Bizzy Bee

I've been very busy lately.

Yes, it's true, I got a Facebook account again and so I haven't been posting much partly because of that. But partly not.

I finished my first semester of graduate school - got an A in my class. It's great to be learning again. In the midst of finals week, I went back to work for the summer. During my little break between semesters, I found myself working 9 days straight so that I could get 4 days off in a row in which to visit Jack. We had an excellent (albeit short) stay at a beautiful AirBnB (privately owned rental) in a little cottage on an organic farm outside the old mining town of Nevada City. It was beautiful, peaceful, love-ful, and was well worth the trip. But it was all over to fast, and then I worked a six-day week while my schedule adjusted to what will now be my usual days off.

Monday and Tuesday. Back to the same old same old.

But there are changes afoot. The lead for our district, hired on partway through last summer, has really taken her stride here and has made numerous positive and exciting changes. We now each get an awesome Osprey-brand backpack to use for roving all summer (we will return them at the end of the season). She is promoting getting us out of the office and into the woods more, more more! All the things I want to do. Today, her, Brad, and I brainstormed some of the issues we'd had with our kayak programs last year and came up with some rocking solutions. We are all pretty thrilled about giving the tours again this year, and hoping that our proposed changes will prove as awesome as we think they will be.

The garden is going fairly well. I had numerous starts that were ready to go in the ground but, after I returned from my little 4-day weekend with Jack, they all got eaten to the ground by some vicious creature. I've now started several new seeds - INDOORS. What is already in the ground though, is doing swell. I've got numerous lettuce plants that have really taken off, peas (snow and sugar), strawberries, raspberries, turnips, all harvestable right now, and all delicious! The rest of my plants are doing well: the potatoes are a jungle, the artichoke is putting on lots of big leaves.  Overall, I'm continuing to feel pretty good about the garden this year.

What else? I performed as "The Vulture", my musical alter-ego (thanks to Jack for the name which, purposefully, doesn't fit me), and have now started selling a bootleg of my debut performance online. And it's actually selling. Well, I've maybe sold 8 albums. But still! That's pretty amazing to me. I'm tickled that people like my music and that they are willing to buy it. Maybe this is the start of something viable... or maybe it'll just be a fun little creative outlet that brings in some spending money on the side. Either way, I'm excited to see where it will lead. I've been asked to play at the local brewery, so I'm working on a set list to play for them in the near future. Hopefully I can get out there before the end of the month.

I've also been going out of my comfort zone this summer. Last summer I spent so much of my time at home indoors. Well, I'm now a part of something called the "Moon Tribe Social Circle" - basically an umbrella group that my friend created to connect people who wanted to do different events with people who might want to come to them. I've gone to a couple parties, and I'm hosting "The Great Read-Out" next Tuesday, where we will read outside of the library for the entire open hours of the library, occupying this beautiful little plaza that gets very little notice in Crescent City. Hopefully we get a good turnout. This, and other ideas, I have thrown around for a long time, but now I'm taking it upon myself to see these things become reality. Staying at home in my little comfort zone bubble for so much of last summer definitely didn't make me happy, so I'm trying to bust out a bit more this summer. I don't go everywhere, and I don't go to everything, but I'm definitely a lot more socially active than I was last year, and I feel that I'm much better off for it.

Roller derby? I've been going about half the time. Between travels, school, work, and social activities, I haven't been giving it priority lately. Since we aren't bouting right now, I just don't find it super compelling to risk my body 4+ hours a week. But I can't stay away, either. I love jamming, and I want to keep up on my game so that, when I do get a chance to jam in a bout, I'm ready to rock it! :)

And well, I feel like that's about all of it - for now at least. The summer is off to a busy, busy start! Hopefully now that I've started my second semester (two months long, mercifully), and I'm on a regular work schedule again, things will fall into place and I'll get into a groove. But hopefully the fun and shenanigans with friends will continue at random throughout the months to come!

Until next time!