Lesson of the Week

Never ever take a financial position one month before the end of the fiscal year, esp. if you are a non-profit organization. Because the annual audit WILL happen the week after your brother-in-law graduates and you lose your student interns and your husband's family comes into town, and which coincidentally is the week before you leave for vacation and really don't want to be in a stressful situation.   And because you didn't actually work there for most of the year, you will be asked all kinds of questions that you don't know the answer to ("so did this funding come through this source? And when you said x donation went through y campaign, what made you say that?"   Me: Ummmm....sure, I think so.  And I didn't say that.  Because I wasn't actually working here.")

Whew.

And because I am in a highly busy part of the year and working with some very stressed coworkers (seriously. At our meeting today I could feel the stress in the room absorbing into my bloodstream), I am very very grateful for my running goal.

Because I am keeping it!  And it feels good.  :)

I might not actually meet the running goal in miles and minutes for the month.  My allergies seriously impair my running ability, because they seriously impair my breathing ability, and that's just a little important to a runner.

But that's okay, because it's gotten me exercising every day, whether it's running or walking to the grocery store or playing frisbee with the neighbor kid.  And since I feel good and have a chance to let off some steam, getting to work and finding things like a leaky refrigerator that desperately needs to be defrosted doesn't really bother me.

So the moral of the story is: audits are stressful.  But running is fun and mind-clearing and good.  :)

A Weekend at Holly Knoll

One of my friends works as the personal assistant for the president of an organization that owns a mansion.

At least, that's what she told us when she invited our college hallway down for a weekend.  She's an outdoorsy type of gal, so we assumed it was something kinda like a big cabin.  Then she said it had a river with a dock, and we could go swimming. That just strengthened our assumption.  But we should have realized that the South is a little different....

The house itself...the tree obstructs the view a little, but then,  MLK, Jr. wrote much of us "I Have a Dream" speech under it. So it stays.

The second story veranda - screened in to avoid bugs.

The first floor study

Second story sitting room (as opposed to the second story game room)

Third story sitting room, as well as the fully stocked, absolutely beautiful third story kitchen

The dock!

View down the staircase to the front entryway!

One of nine bedrooms

The riverfront.  One of the gals and I waded halfway across the river to Williamsburg  and we were still only waist deep.

Beautiful sunsets!

All in all, it was gorgeous and I felt well-refreshed (at least emotionally and spiritually - I didn't sleep a whole lot!) after it.  Each morning I was up 2-3 hours before anyone else, so I could sit on that gorgeous dock with my Bible or talk a walk or sit on the front porch with its six rocking chairs or read one of the many books scattered throughout the house.  On the second morning, I walked out on the dock only to find an otter already there in the water....I surprised him as much as he surprised me!

But even more, it was a sharp reminder of lifestyles and the choices we have made.  For that weekend, I ate fabulous food and lounged on comfortable furniture and had loads of girl-talk and watched movies.  And it was fun.  The social aspect of it was like being back in college (the food was way way better, of course).

It was nice to experience "the high life" for a while.  But in the end, it was nice to go back to my own lifestyle.  To go to work where I am personally invested in the organization and carry much of the responsibility for the internal workings.  To come home to our apartment, with its lack of a coffee table and noisy upstairs neighbors and have my husband greet me at the door with a kiss.  To cook our simple meals, sans wine or cocktails, but to cook them together and enjoy them together.  

Holly Knoll was beautiful and I'm really glad I went (and I have some good recipes now, too). But it wasn't sad to say goodbye.