Mini-Update (haha)

Well, I've come to the conclusion that I'm a pretty terrible blogger. I always think of things to blog about, but when it comes down to writing it, I just put it off. And off. And off.

And before you know it, it's New Years Eve and I haven't blogged in weeks! Oh well, at least I've gotten a bit better at updating facebook - which seems to decrease the number of updates that I put on the blog. Such is life!

Todd and I have spent about two weeks at home now. It's been wonderful seeing the family and friends again. We had a whirlwind Christmas, visiting four different houses for dinner. Needless to say, we were very full by the end of it! We have a lot of Christmas pictures (which are on facebook, I think).

We're leaving here tomorrow and heading down to Phoenix. We're going to stop in Laramie for the night and pack up Grandma Judy and all her stuff. It will be nice to be home again, where the weather is warmer!

And that's my mini-update. I can't promise pictures in the near future. But I'll try.

Here's to a very Happy New Year for everyone! We're looking forward to a new and very wonderful year!

P.S. Like I said, I'm doing better at facebook now. If you want more frequent updates and pictures, check that out. And someday I hope to be proficient at life, facebook, AND blogging!

*Sigh*

So, it's 1:20am. I just woke up. With pink eye. Yeah, this is one of the downsides of the job.

*Sigh* I guess it's time that I found a doctor here.

Best Place to Work!

I just checked my work email (yes, I'm weird, I do that even when I'm not at work - it's a habit) and found some exciting news! It was in a memo attached to an email, but I'll just copy and paste it here for everyone.


SOUTHWEST HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AGAIN NAMED ONE OF
THE VALLEY’S BEST PLACES TO WORK

Non-Profit Employees Recognize Organization’s Fulfilling Environment Despite Difficult Economy

PHOENIX (December 10, 2009) – For the second year in a row, Southwest Human Development has been named one of the Best Places to Work in the Valley through the Phoenix Business Journal and BestCompaniesAZ annual awards presentation. The accolades follow last year’s honor as the number one recipient in the large business category, as demonstrated through rankings by Southwest Human Development’s employees.

“We appreciate this sustained recognition and are proud of the rewarding environment we have created together,” said Ginger Ward, founder and CEO of Southwest Human Development. “Our employees work diligently and are committed to the mission of Southwest Human Development. It is because of their dedication and outstanding efforts that we continue to stand out in the non-profit business sphere.”

As the state’s largest provider of services for children and families, Southwest Human Development offers its employees the chance to take part in changing lives and impacting thousands of individuals. This growing non-profit provides challenging career opportunities as well as an environment where associates are encouraged to learn, collaborate and engage in activities that further both their personal and professional development.

“Receiving the Best Places to Work nomination is an honor, especially in this difficult economy,” said Janet Otte, director of human resources for Southwest Human Development. “Despite budget cuts and financial stress, our employees keep morale up by focusing on the positive impact we continue to have on thousands of children and families within our community.”

The Best Places to Work award, which was established in 2003, recognizes Arizona companies whose employees rank their respective companies as being the best place to work via a third-party administered survey. The survey covers various parts of employee life, including workplace environment, leadership direction, company culture and management practices. Southwest Human Development was recognized, in part, for their comprehensive benefits plan, 401k retirement plan and ongoing personal and professional growth opportunities.

For more information on employment opportunities at Southwest Human Development, please call (602) 266-5976 or visit www.swhd.org.

About Southwest Human Development
Founded in 1981 as a non-profit organization, Southwest Human Development provides comprehensive services for young children and their families in several areas: disabilities, child health and welfare, Head Start and professional training. Now serving 80,000 children and families each year, Southwest Human Development is the state's largest community-based organization of its type. In 2007, Southwest Human Development became the official Phoenix-area affiliate of Easter Seals. Easter Seals Southwest Human Development provides services to children and adults with disabilities and other special needs, and support to their families. For more information, visit www.swhd.org.

*****

So that's exciting! I enjoy my work and, while there are definitely things that can frustrate me (as with any job), I know that the mission and goal of the agency puts us all on the same page. It's great to have it recognized - and I even learned some things about my agency from the article.

Hope you all enjoyed learning a little more about where I work =)

A Brief Update

Well, here's another entry. I've been actually putting off writing it because I feel like there's so much to catch up on. Of course, in order to catch everyone up, I need to upload a bunch of photos. And that's a pain to do on Blogger. So I'm going to ask Todd when he gets home if there's some easy way to share photos with everyone that doesn't take forever to upload. We have lots of pictures (some from the last time Tom and Sonya came down, of Zoo lights, of random things around the house, and of my new computer).

Yes, I got a new computer. My wonderfully talented husband was able to find all the parts and assemble it for me. And it even works! Haha. In truth, it's a great machine. I love how quickly it does everything. And the video card makes things look very nice.

Right now I'm fighting off illness. I have no more sick days left at work and I'm just trying to make it till Friday. After that, I get two weeks off (YAY!). Todd and I will be leaving early Saturday morning with my Grandma Judy and head up to Wyoming for Christmas. So for all of you there - we'll see you soon!

School is going well. My courses are all finished and I did fine in them. And teaching the youngsters is going well too. There are funny stories every day, but I feel like I might talk about them too much - it's like they're my own kids! Each little triumph makes my day, and they're doing a lot of learning now. The routine is pretty solid and there are only minor behavioral problems. The only thing that concerns me right now is conjunctivitis, a.k.a. pink eye. Yes, it's going around the school. Just typing about it starts to make my eyes itch. The CDA (Child Development Assistant) for the morning class was out today with it. Two kids in the morning class had it. And I think one of my students had it today. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

Anyway, just thought I would write a little post before going to bed. Again, pictures will be coming - though they might not have much of an explanation. Someday I'll be superwoman and keep up with my blog, I promise.

Until then, goodnight for now!

2.5 Million Lights!

This evening Ashlee and I joined (Grandma) Judy, (Great Uncle and Aunt) Pat, and Wanda at ZooLights (link). In this annual event the Phoenix Zoo is adorned with over 2.5 million lights throughout the grounds. As you might imagine, most of the animals can't be seen, but there were a few that got stuck working the night shift. One of the elephants was right next to the fence, camels were giving rides, an otter was very active in his pond, and the zebras were just close enough the path to be visible.

In terms of lights, the display was impressive, to say the least. They wrap the tree trunks and limbs with lights, as opposed to wrapping around the very outside where the leaves are. There were several wireframe animals with lights, and many were animated. Even the cacti had been strung.

Facebook users who have Pat Alsup as a friend can see his photo album of the trip.

There's cold, and then there's cold

My (Todd's) classes are winding down, and it feels good. On Friday I picked up a take-home exam (due this afternoon), and yesterday I had two in-class exams. The take-home exam is just about finished, so I won't have any trouble getting it completed before it's 5:00 pm deadline. I have a project due a week from today, but much of the hard work is done, and all that remains is writing up the report.

It finally happened. It's "cold" enough down here that we turned on the heat in our house. I really shouldn't say we, but rather Ashlee. I agree that it was chilly, but I was willing to delay turning on the heat a bit longer. Anyway, the heat works, and it's definitely more comfortable in here. We think Titus likes the cool though, as he seems to be even more crazy during his manic state.

This weekend I'm going to have to back my bags with hats, gloves, scarfs, and boots. I'm headed to North Dakota to spend four days with my grandparents. I haven't been to their house since the summer of 2002, I believe. I'm really looking forward to the trip, but we are all a bit disappointed that Ashlee can't make it. We'll get her up there sometime! This ND trip also means that I'll miss the Phoenix/Tempe TUBACHRISTMAS (link), but there's always next year.

We're both looking forward to the following weekend when we pack up with Grandma Judy and depart for a three day drive to Wyoming. It's so soon!

Happy Birthday Grandma Judy!

Ashlee's maternal grandmother, Judy, turned 70 today. Friends and family gathered in Apache Junction to celebrate the occasion, and Ashlee and I joined the festivities, albeit a little late. It's about an hour's drive from Ashlee's school to Pat and Wanda's house, so we had to reheat our dinner plates, but at least we made it! After we ate, everyone gathered to eat cake and watch Judy open her cards and gifts. It was a fairly big group, including (Ashlee's) Grandma Judy, her sister (and husband), 2 of her cousins (and their spouses), one of her uncles (and his wife), 2 neighbors in the park, and us young'ins. Please, don't ask for all the names ;) It was a fun group and we're glad we could make it.

Happy Birthday Judy!