Everywhere BUT the MP

What's going on around the MP lately?  Not much...  Saturday morning we enjoyed a lovely morning on the deck on an unusually crisp summer morning.  It was so nice to put on long sleeves and drink hot tea!  After a quick game of fetch for J and Zep, we both got to work (which we'd brought home from our respective j-o-b's) and I then spent much of the day tackling DAR work.  Our summer workshops are just around the corner and there is much to be prepared!

Yesterday was the Sunday School Kickoff Cookout at St. R.  I got there at 8:00 a.m. to prepare, made announcements in the early service, met with a parishioner, met the inflatable set-up guy, set up for the cookout, made announcements in the late service, put on the cookout, then waited for the inflatable guy to come back and pick it up.  J, ever the awesome partner he is, dropped me at 8:00, went shopping for cookout supplies, then manned the grill for two straight hours.  He was just as happy as me to leave at nearly 4:00 p.m.

While exhausting, the day happened without a hitch, and the kids LOVED the inflatable.  I bet you will, too:

Yeah, that's Noah's Ark (there's actually a blow-up Noah on the other side).  Even my 'too cool' middle schoolers were impressed, and the little kids stayed busy bouncing most of the afternoon!  I've been excitedly showing off pictures from the company's website for two weeks, but it was way cooler in person.  I'm tempted to go ahead and make our reservation for next year's kick-off!

So there you go--not much going on around the MP, but a lot keeping us busy!

Week in Review

I completely fell back off the blogging wagon this week, but I had great intentions (and even thought about what I could write) every day!  Since I'd already been thinking about it, I decided to give you a full week in review.  To make it fun (and because posts with pictures are prettier), I'm going to tie every day back to this picture:

This is a picture of B, her mom, Baby E, Superman and Superkid

Melton Point Monday:  What have we been up to?  Well, St. R's 50th anniversary absolutely commanded our time in the last week.  Long days at work led up to the actual weekend, which was actually three events--Race the Rector (see pic), a Derby Party, and the 50th anniversary church service (complete with Dixieland Jazz band!) followed by Dinner on the Grounds.  Now, I was intimately involved in Race the Rector planning, but moderately involved in the other events.  J, as a vestry member and by extension of my role in all of it, got to be involved in most of these events, too.

Tuesday's Talents:  Look back at the picture above.  See what they all have in common?  Yep, the entire family received medals in their age groups.  So they all ran or walked (well, Baby E rode on B's back) three miles.  It's a pretty awesome family achievement, but I think the 'talent' part of this picture is Superkid.  He's six (remember when I made the cake for his party?), and he beat the rector!  The race was named Race the Rector, and everyone who beat the rector got a commemorative button.  While I fully expected plenty of serious runners to earn this designation, I didn't know if a small child could run the whole race, much less do so at a faster clip than Fr. J.  The Superkid definitely has a talent for this running thing.

Wordless Wednesday:  Well, this whole post is incredibly wordy, but you've got the picture above and I'll keep this part of the wrap-up brief!

Thankful Thursday:  When we woke up the morning of Race the Rector, it was raining.  Not just raining, mind you, buckets of water were falling from the sky, together with thunder and lightening. I was bummed.  It is so hard to drive around placing race signs while in your heart you know the weather is going to keep people from coming out.  B, in her awesomeness, had faith that the weather would break and brought her family (even her mom!) out to run.  She was right, thank goodness, and the streets were dry by race-time.  But even if they hadn't been, I am just so thankful to this family for not seeing the rain and rolling over and going back to sleep!  I'm thankful this week, too, for J who really gave so much of himself to help with the race (even walking the course in the rear of the pack to be sure everything went smoothly on that end with a bum knee).  Finally, not related to the race, but I'm thankful for the families at St. R who have just opened up their lives to me.  Last night I got to hang out at a Little League game with one family and tonight I'll be cheering on another youth at the High School Regional Track Meet.  I'm so thankful for this wonderful extended family that I've been given at St. R.

Fitness Friday:  Not my fitness (though I did walk a lot of miles in preparation for Race the Rector), but B's family above definitely deserves some recognition.  Superman is an elementary school PE teacher and obviously takes fitness seriously, but I just think it's so awesome that the whole family values fitness (especially B, who gets me out every Monday morning for a great walk!!).  With regard to our physical fitness, I'm still thisclose to my 25lb charm.  I'm not exercising nearly as much as I was, and I know this has something to do with stalling on the weight loss front.  J has hit a speed-bump in his fitness quest and we expect he'll be getting an MRI on his knee next week to determine how long he'll be sidelined.  We'll keep you posted!

Have a great weekend!

A few of my favorite people

Typically our Acolytes sit in the front of church with the priest and other servers.  Last Sunday, however, we were training two new Acolytes, and there just wasn't room for the extra bodies.  Fr. J sent all of the youth servers to the chapel off to the side of our sanctuary.  I secretly think the kids liked being out of the spotlight, and they certainly mugged for my camera when I popped over for a picture after taking communion!  Aren't these guys awesome??

Of all the things I love about not working full-time, having more time to spend on my volunteer activities ranks way up there. Unfortunately, the 'work' part of those volunteer activities has actually suffered a bit. I'm not certain why, but I suspect that when I was actually working a desk job it was easy to slip in ten minutes of a volunteer project on my computer. Now, it's easier to make plans to actually go volunteer than it is to make myself sit down at the computer.

When I left my job, for the first couple of months I had a working schedule that I used to detail my time and set aside specific blocks of time to work on projects. This really guided my progress and kept me sane, too! Then, the holidays hit, and I spent most of my time at Williams-Sonoma. The schedule fell by the wayside. I was so thrilled to get my free time back in January that I barely noticed I was falling behind on actual projects with actual deadlines. Until I realized that now it is February. Where did January go?! What about the projects I was supposed to get done in January?! What now?! (Yes, that's pretty much how the conversation in my head went!)

So I sat down, made a list of the immediate projects to be completed (like the ones with January 31 deadlines...oops!), moved my laptop to the kitchen table, and got to work. Other than a blessed husband, and a couple of trips outside to throw a ball for my mostly-patient Zeppelin, Wednesday was spent marking things off the list. Of course, lists being what they are, as many more things were added than were crossed off, and it is looking like another day at the table is in store. But at least I feel like I've taken control of my schedule again, and that always makes me a happier me!

Do you feel better with a "to do" list to check off? Let me add one for you--I'm still taking suggestions for daily themes (a la "Furnishing Friday" and "Saturday Smells Like..."). What do you think I should write more about?

Spring Cleaning

Two whole days of beautiful weather (in Central KY, following several days of spring-like temps on the road) got me in the mood for some spring cleaning this afternoon! Luckily, J played along and did a fabulous job cleaning our kitchen! He also hauled the Christmas tree downstairs (don't judge), so I could tackle the living room. It's so nice to have it back to a more normal layout!

I have a Stella & Dot Trunk Show tomorrow (following a very long day at W-S), so I'm glad to have accomplished most of the work tonight. If you're local, drop by! I've got a ton of new samples in and can't wait to play!

Monday Night at the other MP

This morning, I received an email from at staff member of the local fondue restaurant--the Melting Pot--asking if I'd like to be their Ladies Night Out vendor tonight. Back story: Since October 2010, I've been an Independent Stylist for Stella & Dot, a jewelry company that wowed me with their philosophy of empowering women. I wore one of their pieces to dinner at the Melting Pot with J in November and was quickly asked to share Stella & Dot at their December Ladies Night Out event. I figured it would be a one-time opportunity, so I was thrilled (and a bit surprised) to receive their email.

Long story short (because it's been another long day and late night), I had a great time sharing S&D with a huge group of women tonight. Stella & Dot is still a relatively new company without a lot of name recognition here, and I'm happy that I could give so many women a positive introduction to it. Even if it means aching calves and feet (standing on concrete in heels for four hours wasn't a planned part of the evening!), it was well worth it!

Talents

Some of you may know that I co-teach a middle school (mostly 8th grade) Sunday School Class. The curriculum we follow is called Journey to Adulthood (J2A) and is built around a two year cycle, so I'll be with "my" kids through summer 2012. The curriculum is roughly divided into quarters, and we're wrapping up our first quarter (Self-discovery) this month. One of the things I've loved about this quarter is how much I needed a little self-discovery myself this fall. And, kids really do say the darndest things! I love coming into class with my own pre-conceived notions about where the lesson is going to go, and then have it completely upended by a 13-year-olds observations. I'm really stretching and growing as a result! Today's lesson really struck me and, together with an well-timed sermon, prompted a lot of personal reflection.

So the lesson was based on the Parable of the Talents. For those who don't remember, the short version goes like this. Man goes out of town for an extended period of time. Before he leaves, he hands out money (talents) to three of his servants. Two of them take the money, invest wisely, and double the principle. The third buries his in the ground and returns the exact same money to the man upon his return. Man is thrilled with the first two and offers them better jobs. Man calls the third lazy and worthless (and in my mind, does the Donald Trump "Apprentice" version of "You're Fired!").

So there are a couple of ways to think about this parable. On the first reading, obviously the money part stands out. And for someone as risk-averse as me, it is pretty startling to think about that trait as a bad thing. But, as we plan our budget for 2011, it certainly prompts us to think more wisely about how we spend and use the money we do have.

The second way to read the parable is to use the other definition for talent--the skills that we each have within us as gifts from God. This is where it tied into today's sermon, which asked what gifts we have given, and talked a bit about how giving of ourselves brings us closer to God. (That was a serious paraphrase, with my apologies to Fr. Rob, and I'll link to the podcast of it later so you can listen for yourself if you're so inclined...).

So, combining my thoughts, a bit of the class discussion, and the sermon, here's what I've come up with as the take-away--like the man who gave his servants something of value with the hope that they would cultivate the gift, we too are given talents that are to be cultivated. And it's not just the obvious things like Peyton Manning's great arm or Chef Duff's eye for cake design. Fr. Rob pointed out that everyone, even the bed-bound parishoner can pray for others. So we all have talents that we should cultivate (not that we have to, mind you--we believe in a God who gives us free will--we choose to cultivate our talents by sharing them with others).

So who cares how many letters are behind my name or how large my paycheck is? The better question, for me, is "How are you, JE, sharing your talents with others?" As long as I'm not burying myself in the ground, keeping my talents from everyone (even myself), I'm ahead of the third servant in the parable, right? Yes, there is risk involved, but if stepping outside my comfort zone to share/love/give something of myself brings me closer to sharing/loving/giving and receiving in communion with God, then it has to be worth the risk.

Here's to figuring out what my talents are and finding ways to share them with others! What are your talents? How do you share them?

January 1

J and I haven't set any goals or chosen a quote for 2011 yet, but I mentioned one personal goal to him last week that requires sharing now. I've been saying I want to blog more consistently for a while now (really, who am I kidding? Consistent blogging has been the totally procrastinated on goal since Post 1.), and in an effort to get there for real this time, I am going to attempt to blog daily this year.

I've no idea how long I'm going to keep this up, but I figure I should at least start on January 1 if I have any hope of getting there. So...more than 22 hours into the new year, I'm finally getting my first post of 2011 up.

SO... *drums fingers and glances anywhere but the computer screen*

I already shared that we don't have resolutions ready to share (procrastinating on making resolutions means you sound better when it's late January before your break them, you know...). I pretty much shared yesterday that there's no news on the home renovations front. (No Dad, I don't have a dissertation topic to write about.) I guess the only thing left to share is job news.

In short, some folks expressed surprise that I was working this weekend. Things like, "Oh, I thought all the gift wrapping jobs ended a week ago!" They did, but I seem to have impressed the folks at WS. The manager asked me to stay on after the holidays to work visuals (make things pretty) for a shift or two a week. It's like gift wrapping, but now I'm making whole sections of the store pretty!

What's funny (kind of funny ha-ha; kind of funny ironic) is that I've seen more GS volunteers in the last two days than I saw all of December (maybe because they let me out of the back room, but anyway...). Okay, that's not the funny part. The funny part is that these were women I worked very hard to impress with my professional job, even when it was a bear to hold together that professional persona. Now, they're running into me windexing a liquid soap display and stacking meatball starter (who knew there was such a thing?!). Unhappy, perfectionist me reared her ugly head for a moment to point out that I'm not a professional making use of my decade of college/grad school. But as soon as she did, I realized that 'gosh darnit, I'm SO much happier now'.

I don't know that there isn't a job out there that will make use of my degrees AND allow me to live a happy life. There probably is. Until I stumble upon it, though, I'll take windex and meatball starter. And a blog to share the stories of my days on.

Buildin', buildin', buildin'

Progress is moving rapidly on our new fence, with just one (expected) day to before the fence is complete. Pretty impressive given that we just hired the company on Wednesday and they don't work weekends. Here are a couple of pictures to show the progress (first from Thursday evening when J arrived home, and second from this evening which show the two finished sides). As long as the weather holds, they will finish tomorrow!

The other big news from the weekend is that I survived my second Thin Mint Sprint at work. Both races exceeded my goal number of participants and we received several compliments on how well organized both events were. Despite making May a stressful month here at the Melton Point, the success and praise totally re-enforce my job satisfaction! Here is a picture of Thin Mint Millie, the race mascot, which I made. Not the greatest job, but I'm pretty pleased with her. You can see the picture I modeled her after at the race website http://www.thinmintsprint.org/

This week we're getting the house reorganized (tough when parts haven't been organized to start with!) in preparation for a visit from J's mom this weekend.

Title: my version of Rawhide

Do you know the Omelet Man? He lives on Winthrop Drive.

I'm sure you're wondering where on earth the Melton Point has disappeared to; fact of the matter is we've been incredibly busy doing nothing exiciting enough to take pictures of and write about. We've finally gotten through our busiest weekend, and I'm taking a day off to recover, so thought I'd get a post up (though, admittedly without pictures).

First, how does our living room look? Worse than the last picture you saw. Our first two plans for getting rid of the old furniture fell through and I've been too busy to call Habitat to come pick it up. Then last weekend, J stepped off the steps into sqiushy carpet in the family room. The sump pump failed and flooded the entire basement, which then required that we take all of the electronics upstairs (to the living room) and bring in a water mitigation team to dry the place out. The family room is dry now, but we still haven't cleaned the carpets, so nothing has been put back in place.

What else have we been up to? Well, two weeks ago, I spent a weekend at Girl Scout camp, where I rapelled down an 80 foot cliff, ascended a rope to about 30 feet in the air, and zipped off a 35 foot tower. That weekend of fun ushered in two weeks of frantic planning and work for the first ever Thin Mint Sprint sponsored by our council. J, it turns out, has a future in data entry if this lawyering thing doesn't work out. Every night for the last week before the race, he entered race entries for a few hours so that I would have an accurate check in list. We ended up with 400 participants and a beautiful day to run the Thin Mint Sprint, and I've just about caught up on my sleep!

And finally, do you know the Omelet Man? The church that J and I attend serves breakfast (Soul Food) on Sunday mornings between the early service and the Sunday School hour. While we don't usually make it on time for breakfast, we have attended a couple and have been overwhelmed by the welcoming and hospitable nature of the folks who do attend. We decided last month that we would like to do something to re-pay this generous nature of the church, and after Easter, hit upon the idea of serving breakfast.

A little back story--J comes from a line of great breakfast cooks and he certainly does the same. After our wedding, we bought a set of Calphalon non-stick pots and pans, which includes an 8" omelet pan. Together with an ancient spatula from my first apartment in college, these tools turned my husband into Omelet Man. He regularly cooks omelets on weekend mornings for us, and in January, he took his show on the road to Cumberland Falls for our camping trip with friends.

When we learned that you could sign up to do an egg dish for Soul Food, J suggested we try an Omelet Bar. We had no idea how it would work out, so the woman in charge of Soul Food offered to bring an egg casserole and let us do the omelets as a quiet test. In the end, we had 12 toppings to choose from and served 18 omelets (probably about half of those who attended Soul Food took us up on the omelet bar) to rave reviews. We're pretty excited about the results, and J is pretty excited about having a second omelet pan and gas burners to carry it all off with!

Title: My version of "Do you know the Muffin Man?"

I don't want to work, I just want to bang on the drums all day

Well, not the drums exactly, but I realized in the last couple of weeks that when I'm really busy with work, the number of hilarious things to share (and the time to share them) decreases way too much! Just think how great this blog would be if I didn't have to work...of course, there would be less money to finance the hilarity...and J might not like that...

That said, the big dinner was last night, and despite how wrong it all could have gone (and almost did many times in the last week), I totally loved it. Changing jobs was a good decision, and I am so grateful to my new supervisor and our CEO for giving me the opportunity. This afternoon, we drove out to the Horse Park to tour the facility in preparation for a 5K I'll be putting together this spring. The construction work going on out there is amazing, and further cemented the thought that J and I should plan our escape during the Equestrian Games!

I'm off to sleep; stay tuned for the return of some cool adventures!

Oh, P.S. A few of you have mentioned that you'd like to comment but can't figure out how. Now, we're flattered that you've come up with such a great excuse as to your lack of commenting and J thinks you're just making that up, but gullible me thought that it wouldn't hurt to offer a quick tutorial. So, keep reading after the song title. There is a light grey line of text that tells you who posted this item (in this case, and most cases, it says "Posted by JE Melton"). Keep reading across the line to where it says "0 Comments". Now, that "0 Comments" part is a hyperlink, and you can click on it. When you do, a new screen opens and you can write whatever you'd like in the box on the right hand side of the screen (Really, whatever you want. I've got moderating capabilities. :)). So now you know how to comment. We'll be waiting for your next excuse.

Title: I Don't Want to Work, by Todd Rundgren