Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Inside Looking Out Pt. 6

It's been awhile since I've written anything about the museum and, for the record, I am still here and loving it. This past summer has been all about the camps. Did I mention we run summer camps? Yep, and I am in the thick of them. I love summer camp, it is so damn much fun. We craft and goof off and learn and go places and I get paid. I know! I'm stunned too!

Our summer exhibit is Samurai and contains amazing artifacts that can't be found anywhere else. The stuff here is owned by private collectors and once it goes away, it's gone. It doesn't go to another museum, but instead goes back to the owners never to be seen again. So if you're close to the Frazier History Museum get your boots in to see this thing before it's gone. The exhibit runs till the end of September. Anyway, we gave 4 summer camps that conntected directly to the exhibit, but we did it more as a cultural look at Japan. The kids loved it and we loved it. I learned some Japanese, did a bunch of crafts, and learned how to Bon dance. I know, I can already tell you all are way jealous.

Now, though, summer camps are over and I always feel antsy. I mean, I'm so used to running from the moment I get here (usually about 7:30) until the moment I leave (usually about 7:00) that I know feel as though I have too much time. Does that make sense? I look around at the work on my desk and get way disappointed it's not a craft I have to do or a PowerPoint I have to put together. One thing I did have to do yesterday was write a blog post. Since I blog I was nominated by my department to be our permanent blogger. Yeah, I know scary, but normally it's not a big deal. I just whip it out and move on, but yesterday I was stuck. What to write about???  I hadn't a clue. Summer camps were over and I hadn't had a chance to get into anything else. Sooooooo . . . I tossed it out on my Twitter and my lovely friend Jennifer Armintrout suggested Grover Cleveland. Oooookay, since I couldn't think of anything else, Grover it was. I think the blog turned out pretty good, but next time I hope I can come up with an idea on my own or she'll suggest something like black holes or the implications of time travel for Dr. Who.

--GC

Monday, August 13, 2012

Back to Reality

Yesterday I got up at the buttcrack of dawn to fly back home from the AAD Conference in NOLA. Jeez louise, it sucks. Have I ever mentioned that I hate to fly???  Yeah, I despise it! But getting to the airport at 5am means there's no crowds and you get through security fairly quickly. I made it home by 3 or so in the afternoon. Had to drop my sister off at her house, stop at the grocery and get meds, whatever.

Anyway, somewhere in my brain I imagined it was a really good idea to go back to work. O_O Yeah, I know. What the hell was I thinking??  The alarm goes off this morning at 7:20 am and I think I hit it like . . . 4 times. So now it's 7:45 and I stagger up and have to eat breakfast, wash my hair, dry it, get ready . . .yadda yadda. By the time I made it to work I realize that I left my badge at home and I have to buzz security to get into the building. I stop at the soft drink machine and get a Dr. Pepper, which is something I NEVER do, but I had to have caffeine. It didn't help, but I imagined it would.

I stagger to my office, grunt hello to a co-worker and start my laptop. Another person in my department comes in, takes one look at me, and says, "Maybe you should go home?" LOL! Needless to say, I didn't last long. I was there maybe 2 hours and then gave up and came home. I fell onto my bed and took a nice 2 hour nap. I still don't feel great, in fact, if given the option I'd go to bed now (7:56pm) but I think I'll hold out a bit longer.

All of this rambling, is to say that obviously I don't travel well. I travel even worse when I get no sleep the entire time I'm away from home. I did get writing done while I was there and I got to hang out with friends and make great new ones, but the not sleeping thing is a major downer.

Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be ready to go back to work for real. Right now, I'm just going to sit here with my window open enjoying the breeze and pretending I'm still on vacation.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Refusing to Die in NOLA

Okay, so I am currently enjoying the AAD Conference in New Orleans. Let me restate I am enjoying the conference, but NOT New Orleans. There are many reasons, but let me just boil it down to one really gross point . . . Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street is like the asshole on the body that is New Orleans. It is utterly gag worthy. Where else do they hose the streets off each morning to clean the puke off???? Yeah, I'm sure you now get it.

Anyway, we (Bronwyn Greene, Jessica Jarman, Kris Norris, Jennifer Armintrout, Mia Watts, and a bunch of other people) were walking to a place called Huck Finns this morning when it began to thunder. Did I mention the weather has been majorly suck level? Well it has so once again it's raining. I pop up my umbrella, but I notice the lightning that is accompanying the thunder so this is when I make the request of my bestie Jessica Jarman.

If I get struck by lightning and die do not, DO NOT let them bury me in this .cesspool of the universe. Her reply, "Yeah, dude, you won't be buried. It's all above ground crypts." *sigh* So literal is my friend Jessica. "Okay, whatever," is my pithy reply, "but don't let me be stuck here. I never ever want to be stuck here. Make sure I get home. No matter how you gotta do it. Make sure my body gets back to Kentucky."

Now I'd been to New Orleans before, but I just don't remember it being this nasty. Of course, we didn't stay on Bourbon Street and perhaps that's why I don't recall it being this yuck. I think we spent a total of a half an hour on the street before my friend Jennifer (not Armintrout) and I called it quits. We were hard core party people back then and we didn't like it. So now that I'm a tad bit older and spend most of my nights at home writing I really don't go out.

To end this story, Jess did promise to see me home and make sure I'm cremated. Of course, we survived the storm and I'm back in the hotel. But after walking in the puddles with open-toed shoes I am so going to get a major shot of anti-biotics when I get home.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Surviving the Summer!

I can't believe it's almost the end of July and I haven't written in 4 months!!  Totally ridiculous. But my life had been fairly insane. I work as an educator at a history museum and it's summer camp time. Basically, every week day from 8:45 am to about 4:15 pm I have 16 to 18 kids I'm responsible for. We run around and do art projects and learn about stuff and basically have an awesome time. But because I'm away from home nearly 12 hours each day that doesn't leave a lot of time for much else.

My house is a total wreck. I wouldn't even have my sister over it looks so bad. My poor cats barely know me when I get home. And my writing suffers. I did finish a book. Jeez louise, it was a month late, but I finished it. A Hunter's Promise is done and actually released. Woo hoo!!  I'm currently working on a new book I have tentatively titled Mated. It has nothing to do with the Promise series, but I really want to finish it. I discovered it while I was looking around my computers. The thing has about 24k and I just stopped working on it. Don't know why I left it, but there you go. So now I'm in the process of updating and rewriting certain parts of it. Once I do that I can finish it. Then I'll have finished 3 books this year. Wooooo!!  Go Gwen.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Inside Looking Out, Pt. 5

Spa Day at the Frazier

If, upon seeing the above title, you imagine the museum I work in sending its poor, tired workers to a relaxing retreat, forget it. Though we may imagine or wish it were so, nowhere but in our dreams is this ever going to happen. The tableau employees, on the other hand, they get treated totally different. If you’ve been here then you know exactly who I’m talking about. If not, they are the life-like figures all around the museum and depict different moments in history. Since they work soooo hard *eye rolling and sarcasm* every day…by standing around, they get the spa treatment a couple times a year.

Someone from exhibits pulls out the special spa tools (brushes, vacuum, and attachments) and goes around pampering our small bunch of prima donnas. Just this week was spa day for the two men on horseback in the Great Hall. As I came out of the Education Center, Anna was gently tending to our gentlemen and their mounts. While she lightly runs what looks like a powder brush over manes and tails, she uses the vacuum to remove the stirred up dust. She never gets too close for fear of sucking the hair itself up. I agree that I can’t think of anything worse than a bald horse. When I stopped to watch her, she informed me, “When I vacuum their faces I think they’re probably really uncomfortable.” That is the second thing I can whole-heartedly agree with. I can’t imagine attempting to stand still while someone sucked up my face with the vacuum.
This gives me pause and I realize no matter how hard I work, I certainly wouldn’t want the spa service perks given to the tableau employees. I’ll just stick with the ability to go home in the evening.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Why My Sister and I are Best Friends

Okay, so I've been MIA for quite a while and there are reasons really . . . really I swear. My part-time job became full-time which I am totally stoked about, but does require more of my time. I'm also blogging for the museum (where I work) now. More than that life has been . . . overwhelming to say the least. I was going to do some kind of fun light-hearted post about . . . something, but this week really hit home why my sister is my best friend and vice versa.

I'll start by saying the last 3 years has sucked . . . out loud. And, yes this has everything to do with the title of this piece. Anyway, I'm a teacher that now has a job I looooooove!! The museum I work at is amazing, but 3 years ago I ended up in a school that made me hate teaching. Now, my friends will tell you, this wasn't the case before. I loved to teach, I couldn't wait to get to school each day, but the 2nd school I ended up in sucked the fun out of everything. To top is off, my dog Lucy (lab-rhodesian mix) got really sick. She was only 5 and I took her to every vet and specialist I could think of. Unfortunately, nothing worked. I came home from a horrible day at school to discover my dog has passed away while I wasn't there.

I was devastated. Thankfully, my sister was there waiting for me. The first thing she did was hug me then she asked me what I wanted to do. I said, "Bury her." I grabbed a shovel and started digging. My mom pulled my sister aside and said, "What are you going to do?" Her reply, "Get a shovel and help her." Now I have to explain to you that Lucy wasn't a small dog. She topped 100# easy so burying her was an enormous task, but my sister was right there with me.

To make a long horrible story, short and horrible over the next 3 years my mom shattered her hip and had to go into a rehab facility, my beautiful cat Fiona (who had been sick for nearly 2 years) died, I fell and broke my leg, my Mom died, and my aunt died. If all this wasn't true I'm sure I'd be laughing by now, but no such luck. All of this leads me to the last month and a half.

My sister's cat Saoirse (Maine coon calico) got really sick. My sister got her when she was a kitten and she helped my sister get through a divorce and 3 moves. She took her to the hospital where they admitted her and where she stayed for 5 days. After coming home, Saoirse really did act like she was feeling better. She was eating everything and drinking, but then the seizures started. Two days ago I got a phone call at 4:40 a.m., it was my sister and she was crying hysterically on the phone. You got it, Saoirse had had a massive seizure and died. I threw on clothes and raced over there where I picked both of them up and brought them both back to my house. My sister wanted to bury Saoirse right next to Lucy and that's what we did. There I was at 5:15 on a Wednesday morning digging a grave in the dark of my back yard for my sister so we could bury her cat.

And this is why my sister and I are best friends. I hope for you, that you have a best friend that will go to the lengths that we go to for each other. And I swear, my next blog, will be funny.

--GC

Monday, January 2, 2012

Win a Kindle Fire!