Journeys Unexpected

Originally published on 10/16/2018   My wonderful readers! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything and for that I am truly sorry. Life tends to get in the way when we least expect it to, don’t you agree?   As you may recall, my teaching job ended as of June 1st of this year. It’s been a wild and crazy summer and things don’t show any signs of slowing down for the fall. We went to Disneyland (you can read up on that trip  here ), Larry and I were on staff at Wood Badge, did Webelos Wow with one Webelos Scout, went to our nephew’s missionary homecoming, started a new job (more on that later in this post), and my most recent journey was being inducted into the Boy Scout Honor Society, Order of the Arrow. That was quite a neat opportunity that I will share about later. As for my new job, I am now selling mortgage protection insurance. If someone would have told me two months ago that I’d be selling insurance I’d probably have laughed at them. Howev...

Originally published on 05/27/2018 Wood Badge Day 4 gave us more fun by inducting us into the Venturing Program. I had never heard about Venturing, so this was very exciting for me. Venturing is for youth (both boys and girls) ages 14-21, and allows them to go on high adventures like rock climbing, white water rafting trips, and more. We also got to witness a fun "award" be given to one of the Eagle Patrol members... He had seen that someone had placed a tin can into the port-potty, and went in after it. Items like that are not good to place there, as it needs to remain human waste, not trash waste. So the guys at Tall Timber decided that this participant needed a "special" award for going above and beyond (or should that be down and in?!) the call of duty for keeping the port-a-potty clean! The Dingy Flitchit had become completely "famous" through camp, and other people began using them to decorate their own items. I also bega...

Originally published on 02/13/2018 On Day 3 of my Wood Badge Experience, the Bobwhite Patrol was in charge of the flag ceremony. This was a neat experience since I've never been involved in a flag ceremony before. The historical flag that we had to showcase was The Star Spangled Banner, which included 15 stars and 15 stripes. To learn more about this flag, please follow  this link . After all three flags were on their respective poles, we sang our country's National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner". One of the things we had to do today was set up a tent. They made it into a competition, and we were not the first ones done, but members of other Patrols came and helped everyone out as the finished their own tents. The is the basic Boy Scouts of America tent, from what I understand. It is also identical to what I slept in for the week. I am grateful that on day 2 I asked for a cot to sleep on, because the ground was just littered with tree roots... Not the most...

Originally published on 02/04/2018 This is the Patrol image for our table each day. They rotated them around so we weren't stuck in one spot every day. That made it nice because with that many people in the small room, it felt rather cramped at times. I must say I wasn't too hip on the idea of being a Bobwhite, since I really didn't know much about the critter to begin with, but I am truly grateful for it now. We worked as a patrol from day one, and I have been told it typically takes a couple of days for most patrols to get to where we were almost from the start. I love my patrol members and hope they had as much fun as I did! This is the topper of the Service Patrol Emblem, a mini Bobwhite "Dingy Flitchit!" I forgot to add that in my Day 1 post, found  here . For our hats, we did not add the google eyes and beak, just the feathers. I still wear my hat as part of my uniform when we go places and get many funny looks and comments. I think it's ...

Originally published on 01/28/2018 Welcome back! If you missed  Part 1  in this mini-series, feel free to read that post now. The first night (considered Day 0) up at the campsite was distressing on my back! There were several tree roots poking up wherever I tried laying down. I managed to find a position in which my body was curving itself around the roots as best as possible and slept. The first morning I got up and made my way to a trailer full of showers. It was early so there were very few people, and enough hot water to be allowed a thorough rinse after lathering up. I was grateful to know I could shower every day, even though camping generally means not showering as often. Breakfast was held down near the kitchen and eaten outside on rows of metal picnic benches. I had met a new friend online, through my director, who is Deaf. I am slow, but I know American Sign Language. We were able to converse some throughout the six days. She is able to read lips fairly well...

Originally posted on 01/27/2018 Have you been through Wood Badge? Wood Badge is for Scouting leaders mostly, but anyone that wants premium leadership training should really go. I had never heard of it until Larry, my husband, told me about it several years ago. He had gone through, but because of some unfortunate events, he could be awarded his honor, known as beads. We were able to go buy them for him, and he was grateful to finally have them. I was an Assistant Den Leader and Assistant Webelos Leader back in the late 1990's. I loved every minute of it! We had tons of fun helping the boys to earn their different awards and even the World Conservation Award. I was sad when I had to quit because I was getting ready to move. I didn't realize that I could have asked a local unit to volunteer my time with after the move. I did my leadership through my church, and thought that's how scouting was done. Early in 2017, I found a paper regarding upcoming Wood Badge...