Holiday Billing Madness

At work, I am responsible for building delivery schedules for our customers during the holiday season. By holiday season, I mean Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year's. In addition to making the delivery schedules, taking into affect the actual holiday (we do not work on the actual holiday, so no billing, no warehouse selection, no shipping, no receiving) I also have to make the decision as to when the holiday delivery schedules are in effect. When do the schedules start and when do they end?

I usually start working on the Thanksgiving delivery schedule in September. Thursday is normally a heavy billing day for us, so it gets chaotic trying to figure out the best day to move the normal Thursday billing to, to keep the warehouse selection even through the week, transportation needs even through the week, and the customers happy.

For Christmas/New Year's, we use the same schedule, and instead of having the delivery schedule be just one week long (like at Thanksgiving), we make it about 1 1/2 - 2 weeks long, to cover both Christmas and New Year's holidays. The good thing here is that since both holidays fall on the same day of the week, we just have to come up with one schedule. I usually start on this as soon as I am finished with the Thanksgiving schedule.

This year, I was given a deadline of completing the Thanksgiving schedule by October 15th (well before I am usually finished with it - somewhere around the 1st of November), and was given the deadline of completing the Christmas schedule by November 10th. I got both completed relatively on time (by the weekend after the due date). 

However, another department at work made promises to customers well after November 10th, causing a massive rewrite of the schedules very very close to when the schedules were to turn on. This has caused big problems with sales reps, customers getting incorrect information, and lots of stress on my end.

We are currently in the midst of billing customers with their holiday schedules applied. I have been in several meetings each day, multiple phone calls verifying information, and just overall stress making sure things go as smoothly as possible during the holiday. 

I love the Christmas holiday itself - it is my favorite time of year. Working in this industry though has jaded me towards hating the holiday work-wise. I'll be so happy when I can go back to enjoying the holiday without being stressed and overwhelmed with work.

Keeping My Head Above Water...For Now...

I do not know what it is about the last few weeks, but it feels like management at work are losing their damn minds over the littlest things.  I've had some very difficult conversations with leadership over some very menial stuff. 

They aren't willing to allow me to hire anyone more on my team, but they expect me to find ways to cover shifts what would normally need an additional person.

They don't like that there are billing issues (not caused by us mostly, but caused by IT or Stores not sending orders)...yet we are being scrutinized because of the billing issues. This ties into the issue listed above. To accurately enough coverage to handle the issues, we'd need to hire and train someone who could not only assist in routing, but be able to effectively communicate the issues, how and when it was resolved, etc to leadership.

They want me to swap up my off days, which will cause issues with my family since everyone has re-arranged their time to accommodate my odd schedule. I'd not be able to spend time with family if I moved schedules, which would end up being a split shift...which I detest as well.  

Not sure how all of this is going to play out.  We'll see if I still have a job in a few weeks...

Organized Chaos All Around

Work has been crazy the last couple of months. So much so that I haven't been able to post about all the things that have happened in August, September and October so far. Travels, Go-Lives, Shows...you name it!

It started in August, shortly after my last post. I flew to Denver to spend time with my brother and sister in law. It was a great trip full of activities - like the Light Park, Denver Botanical Gardens, site-seeing around town, seeing cousins, and experiments with my sister in law's new Cricut machine!

A couple of weeks later (the week of Labor Day), I flew to Orlando to attend the National Routing Team's Supervisor Summit and team building event. An all day meeting to go over strategic planning for the department's future, as well as getting to know each other better were on tap. Not to mention doing an escape room, and some good meals!

A week after that, Jeff and I packed up the car and headed to Oklahoma for our anniversary. We drove to the Choctaw Casino and Resort in Durant, OK to spend a few days relaxing and playing slot machines! The resort has a movie theater and bowling alley, as well as several restaurants and a buffet in house. It was a really nice drive, and was only about 6 hours from our house to the casino!

In between trips, I got started working on the Thanksgiving Holiday Schedule, completing everything for it in mid October. I was super busy trying to get the schedule written, this year in two different formats. In mid September, one of our projects had a go-live, where meat and produce were no longer housed in the mainframe but instead housing in a cloud based program. Grocery and Frozen will go live with this same cloud based program in 2024. It was a really busy, chaotic, interesting time trying to handle the trips, holiday schedules, and go-lives!

The band I play in had its first concert on October 8th, so we had to fit that chaos in with everything else going on! I had made plans a while back to meet a good friend on Friday, October 13th to see Craig Ferguson perform live.  It was a much needed evening out from the holiday schedule planning!

I've now finished the Thanksgiving Holiday Schedule, and have started working on the Christmas and New Years Holiday Schedule. While working on all of this as well, that good friend and I have planned and paid for a trip to Las Vegas (next week!!) and the National Routing Team has gone through changes on who all reports to who...a result of our Summit back in September. I now report to a different manager than I did before, so getting in the groove with a new person over the team has been a challenge too (not bad, mind you - I think this will work out just fine!).

Still lots to do, but I'm looking forward to the trip to Las Vegas next week with my friend. It'll be a great getaway for a few days!

Work and Travel

Sometimes I really struggle. Struggle with what I want to do with my life....not work-wise that is. Mostly, work is fine. Sometimes I wish I could work in the field that I got my education in...I absolutely love LOVE Anthropology and aspects of Psychology. But that is not what I am talking about here.

I've been blessed now to have a job that I can do remotely. It pays decently, and I really enjoy not having to do the hour and a half commutes into the office anymore. And, recently, I've been able to do a little bit of traveling for work as well.  I love that!

Even though I work remotely, I often get real antsy and feel like I have to get out of the house for a bit. Occasionally, I will just jump in the car and go driving into the country for an hour or so after work is completed.  Just to give myself some time out seeing the countryside and to get some fresh air for a bit.

A part of me would love to get one of those vans converted into a motorhome (see below for an example), and just travel around seeing the USA and Canada. I would be able to still work, as long as I have internet access, and I for the most part would not have a problem selling off most of my things to do this traveling. 

The issues with this are: 

1) I don't think Jeff would want to do this type of travelling, so I am staying put because of him.  Although our vacation to Branson in 2022 kind of showed him what this type of lifestyle would be like, and he loved seeing states that he had never been to before, and seeing countryside that he had never seen before. 

2) I am afraid that I am only really wanting to do it because I'm not currently doing it. If I get into doing this, and start down this path, then realize that I was good for only a while, I'm kind of stuck in doing it even though I no longer want to do it.

3) I've also toyed with going with a tiny house instead, freeing me up to do more vacations, instead of living in a van type thing full time. This might be more the way to go. I know that once Jeff is no longer able to care for himself, and/or not around anymore, I will not want to live in the house we are currently living in. Jeff got the house to take care of my needs once he is gone, whether it be to sell for the money or to stay in.

I've started traveling more with a friend of mine, and am loving it. We've been talking about planning some more trips in the future, and have started coming  up with a list of where all we'd like to go eventually. Jeff and I do still travel together, and the friend and I seem to be doing a trip every other year (at least for now). I think we are learning things from each other, which is amazing. She getting me to loosen up some and not be so rigid, and I am helping her to do a bit more planning on the front end, not being so spur of the moment. 

We've made it a point to leave time on each day of our trips, so we can use it to rest, or regroup. We have worked together to do some amazing things while looking for the best price/discounts for those things to do. Two years after our first trip, we are still talking about riding in the driverless Lyft cars on the Las Vegas Strip! I had seen them before, but was too scared to try them - she got me out of my shell and we tried it!

I think if nothing else, I downgrade the living situation as I get older, and my friend and I continue to do girls' trips in between my trips with Jeff (giving both of us time to save up for the excusions), so when the time comes, we both have a travel buddy as we become blue-haired old biddies. 

Go-Lives

At work, we have several go lives this year, with a new routing software upgrade in several offices, new mainframes operating systems in some offices, some billings going away, and some billings completely changing the process of billing.

It is kind of getting stressful with all of the changes being made. We have one in my office, going partially live in September. But with the holiday schedules getting underway at the same time, I am nervous on how to get everything done that needs to get done.

I don't mind getting involved with getting things changed to better our experience in working. But getting a go live in the middle of holiday planning is hard to process!

Remotely Involved

I didn't think that I would enjoy working remotely, or excel at it. But, over the past year that our department has been remote, I have decided that this really is the best option for me, and those I work with.

Besides saving the wear and tear on our vehicles, gas consumption, tolls, and unnecessary purchases (like Starbucks coffee and a Danish every morning), it does give me more opportunities to spend with Jeff. I now get to see him when he comes from work in the morning, and he knows that I am not halfway across town. He feels better knowing that I am safe at home working, and won't have to traverse the crazy roadways during rush hour traffic.

It gives me the opportunity to put in orders for the grocery store and pick up early in the morning, or order supplies from Amazon, and know that I will be at home when it arrives, so I don't have to worry about it getting snatched off my front porch. Whenever I have a few minutes, I can start a load of laundry or clothes.  I've been able to decorate the house for the holidays in the few minutes I've had here or here.

The downside to working from home is that for one, Jeff sometimes forgets that I am actually working, and wants me to watch tv with him during the day. I have to remind him of that.  Also, since I do not have a drive to or from work anymore, there is not an opportunity to decompress at the end of the day, like I used to do on my drive home. And finally, since I am actively up and working, there are more lights on and appliances being operated (looking at you stove and coffee maker), so our electricity bill has been higher. I've been working with Jeff to make sure we keep all lights turned off in areas of the house we are not actively using.

It actually has been quite nice. We still have meetings, I still have lots of interactions with coworkers, so there isn't a lot of things being missed work wise. I'm glad we made the move over to remote working!

Live Performances!

A few months ago I saw that a band I have loved since I was a kid back in the 1980's was going to be on tour, and would be in Houston over the summer. I was super excited and wanted to go see them live. The concert was this past Sunday, July 16th, 2023, and the band was Tears for Fears!

It was absolutely amazing to see them perform live, after just listening to them on records and the radio, and watching their music videos. They've obviously aged since I remember seeing them in videos in the 1980's...but it was great to see the younger generation singing along with their songs, and enjoying alongside Generation X!

Tears for Fears from the 1980's - this was an album cover - I loved the music on this album!

Tears for Fears these days, 40 years after the album cover above!

A friend and I saw them at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, in The Woodlands, Texas, a suburb in North Houston. The performance was great!!

Side Hustles

I have always thought about how to make some extra money on the side. Something easy...something I already enjoy doing. I have found though that the things I have thought up so far to do on the side haven't been very profitable!

Several years ago I had the idea of creating YouTube videos and putting them up on my channel. Friends and coworkers have always asked me about vacations, how I save money for and on them, when is the best time to go, etc. Especially when it came to Disney World. Jeff and I used to go every year, and were always researching ways to save money when it came to paying for the trip and also when actually on it. I figured it would be a great idea to make videos talking about the same thing that everyone was already asking me about, and I could make money on it at the same time. We watch YouTubers all the time anyway, and they make enough money to live off of, just making weekly or daily videos. I had a YouTube account already, so I got to work getting it monetized!

I got to doing some research and came up with topics for several 15-25 minute videos. I thought we could post the videos of us on our vacations as well, so people could see us "in action" doing the things I had talked about in my other videos. About once a month I would record videos, mainly with me sitting at a park either at a picnic table or in my car, reading through the script I had written. I then uploaded and set the videos to go public once per week. I was really good about getting enough videos to have them set to post in advance, so if I ran out of topics or we wanted to take some time off it would not interfere with the posting of pre-made videos. 

The problem with this idea though was that if something happened, like some late-breaking news, or some new feature, I was going to be well behind the other Disney YouTube creators, because I already had a month worth of videos scheduled, so any video I made of the latest greatest news breaking item would be at least a month behind everyone else.

A few years into making and posting videos - mainly about Disney World (sprinkled in with various home videos, Las Vegas trip information, and non profit volunteering opportunities), it hit me that I wasn't really getting any new subscribers, and I only made a grand total of $100 for all of my hard work. I also realized that basically what I was making was a video version of a podcast. So, I thought that maybe if I moved to an audio-only format, my content might be more profitable! People could listen to what I had to say while driving, or working, or walking around...instead of just watching me sit at a picnic table. I felt more at ease just talking into a microphone for a podcast, so I was optimistic.

I wasn't sure how the podcasting thing was going to work out, so I found a website that would push my podcast out to all the most used podcast-listening platforms (Apple, Google, SiriusXM, Pandora, Amazon Music, etc) for free, so I wouldn't be out any money while I was trying to figure out if this was going to work. I made the podcast episodes in groups at a time, and had them post once per week in a season format. 15 episodes per season, and I'd have nothing posted for about a month or so after that, just to give me time to research another 15 episodes, record and edit the audio, and finally get the episodes scheduled for posting the next season.

Once we kind of stopped going to Disney, I decided to focus on researching for Las Vegas. I actually had a lot of fun with researching this one, because I put together a series of podcasts where I talked about the history of the strip, and all of the casinos that have come and gone. I also put together a series on the current casinos on the strip, and the history for each of them.

I could see I was actually getting a few listeners per episode, and I was really feeling good about that because I felt that maybe with time, the podcasts would pick up more and more listeners. So, I went through the process of monetizing the podcast through the free hosting site I had found. I know some podcasters who pay a fee for a company to push their podcast out to many, many podcast listening services. I wasn't there yet, since I still had no income from it to offset that expense. 

I started losing steam in creating podcast episodes. I was running out of fresh ideas on my own for episodes, and had started just researching tried and true topics for an episode, because I couldn't think anything up on my own! And to top it off, even though I was getting some listeners to each episode, it wasn't enough to make any money. Just a couple cents from every episode, and the website wasn't going to cut a check until I had gotten to $100. In 2022, the website stopped hosting the podcast service. I had already stopped creating podcasts at that point, but had not disabled my account because I was still getting a few listeners on the episodes I had posted. As of the time of this posting, I found out the company is now completely shutting their website down all together.

All this (the youtube video-making and podcast-making) was mostly being done when I was taking a five year break from posting to this blog.  I've not monetized this blog - this is mostly just a forum for me to post my thoughts, for me. If I have people reading my posts, great! But I am not out to make money with the posts I make here on blogger. I enjoy writing, and enjoy putting together these posts...

I liked making the podcasts, just like I enjoy writing on my blog. I might give the podcast another go at it sometime. We'll have to see - for now, I am busy enough as it is with the things I have on "my plate," without adding a podcast to it as well. 

Working and Researching...

I actually came into the office today to work...it is Saturday, and not too many people are in the office today, since there is no official Houston billing today. I still have to route meat and produce deliveries in the Dallas-Ft Worth area, but no big deal the main thing I'm not happy about is that I'll still be here until 5:30 pm tonight, as I am still routing the Florida perishable and frozen billing in Plant City. 

But, I wanted to come to the office today so I could print out the invoices after the band's semi-annual silent auction closes this afternoon at 3 pm. I'll take them home, and attach them to the baskets, making it easier for the winners to see the baskets they won.

I also wanted to print out extra copies of our 501c3 determination letter, 2022 Donor list, and our mission statement. I'll start prepping next month for the silent auction in December, and I'd like to be able to do it from home, instead of trying to work it in without anyone seeing me at the office.

Tomorrow is our Patriotic Concert, and I am super antsy about it. I'm glad I am working on other things right now as well, because I keep checking to see where we are on ticket sales and the silent auction! It would be even worse if I wasn't focusing on other things to do right now.  LOL We have a decent showing on the silent auction (I personally would like to see more coming in), and while the ticket count is still low in my opinion, it is actually doing decent as well. 

We're finishing up our 30th season for the band, and we are wanting to go out with a bang! 

Ordering Food From Etsy is a Thing...

For Jeff's birthday this year, I was looking at finding some unique presents for him. Something that he normally would not buy on his own, but would be interested in once it showed up to the house. This was a landmark birthday - he turned 60 in May - so I got to work finding at least 7 presents so we could celebrate "Birth Week" instead of "Birth Day."

I ended up finding some meal kits on Etsy - a sort of "Ebay" for artsy craftsy people. You can find everything from handmade jewelry to furniture to journaling supplies to spices to grilling accessories to glasses/plates/silverware to meal kits, and anything in between on there...

I found and purchased a kit from one seller for loaded potato soup, and gave it to Jeff as one of his presents. All of these kits are all of the dry ingredients, so all you have to do is add the wet ingredients and meat, then cook. 

Jeff cooked the potato soup one but did not follow the directions on the package, and we ended up being less than thrilled with the results. I blame that on not following the cooking instructions. 

From a second seller, I bought a BBQ Chicken Pasta Kit, and a Beef Stroganoff Kit for a couple more presents for Jeff. This seller packages up the kits once someone buys them - they are not pre-made waiting to be shipped out. No additives or preservatives are in the kits either.

I cooked the BBQ Chicken Pasta one first. Jeff was less than enthusiastic about making it because he didn't think that the wet ingredients that were getting added would go well together. Turns out they did, but I didn't read on the website when purchasing it that the seller put Sriracha powder in the kit. It was very good, but also very spicy. 

I next cooked the Beef Stroganoff kit. We had a winner here! It was really good, and tasted homemade. The kits are shelf stable for up to a year, and could actually be used when going camping, should one want to use them for that.

A few weeks later, we ended up purchasing another Beef Stroganoff Kit, along with a Cheesy Taco Skillet Kit and one for Chicken Noodle Soup. As of the time I am typing this, we have cooked everything but the Chicken Noodle Soup. The two we have cooked were really good.

One thing I noticed with this particular seller's page on Etsy, is that she also sells other things as well. I have purchased two Oatmeal Kits (Cherry and Cherry Vanilla - I have already tried the Cherry one and it was really good). Since Jeff loves meatloaf, I bought the meatloaf (and meatballs) seasoning kit. Also purchased a Mild Chili Seasoning Kit. Once Jeff makes those, we'll see how they taste. The last thing I have purchased to date is a Muffin Kit (Cherry flavor). We'll need to go get the wet ingredients from the store to see how the muffins turn out.

She also sells bread kits and actually sells loaves of bread, muffins, and biscuits. We haven't bought any of the kits or any of the actual baked goods yet, but I am excited about trying them as well. Who knew this would actually be a viable option for some good home-cooked food that is easy to make?

I wanted to link the Etsy page where I have purchased these kits - Chickens In the Road Etsy Shop.

Crazy Weeks...But I'm Not Complaining...(Sort Of)

I am sitting here at my laptop, with lots to do on my to-do list. It seems that May and June are getting just as busy each year as September - December normally is. At least that is how it feels this year. I am not complaining though, at least about May...the busy feelings kept my mind pre-occupied and off of things that would take me down dark roads for several weeks.

Back story: my dad died by suicide in November 2012. I thought that over time, the grief would be easier to manage, and day-to-day life would become more manageable overall. For the most part it has. Except for May. For some reason over the last several years, it has become harder for me to get through May than it used to. My birthday is at the end of May, and when my dad was alive he would always call me around my birthday, and we would have the most amazing, absurd, dumb conversations. Like what he had for breakfast or lunch the day I was born, how much gas or bread cost about that timeframe, etc. However for some reason, my brain still expects a phone call from him each year. When I finally realize that there is not going to ever be a call from him again, it usually causes me to spiral into a deep depression - even though I already knew he wasn't going to call, it still somehow surprises me every year.

The last few years I was down for almost a month, and considered just getting out of bed a victory for the day. Things would usually get worse as I was not mentally ready or capable of handling my regular to-do list of concert planning items, silent auction tasks, weekly emails to the band, etc. So, I'd get even more depressed because I was falling behind on regular (band) work. I was able to get my regular tasks at my job outsourced to teammates, so it wasn't that bad at work during this time.

This year, I started planning early. 

We were invited back to the City of Sugar Land's Memorial Day Celebration, so in April I started copying our Music Director on all correspondence with the contact at the City of Sugar Land. That way, if he had any planning/logistics questions he could ask the contact directly instead of waiting for me to reach out, get a response, and report back to him. It actually worked out quite well - they met, worked out musical logistics, he picked up parking passes for me, and it went fairly smoothly. I still had a lot of work to do coordinating rehearsal time information to the band, letting them know where and when to park, where and when to perform, what the dress code was going to be, publicizing the performance on social media, etc. But, the Music Director took a lot off my plate this time around. It was an unexpected surprise, and I was very thankful for the assistance!

The main area of concern has been getting the silent auction baskets prepared and ready, and also setting up the silent auction website in time before the silent auction begins. In early May, I realized I had most of what was going to come in for our silent auction in June. I decided to go ahead and start grouping everything together, adding a basket, cellophane bag, ribbon, and shredded paper to each basket (making each basket easier and simpler to assemble). I figured if any additional items came in, I'd either just add to an existing basket, or create a new basket as the items came in. After grouping everything together the first week of May, I decided to go ahead and start organizing the items in the baskets, wrapping them, and getting the ribbons tied around the tops of all the baskets. The baskets were essentially done by the end of the second week of May. I then spent a few days setting up the silent auction website, building the virtual baskets in there, so people could bid on them once the site went live. By June, the baskets were completely done, and the website completely set up. This was a first for me, and it was such a relief knowing that was not hanging over my head!

As soon as we got the music for the Memorial Day performance (which was mostly doubling at the Patriotic Concert), I went ahead and started writing program notes for all the pieces. So, in addition to working with the Music Director on Memorial Day logistics with the contact at the City of Sugar Land, and wrapping silent auction baskets, and designing the silent auction website...I was also writing program notes and working on the initial design of our concert program! Thankfully, we repeat several pieces every year, as they have become annual favorites of our patrons. This means the program notes have already mostly been written (minus any new pieces we might have in our folders) - I just have to drop them into the program notes pages that I build for each concert program.

The only real tasks I have to do for the patriotic concert program each year is update the roster for the band (which is really done for each concert, based on who can play and who cannot), update the chorus roster, update the American Legion / VFW roster, dropping in the performance order, dropping in the program notes, adding any guest conductor bios to the program, and adding any restaurant spirit fundraiser information we have for an event shortly after the concert. This only really gets busy over one weekend - the weekend two weeks before the concert - the program items are due at that time so I can send it off to print.

I set up all weekly emails to the band in the email software we use at the beginning of May, and added weekly emails for the chorus starting the end of May. With the emails already set up, all I had to do each week is just populate the emails with any information they need to know for that week. Made it so much easier with the emails already designed and ready to be populated! I also set up all concert notices to go out, along with all silent auction notice emails and the spirit fundraiser emails.

Normally I set up everything with the chorus, doing announcements for them at the beginning of their rehearsals, taking attendance, etc. This year, I passed it off to one of the other band members, who is also singing in the chorus...this has really helped as well.

Although it has been super busy these past two months, it has actually been easier this year than in past years. I felt more prepared, tackled things on my to-do list earlier so I didn't get overwhelmed when I was already struggling. I got others involved to help out so I didn't feel like I was the only one doing all the work. 

And on my actual birthday, there was a huge issue with our main customer chain not turning in their orders on time, so I was super involved in meetings starting at 4:30 am, all the way through 4:30 pm...making sure we got the orders in the system, routed, and notifications sent out to the warehouses and transportation so they would be prepared. I didn't have time to think about anything other than making it through the day at work that day, and ended up not spiraling into a deep depression after all this year. I am super grateful for that! 

Dreaming of Silent Auction Baskets

Our Patriotic concert is in a few weeks. There are a lot of moving parts to this concert by nature, and for the most part I am ok with taking care of all the moving parts. The audience typically loves this performance, and all of the added extras that come with it. 

The ball really gets rolling in May for planning and executing the concert, from securing members of the American Legion and VFW posts for Honor Guard duties, planning and notifying the public about the community chorus that will be organizing and performing, securing the chorus rehearsal director, and getting music ready for the chorus.

One big thing that happens at the Patriotic concert (and also the Holiday concert in December) is a silent auction. Since COVID, we have held the silent auction online and doing so allows us to have the silent auction active for more than a few hours. We used to hold the silent auction during the concert, allowing patrons and band members the opportunity to bid on the items before the concert and during intermission. We then would announce the winners shortly after intermission, which would take up a lot of unnecessary concert time.  

With the silent auction now held online, I can more easily monitor it, adjusting the bids if needed to get people interested in the item. We can share the baskets on social media to garner more interest in them as well.  And with the auction active for an entire week, we can get people involved who are not even local...and ship the basket to them afterwards!

For the Patriotic silent auction, I start requesting donations from companies in January. This includes preparing and mailing physical requests, emailing requests, and going online to request through donation portals. Donations start trickling in in February, and we see a steady stream through the middle of June. As we are receiving items, I go ahead and group items together for baskets, and just set them in a basket, along with ribbon, cellophane wrap, a bag of crinkle paper, and a rubber band to close the wrap up at the top of the basket. This makes it easier to put the basket together and make it look nice!

I build the baskets in a spreadsheet, along with the value of each of the items, who donated the items, etc. At the end of the silent auction, I add what the auction price was for each of the baskets, so I can see what the value vs sale price was. I try to make sure we bring in at least 50% of what the value was of all of the baskets for that particular auction. So, if the baskets for an auction are worth a total of $5,000, I try to at least bring in $2,500 in the silent auction.

Usually in April or the beginning of May, I will go ahead and set up the initial silent auction website (through 32Auctions).  By this point, I have a really good idea of the baskets we will have for the silent auction, so I can start populating the website with basket information. Instead of taking a picture of the basket itself for each one, I use Canva.com to make a photo collage with the logos of the companies that donated items for that particular basket. 

May is spent stuffing and wrapping the baskets, and adding a removable sticker with the basket name on it to quickly find the basket after the auction is over. I print out the invoices from 32Auctions, and attach them to the baskets (highlighting the winner's name on each), so the winners can more easily find the ones they won.

On concert day, I take the baskets with me to the performance venue and have the baskets set up out in the foyer, so the winners can get them as they come in, or while at intermission.

The reason I have said all of this is because last night I had a very real dream that it was concert day, and I realized that I had not brought the silent auction baskets with me to the performance venue. Not only that, but I had not even been monitoring the silent auction while it was live, so I had no idea if all baskets had been sold or not. It was quite disturbing to me that in my dream I had allowed such a big opportunity to raise funds slip through my fingers! 

Missing Dreams

I've been quite frustrated lately. When it is time to go to bed, I cannot sleep. I toss and turn for hours and it doesn't feel like I get to sleep at all, but then find myself waking up to the alarm clock when it goes off. Clearing I am getting some sleep, but not getting any rest. 

I find that I am super tired during the day, especially during the busiest part of my day. But then when it is time to go to sleep...nothing!

When I am super tired during the day, I have all kinds of great day dreams. I tell myself "that would make a great dream tonight - remember that!" But when it is time to go to bed, my brain won't turn off so that I can enjoy the dreams I want to have!

Bluebonnets in the Spring

Every spring, I try to get out and drive around between our neighborhood and Brenham, to find some bluebonnets. I find that seeing bluebonnets growing on the side of the road brings me happiness each year, no matter what I find my mood to be. 

March is the month to be paying attention to the roadsides to see the Bluebonnets. There are fields and fields of them along the back country roads between Katy and Brenham.

I did make my way over to San Felipe, Texas to take some photos at the San Felipe de Austin State Historic Site this past March. No filters, just pictures taken on my phone. I think they turned out quite nicely, and it makes me smile every time I see them!

It's Been a While...

I keep thinking that I will come on and type up an entry for my blog / journal. Then things come up and I forget to come on and enter whatever was on my mind. A lot of things have happened since I was last on.

I don't even know where to start. I see my last entry on here was in October of 2020, and was a dream that I had, and wanted to record.  I've had many dreams since then, but didn't make it to this blog to get them entered.

So, where were we...

I stepped off the board of the Community Band I play in in 2018. Doesn't seem like I recorded that here. I knew that my manager would be retiring soon, and I was expected to apply for his position. And I was pretty stressed/burned out from the happenings with the Board, so it felt like a good time to step down.  I continued to do the things I enjoyed doing for the band, like designing the programs, writing program notes, setting up silent auctions, etc. 

My manager retired in the spring of 2019, and I did apply for his position at the request of his manager. I got the position, and there was a major learning curve associated with the additional responsibilities. The person retiring was supposed to be training/mentoring, but no such luck. I had to figure everything out on my own. In the summer of 2019, my department moved to a new office, from the medical center area to the north side of Houston.

Then COVID hit in March of 2020. The band had a concert the first weekend of March, and then we shut operations down until further notice. I heard that the board went to virtual meetings at that point, instead of meeting at restaurants like they had been when I was on the board. Friends and I decided that since we were not having band rehearsals for the foreseeable future, we would meet virtually during what would have been band rehearsal time. We ate dinner together in zoom meetings once a week and just kept up with each other! I continued to go into the office every day, as did the rest of my department. We were just told to wear masks to protect us all from COVID. 

In February 2021, I decided to rejoin the Board for the community band...only this time as a member at large. I did not want a leadership position. The band's first performance post-COVID was a Memorial Day gig for the City of Sugar Land. We then did an altered Patriotic Concert to ensure everyone was still safe. Concerts have since started back up full force with the band. We had been doing silent auctions online during the pandemic, and decided to keep them online afterwards! In May of 2021, the department I work in got transferred to the National Routing Team. We lost our clerical staff to Dispatch, and I was bumped back down to supervisor from the manager position I had just applied for and been promoted to in 2019. In the summer of 2021, the president of the community band board resigned, and I ended up getting voted back in as president...only this time with stipulations of not getting over committed like before.

In the fall of 2021, I got a phone call from the band director of the community band, telling me that he had been diagnosed with some pretty serious cancer. He took a leave of absence for 7 months to take on chemo and all that goes with fighting cancer. He would join rehearsals through zoom meetings, just to keep in touch with everyone, while a band member stepped up and rehearsed the band, and conducted concerts in his absence. He was able to come back to conduct one piece at the May 2022 concert. He is now in remission, and has come back to the band full force. We offered the band member who helped out a position as Associate Director, which he accepted.

At Christmas time in 2021, I finally got COVID, and ended up passing it on to my mom and step dad. Jeff was either asymptomatic or he somehow did not get it. But I worked from home for a week while I recovered.

My department was able to go fully remote in the spring of 2022. It has been so much better since we are not fighting traffic to get to the office, put miles on the car, pay for toll roads, etc. I made room in the crafting room for my office space, so it has been quite nice to see Jeff during the day when he is relaxing and resting before getting ready for work at night. 

That brings us to 2023. I am sitting here waiting for a billing cycle to drop so I can route it. We've been learning additional billing cycles, as being a part of the national team. I'm learning stores in Florida right now...we routed stores in Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania at one point before transitioning the routing back to the team in that location. Lots has happened, some good...some bad...but we are still here plugging away at life!