Go Van Gogh!

Even we grown up girls get a chance to play sometimes! This is my first time being part of "Go Van Gogh" which is usually a van packed up with art supplies and an agenda for some fun for the girls ... but it was held at our offices today. Even though I was exhausted to begin with, the event was fun and I learned LOTS of interesting things from listening to the girls. One quotable moment was that "Boys and men aren't always very nice, but they grow out of it."

Owl ... WHAT?

Pellets. Owl pellets. I learn a little something new every day with Girl Scouts. But who knew I'd be looking at little rodent skulls from owl regurgitation? WOW. When the "invitation" to see this little mystery came via email, it said "not for the faint of heart" and they were right! However ... little girls will be dissecting these at a weekend camp. You never know what learning experiences might crop up!

Sky High

I love my job! Where else can I do this just to get some footage? I haven't watched it yet ... I might have been shaking more than I realized! As exciting as it was, it was a little scary, too! I wanted to get another camera out, but just couldn't bring myself to bend down while swaying in the breeze up there. I had to laugh, though. There was quite a long tail of papertowels stuck to the lift. Is that the equivalent of getting toilet paper on your shoe?

Magical Soggy Carrots

Not everyone would think to keep a bag of soggy carrots around. At best they might end up in a compost pile. But this odd circumstance of the grocery escapee came at the opportune time ... we were about to go to camp! Instead of tossing the forgotten bag of carrots, I tossed them into the freezer in hopes of keeping them around until we could visit the horses at Core Camp.

You never know when you might have the chance to be part of something very special. Little M's friend for the weekend (Miss ML) stayed on a little later with us after camp was done. With the frozen carrots "burning" holes in our imaginary pockets, we couldn't wait to spend them on the horses. Pam picked us up and gatored us over to the riding arena. The girls jumped out ready for horse time ...

But young Miss ML was afraid. She had never fed a horse and was a little afraid of them altogether. Her brave heart reached out with a carrot, but as soon as a horse would approach, she would jump back. She tried and tried, but just couldn't bring herself to keep her hand steady and sure. I had her put her hand on top of mine and I showed her how to feed him. She was amazed! It still took a while, but after she got comfortable, she tried it on her own. A little more time and she had those horses literally eating out of her hand.

By the end of our time there, the half-frozen half-soggy carrots were long gone and the girls were running around harvesting grass with their bare hands and letting those horses slurp up every last blade. They looked like old pros. I don't know what was more magical ... watching a fear slowly melt into adventure or seeing how quickly girls can be trained by horses!

Michael Wallis meets the Girl Scouts

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Wallis, author of Route 66 (and one of the voices on "Cars" as I was told). One of our Girl Scout troops is working on a project that involves Route 66 and the Sapulpa museum. The opportunity arose to participate in an interview with Mr. Wallis on KTUL Channel 8, right here in Tulsa. He was so impressed with the girls! After spending an hour together, he asked Kathryn, "Is this typical of Girl Scouts?" She bragged on the quality of our girls - especially the ones who stay with Girl Scouting into their high school years - how they are amazingly dedicated, capable and strong young women who are going to be great leaders. Mr. Wallis had some ideas to help the girls continue their project, so I am looking forward to hearing how this story develops!

Words from Lou Tice

"I have found that the best people to associate with are those who do two important things at the same time. They act as a mirror that reflects your good points while accepting you just as you are. They also expect excellence from you and continually encourage you to use your full potential. In other words, they see the good in you that sometimes you don't even see, and they tell you about it, often.

These are the people who bring out the greatness in others and these are the people you want to make a regular part of your life."

Socks and Seeds and Dirt ...

OH MY! Like a stocking stuffed with a dirtball ready for a seed to find new life ... I'm planting myself into a new opportunity. Now I think these little character grass heads (the girls were making them during the Summer Rec program) might be more interesting to watch day-to-day than my new venture! BUT - I am honored and excited to see what sprouts up as I step up as the Chief Communications Officer of Magic Empire Council. Girl Scouting has become such a wonderful place for my purpose to flourish.

Now don't get me wrong ... I haven't been job hunting! In fact, I was very tempted to stick with my wonderful little space as it is. I have the best of many worlds this way. I can work part time in an office. I can travel and do photography part time. I can work from my home office part time. I can take on design and marketing projects at will.

But my department head is taking a step that will enable her to be a stay-at-home mom, which is such a beautiful thing for her new family. I think that is admirable, brave, and wonderful. I find it ironic that her step away from the position and my step into the position both allow us to be home with our families more. No, I won't need to travel so much. And yes, I will miss that terribly. Hopefully I will still do some here and there. But in the meantime, I can pour my passions into one place. This is where I'm taking my own leap ... and hopefully helping others fly, too!

Everyone Deserves The Chance To Fly

As someone told me lately, "Everyone deserves the chance to fly!" The lyrics to Defying Gravity are so alive in my consciousness today with that phrase in particular resounding in my head. Suddenly it's as if my personal mission is defined by a Broadway musical! I have to laugh. But seriously, that phrase feels like a description of what I want to do ... and not just for myself, but really to give wings to others. With the advent of certain opportunities, there is much swirling in my mind. When those words were spoken to me this morning, the recent "Wicked" New York adventure and the Branson escape (note photo above) came together in a little moment of green ... more later! But in the meantime, I just have to say this: GREEN GIRLS ROCK!

Karen's Lilly

A beautiful moment in a not so beautiful day ... well, some of it really was good, but overall? It was chaotic. At the moment, I am deeply tired, stuck in my office (waiting on my 2nd roadside service call of the day), and worried about being ready to leave for New York at 4:30 am! I was going to do a leisurely night of packing and enjoy a little time with my son. I'm sure he's fine just hanging out with his PS2 but I wanted to have at least one mom moment before I go!

ANYWAY ... my coworker, Karen, brought her Lilly blooms by earlier knowing how I love to get my camera around flowers. Ironic, today I delivered my first photography exhibit and it's all flowers! So, it brought some stress relief earlier to break out my camera. Now I'm thinking I need to do it again. I'm about to stress bust!

Sprinkle and Stir

I had a danceline instructor known for her #1 phrase: "SPARKLE & SHINE!" At Girl Scout day camp, my daughter learned a new phrase: "SPRINKLE & STIR!" Though I can't imagine it being said with the same intensity and gleaming smile, I have a feeling this carries with it a much more practical benefit!

Camp Tenkiller Wildflowers

I have hundreds of photos of girls at daycamp ... and could have stayed HOURS to take more photos of nature! The hillside was awash with wildflowers and grasses. I can see why this camp is a favorite of many! I'm debating whether to make my first camping trip there with or without kids! I have this crazy idea that I could stay there for a week, mix my own paints with petals and bark, and come back refreshed with solitude and a meaningful piece of art.

Two thoughts about arrows ...

Yesterday ...
I saw girls shoot a bow for the first time. These were girls from different backgrounds, different experienes, etc. One little girl shot this arrow that landed just outside of the inner black ring on her first attempt and BEAMED the rest of the time I was there. Evidently her older sister was in the group because a comment that came from the ones watching was something like, "Hey - your *slam* sister isn't *slam* with this! She's good!" And to hear the cheers from the whole group (sister included) warmed my heart. Girl by girl, each of them tried their hand to the encouraging remarks from the other campers. It was wonderful to hear the support pouring out. Even one girl who seemed to prefer being alone found a smile ... and then two, then another and another ... each easier than the last. It was a wonderful moment to witness!


Today ...
Naturally, there are more than enough analogies about arrows. But I have to admit that seeing the preparation that goes into something like this inspires me to think of how prepared I am in my own space to hit my own targets. Honestly, I probably end up doing things backwards. All the preparation gets postponed until I "have time" and in the meantime, just meeting deadlines or tying up loose ends eats up all the time and I rarely ever feel truly prepared. I guess now I have a picture ... not only of preparing to hit my own targets, but the extra step of the preparation needed to teach others to hit their targets as well.

These Rough Workdays!

Summer is here, and fortunately a little one wanted to go to the office with me today. We needed a quick photo of a Brownie and a Junior Girl Scout! So we took a little walk down to the Girl Scout Store, borrowed their samples, and snapped a few (well, ok, a lot of photos). I told her she might get to help me today ... and she did! What a rough job!

Lives ...

Sometimes it's good to stop and reflect on the lives of people around me. We're all so different, so human, so unique. We're working for common passions here, which is beautiful. Yet we all lead lives that have a myriad of circumstances ... some empowering and some challenging. My thought for today is that regardless of what is going on in my little world, those around me also have their hurdles and heartaches as they press toward making a difference. We all need to know how amazing and valuable we are.

95th Anniversary Celebration

The big event finally happened! Nearly 1,000 Girl Scouts gathered at the Tulsa Fairgrounds to celebrate 95 years of Girl Scouting! It was fun to be part of my first "girl focused" event. Everything I've done thus far for the Council has been more adult-oriented as far as an event. It sure was fun to see the culture unfold before my eyes!

Juliette Low Leadership Society Luncheon

Historic uniforms were modeled by girls ... two of the favorites being these little brownies!


This uniform has a great story ... it belongs to the woman on the right (the great-aunt of the young girl). She and her sister (both were at the luncheon) were some of the first Brownies in Oklahoma. Their mother came to Oklahoma to teach and start a Girl Scout troop back in the early 1900's!

Juliette Low

The annual Juliette Low Leadership Society Luncheon was quite a hit ... greatly in part to our CEO's playful portrayal of Juliette Low herself. Seen here laughing with some of the award winners from the luncheon, she joshed her way around the influential women in the room and individually spoke with each of the past Honorary Chairpersons in attendance. Evidently Juliette Low was known to tell and not ask, or if she asked simply assume the answer was yes and turn a literally deaf ear and start in on the next point of business! No wonder she never heard "NO!"

PASSION! Give me PASSION!

We have an honoree in the office ... and a film crew ... and extras (I love the deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes, click on the photo). It's pretty awesome to work with the women here. They put their soul into everything they do. And I love it when it is recognized!

In Turmoil ... Yet Proud

"The flag makes me think about the tragedy at Virginia Tech (my niece attends). America is all out of sorts, but we are still flying high and our colors are still red, white, and blue, you can't take that from us."

The words of one of our staffers have brought a special meaning to this photo. She said it struck her as being in turmoil yet proud. And that is a vivid description of our country. The photo was shared as part of a web album of inspirational shots taken while at one of our campgrounds during a staff training. My intention is to use these to make "visual affirmations" that give me a sense of what was sparked during our two days there and give another emotional connection to what I want to assimilate. The whole collection is here:

Inspirations - Camp TallChief

I am ... beginning.

This is the beginning of what I consider to be a very significant touchpoint in my life ... hopefully a turning point. From the moment I heard about "Investment in Excellence" at a staff meeting, I felt deep and strong that I MUST come even if I had to raise my own money to do so. Thankfully, plenty of money was raised and I believe nearly 50 women were able to go - including me!

My goal? There are many, but primarily to get past some of the things that hold me back - especially the ones I don't understand or can't see. I want to get back to the effective me so I can pour myself into the opportunities in my path and really made an impact on the world around me!