That to Which I Have Been Up ~

For those who have wondered what all I've been up to since my last post, in addition to the usual work grind and the added dimension of grant seeking, I've also been helping to prepare for a women's conference (read about it here)

Overall it was a success. For women who might have attended conferences in larger markets (i.e. "the big city") where you're not coping with FREE meeting space (and the associated suck-it-up-this-is-as-good-as-it-gets-ness), you had professional meeting planners (which we're not), and a budget (PERIOD), it might have seemed provincial. But the end result was a fun (if hectic) day, and so far we've received predominantly positive feedback from attendees. Yay us!

For now, I'm still nursing sore feet from running around 12 straight hours, but I wanted to update my reader(ship) about my whereabouts. Fear not-- Laura's always near, just not always able to blog at will ~

Hey good lookin'...

... watchya got cookin'?

It would seem that Laura needs to start doing some creative thinking, when it comes to approaching her work life. It turns out we didn't get the $60,000 grant we requested after all, so now I get to spend the next few months working with my board to find "alternative" (read here: involving tassels and begging) methods of extracting money from funders.

Check back in Monday-- I've got 1) some ideas for making money, and 2) an idea for another fun/thought provoking post that is worthy of the time it will take to write it out...

Until then, have a simply fabulous weekend, my reader(ship).

I'm Officially...

... a CRANKY PANTS today (OK-- more often than that).

It's supposed to get up to 70F today, but its about 56 and raining right now. Not to mention our office landlord has expressed his desire to put off firing up the furnace for the building as long as possible, so the thermostat sits at a balmy 62 & I'M sitting here in a long sleeved sweater / slacks, with an additional long cardigan on and a fleece lap blanket over my legs to thaw me out... My fingers are like icicles, and I'm simply not feeling the love for much of anything today. We still haven't heard about the huge HUD grant-- you know, the one we submitted July 9th & were supposed to hear about on SEPTEMBER 6th??? The one that determines if we are open for business next calendar year? Yeah, that one.

I'm cold, cranky, crabby, and wish I could go home, climb back into some woolly jammies, crawl under a comfy quilt & hibernate with some old movie & snacks.

Maybe tomorrow I'll be back to being shiny happy girl-- for now, just back away slowly & no one will get hurt...

Gourd-itos, AKA The Pumpkin Posse

For anyone who wondered how a couple of wild youngsters spends a spicy Saturday evening, the truth is revealed: you go to the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival, wander around in the drizzle for two hours, then get your picture taken in front of the King Pumpkin.

So there you have it--you never knew the Greater Ohio Valley region had such exciting night life, didja?