Back in Philly

I am back from staff retreat, and for the first time ever I can honestly say that I had a lot of fun!! We laughed so much together over the last 2 days! It was a really good retreat for us. We shared a lot, laughed a lot and overall just had a really good time together. I'm really glad most of the church wasn't there though...if they saw all of us together like we were the last few days they would have some serious questions about how our church survives, haha. I even really enjoyed all the kids, and they seemed to have fun too!

I always like getting away from Philly for a few days here and there, so I need to make sure I do it more often. I don't like leaving Philly for long periods of time, but a day or 2 here and there can make such a difference in my outlook on things. And, we are so close to so many things (Washington DC, New York, Baltimore, the shore, etc), it shouldn't be hard to do.

Now that I am back in Philly, I am in overdrive, haha. I have to make up my AIM stuff from Monday and Tuesday, so I'm working 9-5 the rest of the week. Kids Club starts next week and I'm really trying to get a lot done for that as well. I have already organized the roster and made new name tags for all the kids. I even made sure they were all the correct ages! (We had a ton of kids with birthdays over the break, so, for example, while they were 7 before, now they need an 8 year old name tag). Next is getting all their pictures sized right with their names on them and then hung on a bulletin board. I am hoping to really work on that tomorrow and Friday. And, of course, planning the lesson, haha. I'm not so good at staying ahead of the game with lessons. I remember Carisa used to have 2 or 3 lessons (if not more) already done by the time we started up again in the spring. That's not so much me, but I guess as long as it gets done...

I also have a completely new support raising organizational plan that I am working on. I'm trying to get super organized with it and really kick that into high gear over the next few months as well. I REALLY want to only have one job in the fall! (I think that will allow to me start up after-school again, even if I don't have an official co-leader). So, there is a lot to do, but I am ready to get started!!!

And of course there is my continued eating and exercise plan. I am still doing SO WELL!!! And I can't take any credit, that HAS to be all God!! I even stuck with my plan while on the retreat. I ran on the treadmill there, and stuck very carefully to my eating plan. I did not have a single dessert at meals NOR did I eat a single cookie that Miss Denise brought!!!! (She brings 4 or 5 Tupperware boxes full of cookies. I don't want to know how many cookies we each eat over the 3 days...but not me this year!!). I'm not really noticing a difference in my appearance or anything, but that isn't really my goal anyway. I am feeling really good; physically, spiritually and emotionally, and that's all I really care about!