It's too slow around HDA-land!!

[Joyce]

Maybe because we're all so busy otherwise??

How about this:  Since I still have school-age kids, the period of time from summer's end to fall (aka "school")'s beginning is a marked one.  We try to cram in a lot of stuff before school starts.  How about we all post our August To-Do list?

My August:

I mentioned previously that we went to the county fair, saw Bill Engvall and saw Pentatonix in concert.

I started the Weaving 2 - color theory class.  I would have taken it last year but the first day of the class was Anita's wedding and I would have missed the next class because I was watching the grandkids while they were on their honeymoon.  I'm thrilled to be learning more about weaving!

Mary's school registration is coming up this week.  She'll be a High School Junior this year. O.o

Laura's school took three weeks off in June/July, did the summer program that only lasted FIVE WEEKS (boo!) and now we have ANOTHER three weeks off before school starts again in September.  Michigan passed a law that all public schools cannot start until after Labor Day.  So my girl that thrives on routine must now endure 3 weeks of non-routine.   

I'm heading across the state to the Michigan Fiber Festival on Saturday!  I've never been to one before so it should be interesting.  A coworker has recently taken up spinning and will be there for about 4 days because she's taking a workshop.  Should be fun!

My granddaughter Elli will be turning three years old!  She wants a princess castle cake (of course).  Her mother has decided to have her party on the 20th.  (WHY, I have no idea.  Her birthday isn't until the 29th).  I'm going to be at the fiber festival the day before so I'll be doing prep work on castle turrets in fondant on Friday.  I'll bake the cakes on Saturday when I get home and decorate them Sunday after church and before the party.

If possible, I'd like to head to Greenfield Village some day.... And perhaps the Toledo Zoo....

Anyone else want to list their "to do list" for the rest of the summer?

[fflurcadwgawn]

I started a consulting firm this year that is the first of its kind in the entire state of New York.

So far what has happened:

-Became a client at the local small business development center.

-Guest speaker for a local brown bag lunch series to introduce the firm publicly.

-Guest speaker for an international archaeology blog podcast.



-Guest speaker for an annual local meeting to introduce the firm.

-Brought on a grant writer.

-Been interviewed for a newspaper about the work the firm is doing, as a recognized expert in the field, and wound up having the article printed in USA Today.

-Researched grants (ongoing)

-Started a Facebook page and group for the firm.

-Started a blog for the firm. We're talking academia, Master's level blog research articles.

-Attended a workshop in another state as a representative of the firm.

-Put together a general grant packet with demographics and employee handbook with job descriptions.

-Met various people from local government.

-Attended a political campaigningand lobbying workshop.

-Connected with a local radio personality at said workshop.





And the To do:

-File a DBA to start becoming a nonprofit consulting firm.

-Talk space sharing with local businesses.

-Look into contracting with state and step in and help historic and pioneer cemeteries where they can't.

-Put together an Operation Community Heritage Program to pair vets with younger members of the community and maybe Blue Star moms to take care of headstones, similar to Op Nightingale Heritage in England.

-Start scouting various local events at which to have a small info booth.



-Search for a Board of Durectors.
Thankfully I'm currently a paralegal at a law firm through AmeriCorps. Finding an attorney was the easy part of this!!


.....and finding a job that will pay my bills and provide health insurance that will actually cover ER trips and Urgent Care visits for anaphylaxis events when I get into air fresheners!


Yeah. No wonder the migraines are getting frequent. And breathe........

[JD]

I'm not that busy, but what I do doesn't merit even writing down.  
Good luck getting everything done, Fflur and Joyce!

[Rokia]

Well, there's been various doctor's appointments but mostly - getting ready to leave for Gencon on Wednesday. (woot, woot!)

[Joyce]

Good Grief, Fflur!! You're a busy little beaver, aren't you??!

[fflurcadwgawn]

Joyce, I work 35 hours a week for the job that pays the bills. This last week was a slow week for the consulting firm. I put in only 20 hours for it. Also having to bring on a student intern for social media.

No wonder I'm exhausted all the time lately. *yawn*

[laurie]

Back to work today after a few weeks off - started as vacation, the first week of which I worked some, then had a glorious week at the beach, then came back and worked 2 days but really couldn't see. then off 2 1/2 weeks with not being able to see worth squat, but unfortunately meant could write or read much either, and finished up with my father in law's funeral yesterday. Trying to chalk it up as everything this fall should be great because if it can go wrong, it probably already has. Anyway, eyes are getting better, Michel is happier now even if it's going to take the rest of us a little bit to catch up with that, and getting back to the office will be aggravating at time but back to normal, which will be good, too. So, not to be a down turn on the thread, because I come here to smile, just an update on where I've been.

[cheryl]

Laurie,

I'm so sorry to hear about your father in law. That's always a very difficult thing to deal with. And how awful for you with your eyesight issues. I sincerely hope that things start to turn around for you soon. Wishing you peace and good health-- and a chance to relax!

[PaulinaAnn]

Wow! A lot of busy people and Laurie! So sorry!

This is my last weekend before starting back to work.   I've had a couple of weeks to vegetate with my little boy before we get back into the swing of things.

One of our two (over a decade old) vehicles just had a 200,000 mile check-up that cost an arm and a leg. Then an engine light came on. Seems that the spark plugs they replaced are bad and it's bad in the shop - but at no cost.

[fflurcadwgawn]

Laurie, so sorry to hear about your father in law. And not ring able to see straight is not fun, either. *hugs*

I got my business certificate filed yesterday, and we're eyeballing the local Earth Day festival next spring as a potential place for an info booth about the project. So, now this week I get to experiment with exactly which common dimethyl ammonium chloride products are good for cleaning headstones (luckily I have several I can experiment on that are out of context and not going to be an issue for experimenting on. Don't ask, but this stuff is recommended by the National Park Service), and we have to have videos and photos together by January 1 so we can do a five minute video about the project to show at the info booth at Earth Day. Also, a ton of grants want videos anyway, and those need to be professional quality and about 10 to 15 minutes long.

At least we decided to do weekly catch up phone calls so we're not drowning anymore. Bleh.

[Joyce]

Fiber Festival on Saturday. Elli's third birthday on Sunday. And who made the cake? Grandma Joyce, of course! What was the theme? Princesses of course! What kind of cake does Princess Elli want? A castle, of course!

[Rokia]

Whatta great cake Grandma Joyce! You are definitely the IT grandma!

[JD]

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a cake like that before!  Was it a decorating kit, Joyce, or did you make it up all out of your own head?  [I've never decorated a cake in my entire life.  FROSTING a cake is a challenge for me!]

[Stormwatcher]

Oh, that's too pretty to eat!

[Nancy]

I recognize that cake kit!!! I used it for my wedding!

As for what I'm up to, I leave tomorrow morning for a three day business conference in Quebec! Excitedly looking forward to it!

[Joyce]

Aug 21, 2017 23:36:23 GMT JD said:

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a cake like that before!  Was it a decorating kit, Joyce, or did you make it up all out of your own head?  [I've never decorated a cake in my entire life.  FROSTING a cake is a challenge for me!]

Thanks everyone!

Yes, it's a kit.  Wilton makes a castle kit that has plastic towers, spires, windows, doors and the little pitched-roof thingy that's in the photo.  I used the same kit for Elli's first birthday.  You can cover everything in fondant if you want or leave it plain.  I covered the spires in fondant this time.  For her first birthday I coated them in piping gel and then rolled them in glittery pink sugar!  Ellie said she wanted her cake pink and white so the white towers worked out well.  I'm not that great with covering cake in fondant without bumps and cracks and this one was a square cake so that's even harder.  Thank goodness I realized that I could cover all the seams and cracks with ivy!  Perfect way to cover the "oopses"!

[Joyce]

This was her cake two years ago.

[Purple]

Joyce, both are awesome. Well done!

My summer was a roller coaster, with June being a whole lot of not fun. I ended up quitting my job because my supervisor lost her ever-lovin' mind and decided she had to find a way to get rid of me. This was a woman who kept saying "You can talk to me about anything and I'll listen." So I talked to her on a piece of paper about EVERYTHING that had happened over the previous six months. Did she listen? No. I'm working for myself again, building my transcription business back up and trying to build up an ebook formatting business. Both are things I enjoy and I'm very good at them.

July was nothing short of magic. I go to a writer's conference every year. In 2014 I joined Romance Writers of America, and started going to their conferences in 2015. This year it was AT Disney World!!!!!!!!!! Talk about the perfect place for a thousand romance writers. My bestie and partner-in-crime got to come, and I picked her up at the airport. We each had our best conference ever. She finally got to meet her publisher, editor, and agent, and her editor requested the full manuscript of my historical romance. Which I'm now rewriting to reflect all I've learned and grown in over the last six years.

Then we spent the last Sunday of July, open to close, in the Magic Kingdom. Ate lunch in Beast's castle, I got Ariel's autograph, ate my first Dole Whip, did every ride I wanted to except one. It rained pretty much all day, and our window to try for the Jungle Cruise was the one storm of the day with lightning and thunder. The fireworks were incredible, and Mrs. Potts coming back out on the castle to tell Chip bedtime stories was something I didn't know about. We got stuck twice in the Haunted Mansion too.

FastPass and staying in a resort are the way to do Disney World. Had we gone into the park earlier, anything we bought could've been sent back to our room for free.

August has been spent focused on looking for transcription clients, and finished the first draft of my next book release. Finally got that sucker wrapped up Monday night.

[JD]

Hey Purple, you have had ups and downs, haven't you?  I'm glad you are working independently again, as that seems to make you happiest!  And your vacation/conference at Disney World sounds absolutely wonderful!  I'm so glad you got to go.

Good luck building up your transcription business again, and with your writing!