A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Verification

The Holiday Toy Store Parking Lot...
at an empty time...the upper right is
usually how it looks.

The months of November and December are the busiest at VEAP. We have a Holiday Food Program and a Holiday Toy Store in addition to all our other programs. It is also when the largest amount of our donations come in. One of the tasks that need to be completed is the verification of donated gift cards. The paper backing needs to be ripped off, the silver flaky stuff needs to be scratched off, and the amounts on the card need to be double checked. The last step is entering all the gift cards with their identification number, amount and who donated it entered into a spreadsheet. It is a long and messy project and my volunteers are very happy when it is over. Every year one volunteer is disappointed she didn't win something in her scratch off games and the others are joyful the process is over.

This year will bring extra celebration as one volunteer told me today, "So I was trying to verify these gift cards. You can't do these online so I called the number. There was a recording that said the number had changed. So I said, okay and wrote do the number they gave me, 11-11-8000. Then I proceeded to dial the new number. 9 (to get out) 1---1." Opps!! So in the end those gift cards will not be verified. Hopefully those donors are more honest than the one who donated a $25 gift card with only .50 cents on it. Yes, it because of those people we have to double check each one of the hundreds of gift cards that arrive at VEAP this time of year.

Everyday something crazy happens here. The parking lot is just scary to peer down at. Actually it is mesmerizing and it makes it very hard to want to work on anything productive. Clients are continually coming close to collision status. Watching them is like watching a train wreck; you can't help but stare and wince. Only one more day and I have a nice 5-day weekend. I am looking forward to that!

Hectic November

I guess I should write something again. I’ve been so busy lately with the VEAP Holiday Benefit. Today I am processing credit cards and need a little break from all those numbers. The event was great. Jearlyn Steele, Cate Fierro, Metro Retro and Charmin Michelle all did a wonderful job performing for our guests. Channel 5 sportscaster Joe Schmitt also did a wonderful job. We were happy to see the great turn out!

I’m still tired from it. It doesn’t help that after working some 16+ hours that day I got three hours of sleep before we headed off to Nebraska to pick up Braden. That meant 13+ hours of travel time all in one day, there and back. I still haven’t recovered. I’m getting old! Which means, I am once again “Momma Kelly” for the next two weeks. We are planning on buying a Christmas tree while Braden is here so he can help decorate it. That should be a fun family activity. We are also going to try to hit up the Holidazzle parade. I bet he’d love to see all those fantastic lights. The next two weeks should lead to some good post material.

On our drive we started talking about the wedding again. After completing the benefit it is time to work on planning the wedding, which is going to be almost as big. We need to get our final guest list from Phillip’s parents and we can start sending out save the date cards. I’ve decided to design all my own stuff. I figured I should put those InDesign skills to use! And it will save us money.

Anyway, I guess I should get back to the processing.

Resignation

While giving the house an intense clean today I have realized I need to resign from NaNoWriMo. It is a shame considering I think I have a bombshell of a novel. I love the premise of my story and I believe the bits I have written so far are great. I have 17% completed! I can still write it, it just won't be within 30 days. My life just gotten extra busy.

1. November is the start of my busiest two months of the year at work and I can't write the novel while working. We have our largest fundraiser of the year in two weeks. I am highly involved preparing for that and taking care of all the donations afterwards. Also the majority of our funding comes in the last two months of the year. Needless to say I will be doing nothing but counting and processing donations, all while preparing for the audit and the annual report the first of the year.

2. I have a wedding to plan. In order to save money I am going to use my designing skills to create all our print materials for the wedding. I LOVE doing that stuff so I'm excited to work on it. We get a lovely discount with FedexKinkos so printing through them will be a great money saver. Since we decided to stick with the orginal plan with our wedding in Kearney I have a lot more work to do. A guest list of 200+ vs. 10 makes a big difference. I have finished our website though. It looks great!

3. We are traveling back to Loup City next weekend to visit the family. No novel writing is going to happen then...and we are hosting Thanksgiving this year. If Phillip's family joins us we are going to have a big feast to make. Needless to say I need to get the house clean and organized. There are some organization pieces I think I will need to buy this weekend and probably a nice table cloth.

So sadly I withdraw my challenge of writing a novel in one month's time. However, I have plenty of other exciting things to work towards. Afterall, I am going to be a wife and step-mom! And hopefully a full-time mom not super long after that. That is a pretty big challenge in itself!

Self Delegated Tasks

I am super excited for this weekend. That energy may wear off, or not. After work on Friday it is time for happy hour with some co-workers and then back home to let the dogs out. Phillip left this morning to go hunting with my dad until Monday. That is unless they get their deer. Then they might be home early. I am torn on what tasks to do first. The house needs a good cleaning, I need to work on designing save the date cards for our wedding, and I need to work on my novel. I am also going to go see my grandma sometime this weekend and wear my dress for her because she won’t be able to make it to the wedding. I also want to try working with fondant. I thought I would try to make a camo fondant welcome home cake for my big manly hunter. I am also having coffee with a friend. I know it is all stuff I will mostly be doing alone, but I am okay with that. I just need some time to concentrate on tasks that I find pretty fun and no one else can really help me with anyway. I just have to get through 7 more hours of work until I can do fun things! Yippee!!

Blogging for Pay

Well, I have been assigned the task to create a private blog for work. It will be an open forum so to speak for clergy. I’m just excited about the fact that I can play on Blogger officially and get paid for it. They think I am so well versed in the technology age. I just think it’s funny because so many people are already on the social media boat. However, if it makes my superiors think I’m amazing…I’ll take it.

Possibilities

Excitement! It was a job offer, of sorts. I have been asked to join a group of consultants who come from a wide variety of professional backgrounds and experiences; including a women who owns her own consulting business and has been in the field for 20 plus years. Tim has been impressed by my work and has heard nothing but praise from the VEAP board president about my skills. He believes my expertise in fundraising, marketing, and organizational development is a great asset for his team. He is also looking for a range of ages. He likes the idea of having me as a new professional on the team to learn from (new ideas, technology skills) and being able to teach me the skills I don’t know like how to make a strategic plan.

Any job I put time into I would get paid for. So it is a part-time on the side job…for now. He made it very clear that when I am at a place that I feel comfortable moving into a larger role there is a place for me. He knows I have a lot of changes coming up in my life right now, he does not want to impede on my work at VEAP (even though he knows I am ready to move on), and doesn’t want to make things complicated seeing his wife is the board president.

So for now I see it kind of as a paid internship with no required hours to put in. It’s a time for me to learn from someone who has had a very successful career. He is willing to take what I do know and use it, but also teach me more so that I can become well versed in a wide range of things. I like that! Someone sees potential in me and this could really lead to something down the road.

It will take time for him to get his business up and running again. It will take time for me to feel out how consulting works and how I interact with the tasks, but there is potential out there. He even said, if I move to Nebraska there is still work that can be done. So even if I move I am still welcomed to be involved and even encouraged, with his team support, to start a branch down there. How cool!

Mystery Meeting

I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but it is hard to just wait and see. On Monday morning I am meeting with a man I met when I very first started my job at VEAP. He was well known around the office as a very active and supportive donor whose wife is now the Board of Directors President.

We once had a discussion about the company he owned. He worked with congregations and other non-profit organizations conducting feasibility studies and organizational effectiveness. Right up the alley of my newly completed master’s degree…not too long later he shut down the business.

Two weeks ago he approached me when I was away from anyone VEAP related and told me we needed to have coffee. I was kind of surprised by the suggestion but said ok and gave him a puzzled look. I had no idea why he’d want to meet up, but I didn’t think to ask about the reason either. He quickly moved on to say that he has kept that conversation we had in his mind the last few years. “I know it’s been awhile, but a seed was planted in my memory and I haven’t forgotten about you. I’m thinking of re-starting my business. I want to gather a group of organizers together. We need to talk.”

VEAP people came around and he stopped talking about it. We went to dinner with a group and afterwards he caught me out of ear shot again. So let’s look at our calendars and find a time.

That time is Monday morning bright and early at 7am. His wife hasn’t mentioned anything to me about it. I know she is more than well aware of this, so I have a feeling it is very hush hush. I haven’t told anyone at VEAP about it. I also don’t know what he wants. Is it an ask for volunteer help? Is it a part-full time job offer? I have no idea. I’d like a new job, but it’s a business start up which would make me nervous. Part-time side work would be good, volunteer work I would have to think about.

I don’t know. His secrecy makes me wonder. We have a meeting back at VEAP with nationally known performer, Jearlyn Steele, later that same morning. I have a feeling we will be pretending we never spoke. I am just so curious as to what he wants!! We’ll see, at least I’m on people’s radar.

I’ve been asked to do three other jobs while working here, but none of them have been feasible…we’ll see what Monday brings!

Uruguay Gone Away

I am so frustrated. I was asked, by a man who works for a Latino think tank in D.C, if I would be interested in an all expense paid, 10-day trip to Uruguay doing a project for the State Department. In turn, I would have to write a report on what I did. My dad encouraged me to learn more about it and meet with the guy. I was afraid to even bother because I doubt VEAP will allow me to take a week off (it would also be unpaid). One has to work here 5 years to get even three weeks off….needless to say we have horrible vacation time.

So I checked into it. It would involve 10 business days that don’t include travel time. So not a week and two weekends like I had hoped. I can’t pay my bills and mortgage with only one paycheck. Also it would have to be by the end of the year which doubly means VEAP would not let me leave during our busiest time of the year. I can imagine how it would go if I had asked; they’d sit on the other end of the table and laugh at me.

So yet again, I am stuck living how other people tell me to. They say make your own destiny, but that is a lot easier said then done.

Shutterstock

I am going to attempt to be a stock photo submitter. I enjoy taking random pictures and why not make a little cash while doing so? I have read up on the topic and decided to go with Shutterstock.com. They are friendlier towards their submitters by allowing them to belong to other stock websites (unlike iStock), and they give a better pay out. However, I have also read that 90% of amateur photographers get declined the first time they submit photographs. So we’ll see…I have to find 10 good pictures and submit them for approval. If 7 out of the 10 are accepted I will be a stock photo contributor! With a 10% chance at making it I’m not holding my hopes up too high, but I am still excited to try.

A Different Kind of Farmer

So again with being a llama farmer…I was joking about quitting my job and becoming one, or was I? This morning I snickered yet again over the picture I made for Phillip (see below). Then my co-worker came over with an invitation to visit her friend’s llama farm and learn about how it works. Coincidence? I think not…

My friend Laura says, “Oh my god. You are my second friend obsessed with llamas.” Where has this fascination come from and why is it surfacing now? To begin with, I believe it has to do with the fact that I want a job that requires something other than office work. I enjoy animals and I want to be outside moving around. My desperate need to ‘get out’ has revealed itself through llamas…

Now, going off on several tangents here I have to say many good things could come out of a llama farm. I would still be able to use my social media and marketing skills. I have to advertise and get the word out about my farm. I’d also use my development skills as I try to create a client base. All things I can totally handle. I also have to be creative about it and do research on it; two other things that keep my mind active, healthy and happy.

When did my love (?) of llamas begin? It started in high school when I began to learn Spanish and study the Latin American culture. Llamas are a big part of life for many living in Latin and South America. When I was in Peru I saw llamas close up in every town we visited. They roamed free on Machu Picchu. I had a llama shirt, a llama wall hanging, a bronze llama, a llama toy, llamas on pottery and even a silver llama ring from Bolivia. I looked over at a picture on my desk. I took it in Cuzco, Peru and guess what…it has a llama in it.

A golf course by the Larson Cottage used to have llama caddies. I always wanted to go there. Then for awhile my dad and I joked about starting a llama farm in Northern Minnesota and offering llama hiking trips. So the idea of llama farming isn’t a new one in my life. It has just resurfaced.

Now I know starting a llama farm would be a lot of work and cost money. I don’t even know what one does with llamas. I’m guessing some places buy the fur. Do people eat llamas? Is there a good market for llamas? What is the purpose of a llama farm? Now, these are all realities I realize exist. Yet, I’m so curious about it that I’m starting to research it. I’m already doing the prep work it would take to start a llama farm in the first place.

Maybe this is my calling; to be a llama farmer. Hey, I said I needed a change of pace. I said I wanted to go out and try something completely different. This would certainly be it OR I am just presently obsessed with it because it takes my mind off the reality of trying to find a new job in a horrible economy and all other stuff I don’t really want to deal with. Yet, they say go out and live…well this would be something crazy awesome to add to my Life Book. I even have a name for my farm, but that I must keep secret until my llama unveiling. Just you wait.

Again, Scratching My Head

From over the cube wall…

"I see you have an appointment with Dr. Chew next Thursday, and at the same time next month, an appointment with Dr. Cho, do you need a ride to that appointment too?

Uh huh yeah, Uh huh

No, Dr. Cho is next month on Thursday, Dr. Chew is this month.

Uh huh no, Dr. Cho."

Bad Case of the Mondays

Maybe I should be a llama farmer. I have no idea who would buy a llama or how successful a llama farm would be, BUT it would mean I wouldn't have to sit in an office all day. I'm striving to find something different; however I'm not sure that will ever happen. I don't like being stuck inside an air conditioned building day in and day out. I sit, stare at a computer screen and get fat. Fat and bored would be the two words that describe my work week. I'm not allowed to leave or if I do, I have to make the time up, like if I forget my lunch one day. I'm chained to my desk like a chain smoking monkey.

I need to move. I feel my best when I am out and about moving around and feeling like I am actually doing something productive. I want to feel tired at the end of the day from working hard. I want to be famished at meal time and pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow. It's moments like that I feel alive. I could barely drag myself in today. It's just another day doing useless busy work. I'll probably always be stuck working in an office.

I'm not a person motivated by a career -- as much as my great aunt would wish me to be. Employment is not my life. It is a means to an end. I don't need to be a huge CEO working 90 hours a week just to prove to people I can do it. Life takes place outside the office. Simple as that. Unless I owned a llama farm...that would be different.

Motivation Please

Work is slow...

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Newsletter Success!

In the Spring of 2009 I suggested that we start producing another newsletter for our donors. It was approved to go out three times a year. For the first time in over five years a VEAP newsletter went out in March, then in July and again in October. It was a sort of team thing. As in, I came up with what to put in it, wrote it all and Karin said yea or nay. Then the text was shipped off to a volunteer to did the layout in InDesign. We had a great response in donations, but I wasn't satisfied with the content.

After the newness of the project wore off Karin became even less involved (interested). This year it wouldn't even happen if I didn't do all the work for it. For the summer newsletter I decided to do a total turn around. I wrote it how I had always envisioned it being and I did the layout in InDesign. I completely took over the project and I was nervous. How would people respond? How would Karin and Susan respond?

Well...the newsletter when out on Monday. First thing this morning I got a huge smile and compliment from the Executive Director. She is thrilled by my new format. She wants to see a report from last year's newsletter compared to the donations coming in for this one. She also wants to make sure that all staff gets a copy in their mailboxes. I feel rather proud. :) So far my initiative of doing a VEAP newsletter has raised $65,002 dollars after printing costs. I can feel successful with those numbers.

Check out the PDF version HERE.

If I had more thinking power I'd write a post. Last night was super fun and I have pictures, it looks like there was some potty training success at daycare today, but I can't put words together. This picture sums up the extent of my thinking power and productiveness of myself and my co-workers.