so with this new information we have our door constantly locked, even when we’re home and are sure to lock the dead bolt and the handle when we’re not.
We got home from our workshop this afternoon and walked up to the building to find a poster nailed to the wall with a picture of 4 black men on it that read: “WANTED! If you see these men in Pickwick, call 911 immediately!” Are you shitting me?? I was going to walk over and do laundry this evening, but Nicole was at the clubhouse and I’m no longer comfortable walking over there in the dark by myself, so I put my laundry off until tomorrow. This place just keeps getting better and better.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Secret heart, what are you made of? What are you so afraid of?
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I’ve decided that I’m going to go back to writing in my actual journal every night and then transferring it into blogs later. I did that for the first few days that I was in Indy and it turns out I like it better than just waiting until I have time to write one on the computer. It gives me a chance to reflect on my day while it’s still fresh in my mind and then go back and elaborate more when I have the time.
I like the relationship that Nicole and I have. We get along really well, but we don’t really talk and open up to each other about things. I like this with her; I think it fits us really well, but I hope that the new girl and I will be closer. When she gets here she’ll be sharing a room with me. I’m proud of myself for offering to let her stay in my room because I’m usually pretty selfish about things like that.
Today was Tess’s birthday and I got to talk to her on the phone for quite a while. It was really nice. We didn’t really have lots of things to tell each other, but we found lots to talk about. I really miss her and getting to hang out with her. I’m sad I didn’t get a chance to see her again this summer and that I probably won’t see her again until December.
I’m looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. I like having a little bit of a routine and feeling like I’m in control of my day. I went to the gym today weighed myself. I was pretty scared about doing this because the last time I weighed myself was two weeks ago and I was nervous that I’d gained weight while I was at convention. I was surprised (and rather pleased) to see that I was actually a pound lighter. I know that one pound in two weeks isn’t a lot, but I was just excited to see that I’d made any progress at all rather than backtracking. I had a really great time at convention, but that’s another reason that I’m glad to be back -- I more in control of what I eat and when I get to workout. Nicole and I might be going out tomorrow night, so I’m going to try and get up early in the morning and workout before I go to the office.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I went out tonight. It was Nicole and I meeting up with a few of the local Greeks. We were nervous because we didn’t really know them, but shortly after we showed up some other girls from work did too, so that was good. I’d like to say that I had a GREAT time. It was ok. It reminded me of Kerrville a bit. Me sitting by while my roommate gets hit on by a bunch of cute boys. Except in Kerrville I have other friends that I can turn to in order to distract me and I didn’t really have that tonight. So I sat quietly, smiled a lot and drank my drinks. I tried to engage in conversations with people, but it was Karaoke night and we were sitting right in front, so it was kind of hard to hear people. And we all know that I don’t have the best hearing as it is, so eventually I just gave up. I’m really happy being single, but I really wouldn’t mind a little attention from guys. I am still a single, straight girl. This is where turning my journal into a blog becomes hard for me. I have a lot of thoughts going through my head, but do I really want to share them with whoever reads this? Nope. So instead I’ll just backtrack a bit and talk about my day before going out to do Karaoke.
Nicole and I met with Jessica today. She is one of the authors of I Heart Recruitment. She was super nice and fun and I learned a lot from her (she was also at the bar with us later, which was fun!). I took lots of notes that will help me on the road and I’m also excited about sharing all of this with Elaine. We did a lot of training today. We talked about where we’re going to be traveling to our first 5 weeks on the road (which I’ve already posted on here) and I’m really excited about it. I’m nervous, but excited and optimistic. We talked about how we’re going to go out and meet girls and get them interested in starting a chapter at Clayton State in GA. I met with Amber for a while and we talked about Psi Psi and the things that they’re struggling with and how we’re basically going to be treating them like a new colony. It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m sure it will seem less so as I get more training.
I knew that we were going to be going out tonight so I got up and went to the gym before work today to make sure that I got my workout in. When we got home from work I still felt kind of lazy and gross so I went for an hour long walk while I talked to Elaine on the phone. It was really nice getting to talk to her. I miss her bunches. I had to write a difficult email this evening, and I talked to her about it a little. It was really hard for me to write this email, but once again, this a blog that people read, so I’ll refrain from talking about it and how I feel.
Ugh. I’m just feeling really down right now. To be completely honest, I feel a little fat, really ugly, boring and plain. I don’t like it. This isn’t how I normally feel, especially lately, but these aren’t completely uncommon feelings for me either. I hate being a girl. I think I might also be getting a little home sick. Yuck. I still have 3 more weeks of training and then at least 5 weeks on the road before my vacation. If I see you on my vacation, please be nice to me! I’ll need it.
Friday, July 25, 2008
I was still a bit grumpy when I woke up this morning. I wanted to sleep in and couldn’t and then after I got out of the shower I realized that I miscalculated the time and I really could have slept for another 30 minutes. I was pretty bummed.
At work today we went over the kinds of reports that we’re going to have to do, depending on the type of visit it is to the chapter (usually recruitment or discipline). We also talked about the things that we have to do in order to prepare for a visit to the chapter, and the things we have to do once we’ve finished visiting, not to mention all of the things that we have to do during the visit. It was rather overwhelming. I just don’t see how there’s enough time in the week for it all, especially when we’re only allowed to work 40 hours a week. I’m still really excited about it all (it’s starting to feel real now that we know where we’re going) but I’m nervous that I’m going to get stressed out.
It was really nice only having to work until noon today. I was really tired and decided to take a nap for a couple of hours and ended up sleeping for 4 hours. Nicole and I went out to dinner with Louise. They messed up both mine and Nicole’s dinners so we both got them for free, which was a pleasant little surprise. Then we went for ice cream and to see the new Batman movie. It was fun getting to hang out with Louise outside of work. She’s a hoot! The movie was really good too. Nicole got a text from the guy she was flirting with last night inviting us to come and hang out with them, but it was after midnight when we got out of the movie and Nicole just wanted to go home and go to bed, so we did. I also had an email waiting for me when I got out of the movie that certainly did not bring a smile to my face. That was a shame because I was in a really good mood before then.
I hope I’m able to sleep tonight after that long nap that I took. Right now I’m talking to Steven, who I haven’t talked to much since like April. He’s graduating in December and I guess him and a friend (who’s from China) are hoping to move to China sometime after he graduates and start a business over there. He’s not certain that it’s going to happen, but I hope that it does so I have an excuse to go to China! Before I left this summer I was really excited about buying a new car when I get done with this job, but now I’m not so excited about it. I’m excited to be getting a newer car, but I’m a bit torn about getting a brand new car. I know I can get one that’s only a year old for like $10,000 or less and it’s going to be like $23,000 for a brand new one. I just don’t know how I feel about putting all of that extra money towards a car that’s not that much better when I could use it to do things like go visit John in India or Steven in China. Those are experiences that I’m going to remember forever. Am I really going to care 30 years from now if my car was a 2007 or a 2008? Probably not. But I guess I’ll deal with all of that when it gets closer.
I’m starting to get a bit lonely here. Nicole and I are almost always together, but we don’t really talk about our lives with each other. I really wanted someone to talk to when I got out of the movie tonight, but I felt like I had no one. It was too late to call Hannah’s house and she doesn’t have a cell in Winnsboro. And it was way too late to call John. Hopefully Nicole and I meet some more people soon and start going out more and maybe once we’re more social I’ll start to feel better. Oh, I got paid today! Too bad I have a ton of bills to pay.
I’ve decided that I’m going to go back to writing in my actual journal every night and then transferring it into blogs later. I did that for the first few days that I was in Indy and it turns out I like it better than just waiting until I have time to write one on the computer. It gives me a chance to reflect on my day while it’s still fresh in my mind and then go back and elaborate more when I have the time.
I like the relationship that Nicole and I have. We get along really well, but we don’t really talk and open up to each other about things. I like this with her; I think it fits us really well, but I hope that the new girl and I will be closer. When she gets here she’ll be sharing a room with me. I’m proud of myself for offering to let her stay in my room because I’m usually pretty selfish about things like that.
Today was Tess’s birthday and I got to talk to her on the phone for quite a while. It was really nice. We didn’t really have lots of things to tell each other, but we found lots to talk about. I really miss her and getting to hang out with her. I’m sad I didn’t get a chance to see her again this summer and that I probably won’t see her again until December.
I’m looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. I like having a little bit of a routine and feeling like I’m in control of my day. I went to the gym today weighed myself. I was pretty scared about doing this because the last time I weighed myself was two weeks ago and I was nervous that I’d gained weight while I was at convention. I was surprised (and rather pleased) to see that I was actually a pound lighter. I know that one pound in two weeks isn’t a lot, but I was just excited to see that I’d made any progress at all rather than backtracking. I had a really great time at convention, but that’s another reason that I’m glad to be back -- I more in control of what I eat and when I get to workout. Nicole and I might be going out tomorrow night, so I’m going to try and get up early in the morning and workout before I go to the office.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I went out tonight. It was Nicole and I meeting up with a few of the local Greeks. We were nervous because we didn’t really know them, but shortly after we showed up some other girls from work did too, so that was good. I’d like to say that I had a GREAT time. It was ok. It reminded me of Kerrville a bit. Me sitting by while my roommate gets hit on by a bunch of cute boys. Except in Kerrville I have other friends that I can turn to in order to distract me and I didn’t really have that tonight. So I sat quietly, smiled a lot and drank my drinks. I tried to engage in conversations with people, but it was Karaoke night and we were sitting right in front, so it was kind of hard to hear people. And we all know that I don’t have the best hearing as it is, so eventually I just gave up. I’m really happy being single, but I really wouldn’t mind a little attention from guys. I am still a single, straight girl. This is where turning my journal into a blog becomes hard for me. I have a lot of thoughts going through my head, but do I really want to share them with whoever reads this? Nope. So instead I’ll just backtrack a bit and talk about my day before going out to do Karaoke.
Nicole and I met with Jessica today. She is one of the authors of I Heart Recruitment. She was super nice and fun and I learned a lot from her (she was also at the bar with us later, which was fun!). I took lots of notes that will help me on the road and I’m also excited about sharing all of this with Elaine. We did a lot of training today. We talked about where we’re going to be traveling to our first 5 weeks on the road (which I’ve already posted on here) and I’m really excited about it. I’m nervous, but excited and optimistic. We talked about how we’re going to go out and meet girls and get them interested in starting a chapter at Clayton State in GA. I met with Amber for a while and we talked about Psi Psi and the things that they’re struggling with and how we’re basically going to be treating them like a new colony. It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m sure it will seem less so as I get more training.
I knew that we were going to be going out tonight so I got up and went to the gym before work today to make sure that I got my workout in. When we got home from work I still felt kind of lazy and gross so I went for an hour long walk while I talked to Elaine on the phone. It was really nice getting to talk to her. I miss her bunches. I had to write a difficult email this evening, and I talked to her about it a little. It was really hard for me to write this email, but once again, this a blog that people read, so I’ll refrain from talking about it and how I feel.
Ugh. I’m just feeling really down right now. To be completely honest, I feel a little fat, really ugly, boring and plain. I don’t like it. This isn’t how I normally feel, especially lately, but these aren’t completely uncommon feelings for me either. I hate being a girl. I think I might also be getting a little home sick. Yuck. I still have 3 more weeks of training and then at least 5 weeks on the road before my vacation. If I see you on my vacation, please be nice to me! I’ll need it.
Friday, July 25, 2008
I was still a bit grumpy when I woke up this morning. I wanted to sleep in and couldn’t and then after I got out of the shower I realized that I miscalculated the time and I really could have slept for another 30 minutes. I was pretty bummed.
At work today we went over the kinds of reports that we’re going to have to do, depending on the type of visit it is to the chapter (usually recruitment or discipline). We also talked about the things that we have to do in order to prepare for a visit to the chapter, and the things we have to do once we’ve finished visiting, not to mention all of the things that we have to do during the visit. It was rather overwhelming. I just don’t see how there’s enough time in the week for it all, especially when we’re only allowed to work 40 hours a week. I’m still really excited about it all (it’s starting to feel real now that we know where we’re going) but I’m nervous that I’m going to get stressed out.
It was really nice only having to work until noon today. I was really tired and decided to take a nap for a couple of hours and ended up sleeping for 4 hours. Nicole and I went out to dinner with Louise. They messed up both mine and Nicole’s dinners so we both got them for free, which was a pleasant little surprise. Then we went for ice cream and to see the new Batman movie. It was fun getting to hang out with Louise outside of work. She’s a hoot! The movie was really good too. Nicole got a text from the guy she was flirting with last night inviting us to come and hang out with them, but it was after midnight when we got out of the movie and Nicole just wanted to go home and go to bed, so we did. I also had an email waiting for me when I got out of the movie that certainly did not bring a smile to my face. That was a shame because I was in a really good mood before then.
I hope I’m able to sleep tonight after that long nap that I took. Right now I’m talking to Steven, who I haven’t talked to much since like April. He’s graduating in December and I guess him and a friend (who’s from China) are hoping to move to China sometime after he graduates and start a business over there. He’s not certain that it’s going to happen, but I hope that it does so I have an excuse to go to China! Before I left this summer I was really excited about buying a new car when I get done with this job, but now I’m not so excited about it. I’m excited to be getting a newer car, but I’m a bit torn about getting a brand new car. I know I can get one that’s only a year old for like $10,000 or less and it’s going to be like $23,000 for a brand new one. I just don’t know how I feel about putting all of that extra money towards a car that’s not that much better when I could use it to do things like go visit John in India or Steven in China. Those are experiences that I’m going to remember forever. Am I really going to care 30 years from now if my car was a 2007 or a 2008? Probably not. But I guess I’ll deal with all of that when it gets closer.
I’m starting to get a bit lonely here. Nicole and I are almost always together, but we don’t really talk about our lives with each other. I really wanted someone to talk to when I got out of the movie tonight, but I felt like I had no one. It was too late to call Hannah’s house and she doesn’t have a cell in Winnsboro. And it was way too late to call John. Hopefully Nicole and I meet some more people soon and start going out more and maybe once we’re more social I’ll start to feel better. Oh, I got paid today! Too bad I have a ton of bills to pay.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
My vacation and travel schedule!
I found out my travel schedule for now through mid-September. Before I get into where I am going I want to let everyone know that I will not be coming home September 15-19 as planned. There is a chapter that desperately needs me that week so I have to pick a new week for my vacation time. As soon as I talk to Sandy and figure out their schedule I will let everyone know when it’s going to be.
As for my travel schedule for the 5 weeks following trainging, this is how it goes:
August 17-22 Clayton State University in Georgia. This is the colony that we’re starting from scratch. Nicole and I are both going to go there the first week and try and recruit about 10 or so women to get a good base group and then I’m heading to another chapter and leaving the rest up to her.
August 23-September 6 Psi Psi Chapter at Northwestern State University in Louisiana. This is the revitalization chapter. This chapter currently only has 8 members and we’re not even sure if all 8 of these members are going to be up for the task of getting the chapter back on track. So I’m going to be going in there and treating them like a colony pretty much. I’m excited!
September 7-13 Rogers State University in Oklahoma. This is the colony that was established last year that just wasn’t quite ready to be installed as a chapter. I’m going to be working with them to give them the nice kick-in-the-butt that they need so they can be installed as a chapter.
September 14-20 Beta Theta Chapter at Central Michigan University. This chapter is like 15 away from total so they need me to come and help them prepare for recruitment. They’re not technically a revitalization chapter, but they pretty much are.
So, given my schedule thus far, it seems as though I will be working with districts 5, 7 and 9. Yes, my chapter is from district 7, but I am pretty sure they don’t need a visit so I don’t have to go there on official business. I am, however, taking copious amounts of notes to pass along to them!
As for my travel schedule for the 5 weeks following trainging, this is how it goes:
August 17-22 Clayton State University in Georgia. This is the colony that we’re starting from scratch. Nicole and I are both going to go there the first week and try and recruit about 10 or so women to get a good base group and then I’m heading to another chapter and leaving the rest up to her.
August 23-September 6 Psi Psi Chapter at Northwestern State University in Louisiana. This is the revitalization chapter. This chapter currently only has 8 members and we’re not even sure if all 8 of these members are going to be up for the task of getting the chapter back on track. So I’m going to be going in there and treating them like a colony pretty much. I’m excited!
September 7-13 Rogers State University in Oklahoma. This is the colony that was established last year that just wasn’t quite ready to be installed as a chapter. I’m going to be working with them to give them the nice kick-in-the-butt that they need so they can be installed as a chapter.
September 14-20 Beta Theta Chapter at Central Michigan University. This chapter is like 15 away from total so they need me to come and help them prepare for recruitment. They’re not technically a revitalization chapter, but they pretty much are.
So, given my schedule thus far, it seems as though I will be working with districts 5, 7 and 9. Yes, my chapter is from district 7, but I am pretty sure they don’t need a visit so I don’t have to go there on official business. I am, however, taking copious amounts of notes to pass along to them!
This is what my life looks like.
This is what the beds at our hotel in Albuquerque looked like. They were so comfy! 
This is our lovely TV at the hotel. About ten times nicer than the one in our apartment.
This is our lovely TV at the hotel. About ten times nicer than the one in our apartment.
This is the beautiful view from our hotel room in Albuquerque. It was gorgeous, but I would never want to live in New Mexico. 
This is my very first business card! :)
This is my bedroom at Pickwick Farms Apartment Complex in Indianapolis. Lovely, right?
This is our dining room. Don't you love the wallpaper? Me too. That chair is where I spend most of my time. 
This is the view of the rest of our living room (and magnificent TV). The couch is where you can usually find Nicole. 
This is the view from our apartment balcony. I like it a lot. I love that the grass is so green and the tree is so pretty. I stand and look out the window a lot. 
Coming soon: Pictures of my office and National Heaquarters. And maybe some other stuff too!
So conventional
Monday, July 21, 2008
Saturday we had our third business meeting. In this one we elected our new National Council, which was exciting. We already knew who they were going to be so this was just a formality, but it was neat to get to be a part of it. After the business meeting we had about an hour and a half before the next thing, so I went up to the hotel room and just relaxed for a while. It was nice. After that we had a Sanctuary degree to initiate some Alumna initiates (woman who decide after college that they want to be a part of ASA). It was neat to get to see a ritual performed by our national council. National Council did perform my initiation, which was amazing, but it was also cool to get to just sit back and watch it. After that we had a little memorial service for all of the women in ASA who have died over the past biennium. It was really moving and amazing thing to sit and watch. Nora spoke about her mom and had the entire room in tears, some other women spoke about their house mom and how much she meant to them. It was really incredible. I was disappointed because some of the girls from my chapter decided to skip out on sanctuary and the memorial service and some staff members even noticed and pointed it out to me. That was kind of embarrassing. After that I went to lunch with all the girls from my chapter and with Amber.
Amber and I had to leave lunch early because we had an LC reunion to go to. THAT was awesome! There were like 20 women there. Some of them were LC’s back in the ‘70’s and it was great to get to meet all of them, hear their stories and get to see what I have to look forward to. They all offered to take me to dinner or let me stay at their house if I’m ever in their area, so I hope I am at some point. This was like the 3rd or 4th opportunity that I had to just sit around with women and get to know them. Women who have been members of Alpha Sigma Alpha for over forty years, women who founded their chapters, women who as LC’s had to close down chapters, women who have served on National Council or did at one point, women who have really shaped ASA into what it is today. These are the women that I want to be like.
Later that evening we had our awards ceremony and banquet. When I went to put on my dress I discovered that the zipper was broken and it took me about 20 minutes to get into my dress. I did finally get into it, but it meant I was late for the pictures that I was supposed to be taking. Luckily they were running behind, so it wasn’t such a big deal. I really enjoyed the awards. They were really long, but I honestly didn’t mind. Our chapter won some awards and while some of the girls really disappointed me on this trip, I am really proud of our chapter, a select woman in particular. I’m not going to say any more about that because it is all to be revealed to our chapter at the first meeting of the year. But it was awesome to see all the different awards that are given every year and the pride in the faces of the women accepting the awards. I loved it! After the banquet I had the chance to sit and talk with Rae for a while, just us, and that was really nice too. She and I were never particularly close while I was at Schreiner so I’m glad that I got the chance to get to know her better on the trip. Malorie came and joined us later and we just laid around chatting and gossiping like a bunch of girls. It was lovely. I was very sad to have to say goodbye to these ladies at the end of the night. I have definitely missed them and going to miss getting to see them every week this next year.
Sunday wasn’t anything too exciting. It was announced that the next convention is going to be in Indianapolis in 2010. At this point I am definitely planning on attending. I know I have said that lots of things we lovely and it was great to see this and meet them and do that, but it really was an amazing experience for me. I tried to soak it all up so when I look back I’ll really remember my first convention and all that it meant to me.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Since getting back, Nicole and I have just done a lot of sitting around. We got back Monday evening and did some grocery shopping. Monday I went and worked out, read my book for a while (I’m now reading “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama. I’m excited about it) and just relaxed. Today was pretty much the same. Worked out, got on the internet for a while, read, watched TV. Nothing exciting at all. Tomorrow we are meeting with one of the authors of “I Heart Recruitment” and I’m excited about that. After work we might be going out with some of the local Greeks. YAY! I miss having a social life.
Now that I have detailed the events of my last week, let me share some of my more recent thoughts. Emily, one of the girls who was an LC last year, is leaving in August to go do grad school in Ireland. How freaking awesome is that? I want to go to Ireland! Or anywhere really. I just want to go! I definitely have a need to travel, and I know I’ve talked about that a lot lately, but I’m really looking forward to whatever comes next in my life because at this point it can be anything! Well… I guess I have to be able to afford whatever comes next, and I do have to start paying off my loans in November and I’m trying to buy a car in April. Hmmm, that might stall stall my plans a bit. Or, if I decide to travel some place else, I won’t need to buy a car immediately. I have plenty of time to try and figure all that out I guess.
I bought a new book in the air port on the way home from Albuquerque. I decided that I’m going to read a book simply for pleasure, then stimulating book of some sort. I just finished a pleasure book, and I was going to try and read one from my list that I came up with last week, but my options at the airport were limited. I like what I know about Barack Obama so far so I decided to get his book and learn a little bit more about him and our government, especially if I’m thinking of voting for him in November. Which reminds me, I need to see about getting an absentee ballot so I can vote. I’m not very far into the book so far, but I like it. I can only read about a chapter at a time before I have to take a break. It’s really interesting, but it’s not captivating. Well, some parts of it are, but not all of it. Basically, I do like it a lot so far, it’s just not going to be as quick of a read as my last book was.
Saturday we had our third business meeting. In this one we elected our new National Council, which was exciting. We already knew who they were going to be so this was just a formality, but it was neat to get to be a part of it. After the business meeting we had about an hour and a half before the next thing, so I went up to the hotel room and just relaxed for a while. It was nice. After that we had a Sanctuary degree to initiate some Alumna initiates (woman who decide after college that they want to be a part of ASA). It was neat to get to see a ritual performed by our national council. National Council did perform my initiation, which was amazing, but it was also cool to get to just sit back and watch it. After that we had a little memorial service for all of the women in ASA who have died over the past biennium. It was really moving and amazing thing to sit and watch. Nora spoke about her mom and had the entire room in tears, some other women spoke about their house mom and how much she meant to them. It was really incredible. I was disappointed because some of the girls from my chapter decided to skip out on sanctuary and the memorial service and some staff members even noticed and pointed it out to me. That was kind of embarrassing. After that I went to lunch with all the girls from my chapter and with Amber.
Amber and I had to leave lunch early because we had an LC reunion to go to. THAT was awesome! There were like 20 women there. Some of them were LC’s back in the ‘70’s and it was great to get to meet all of them, hear their stories and get to see what I have to look forward to. They all offered to take me to dinner or let me stay at their house if I’m ever in their area, so I hope I am at some point. This was like the 3rd or 4th opportunity that I had to just sit around with women and get to know them. Women who have been members of Alpha Sigma Alpha for over forty years, women who founded their chapters, women who as LC’s had to close down chapters, women who have served on National Council or did at one point, women who have really shaped ASA into what it is today. These are the women that I want to be like.
Later that evening we had our awards ceremony and banquet. When I went to put on my dress I discovered that the zipper was broken and it took me about 20 minutes to get into my dress. I did finally get into it, but it meant I was late for the pictures that I was supposed to be taking. Luckily they were running behind, so it wasn’t such a big deal. I really enjoyed the awards. They were really long, but I honestly didn’t mind. Our chapter won some awards and while some of the girls really disappointed me on this trip, I am really proud of our chapter, a select woman in particular. I’m not going to say any more about that because it is all to be revealed to our chapter at the first meeting of the year. But it was awesome to see all the different awards that are given every year and the pride in the faces of the women accepting the awards. I loved it! After the banquet I had the chance to sit and talk with Rae for a while, just us, and that was really nice too. She and I were never particularly close while I was at Schreiner so I’m glad that I got the chance to get to know her better on the trip. Malorie came and joined us later and we just laid around chatting and gossiping like a bunch of girls. It was lovely. I was very sad to have to say goodbye to these ladies at the end of the night. I have definitely missed them and going to miss getting to see them every week this next year.
Sunday wasn’t anything too exciting. It was announced that the next convention is going to be in Indianapolis in 2010. At this point I am definitely planning on attending. I know I have said that lots of things we lovely and it was great to see this and meet them and do that, but it really was an amazing experience for me. I tried to soak it all up so when I look back I’ll really remember my first convention and all that it meant to me.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Since getting back, Nicole and I have just done a lot of sitting around. We got back Monday evening and did some grocery shopping. Monday I went and worked out, read my book for a while (I’m now reading “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama. I’m excited about it) and just relaxed. Today was pretty much the same. Worked out, got on the internet for a while, read, watched TV. Nothing exciting at all. Tomorrow we are meeting with one of the authors of “I Heart Recruitment” and I’m excited about that. After work we might be going out with some of the local Greeks. YAY! I miss having a social life.
Now that I have detailed the events of my last week, let me share some of my more recent thoughts. Emily, one of the girls who was an LC last year, is leaving in August to go do grad school in Ireland. How freaking awesome is that? I want to go to Ireland! Or anywhere really. I just want to go! I definitely have a need to travel, and I know I’ve talked about that a lot lately, but I’m really looking forward to whatever comes next in my life because at this point it can be anything! Well… I guess I have to be able to afford whatever comes next, and I do have to start paying off my loans in November and I’m trying to buy a car in April. Hmmm, that might stall stall my plans a bit. Or, if I decide to travel some place else, I won’t need to buy a car immediately. I have plenty of time to try and figure all that out I guess.
I bought a new book in the air port on the way home from Albuquerque. I decided that I’m going to read a book simply for pleasure, then stimulating book of some sort. I just finished a pleasure book, and I was going to try and read one from my list that I came up with last week, but my options at the airport were limited. I like what I know about Barack Obama so far so I decided to get his book and learn a little bit more about him and our government, especially if I’m thinking of voting for him in November. Which reminds me, I need to see about getting an absentee ballot so I can vote. I’m not very far into the book so far, but I like it. I can only read about a chapter at a time before I have to take a break. It’s really interesting, but it’s not captivating. Well, some parts of it are, but not all of it. Basically, I do like it a lot so far, it’s just not going to be as quick of a read as my last book was.
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