Equiping yourself

Each of us may be sure that if God sends us on stony paths He will provide us with strong shoes, and He will not send us out on any journey for which He does not equip us well.

~Alexander Maclaren

Bishop Rob comes to visit

We have the bishop at St. James today. we are installing father Scott Anderson as our rector and the bishop is doing this with us. originally we were just on our regular rotation for a visit, but after having scott as our priest in charge for 2 years we have decided to "call " him as our priest.

we are having a reception brunch afterwards and My friends Karen and Art from our Crew 1050 will be there along with a couple of others for help and showing off our venture crew- Bishop Rob did not know what geo-caching was so we spent a bit of time telling him about the crew and what we do. he got a very interesting look in his eye and I could see some wheels turning there for activities and things around this concept.
well I am off and running, because as ussuall I am in charge of many things today

woodbadge breakfast

This event occurs two times a year in the DAC and this is one of them! Today one of my patrol mates got beaded with his second bead, after completing his tickets. we have one more patrol mate to go and our patrol will be the first one to have all members finish from our WE5-61-2-07 group. It was nice to be able to see others that I don't get to visit with very often. And breakfast was outstanding as scouters really apprciate a good breakfast.

a collection was take up for the scholarship fund and about 1000$ was raised, this is near and dear to my heart as I recieved a scholarship and help from my good Friends Karen and Art P. I really changed my attitude and loved the camraderie I formed during my 6 days of my course. I am very grateful for the opportunity that was given to me.

Now to go to work on that third Bead?? as a staffer. !!!

All beaded! A fantastic evening

This is my Troop Guide- and over on the far side the ScoutMaster for my Woodbadge course. I am getting my new neckwear and with me are SSD1 and Hh and my S- This was one of the best nights ever for me in Scouting. We had a great turn out and a nice Dinner and a large cake. Here we are All my Patrol mates - we are doing the antelope cheer- look up on the slope there's an antelope!
We agreed that the patrol flag would go to the person who is getting their beads, Brian got it for 4 short days, I get it until the next person beads and then I will take it to them for their beading. what a fantastic support system.
this is about number 5 in a series of photos that S took, with Me and my Boss and my supervisor! we laughed and chatted our way through most of the photos S took but this one really cracked me up- my expression in priceless.
All in all this was a lovely way to spend an evening. my friends, my family, my troop and a great bunch of boys!

Beading - I am number three from WE5 61 2 07

Well I am going to actually get my second bead, having completed my tickets, I am going to do it at my troop's court of honor. Tomorrow night my troop, my patrol mates and my boss and supervisor, and most importantly my family will be there to support my most important work I have done for myself.

I feel that this course really opened up my abilities- it gave me confidence to move forward and lead ( boys and my work team) my troop too. It has given me confidence in my work too. This was one of the most profound experiences I have had in my life. I would highly recomend it to fellow scouters. It really is worth the time spent to learn that you can just say ON!

A big thanks to my Friends Karen and Art, with out thier ongoing help and support I wouldn't have done it. A big thanks to my S for his love and support and making sure the home fires stayed burning. A big thanks to my boss Michelle for allowing me to go to the weekends when I just had started my new job and had no leave! A big thanks to my Patrol mates whom were there at every turn supporting an " old Lady" I can't say enough about my new guy friends.

We will take some photos tomorrow and I will post a couple in a few days. I am the third person from my Course to receive my beads, my patrol mate beat me by a week:)

My Tickets and other Scout thoughts

As I worked my personal tickets I kept alot of the things we did in our course in mind. This outline of the themes that we worked through- is a good representation of the things I discovered and was able to participate in. I am glad I captured my feelings and images in my scrapbook too.

Five Central Themes and Leadership Skills
The themes that follow encapsulate the course content of Wood Badge for the Twenty-First Century.
1) Living the Values
—Values, mission, and vision
—Aims and methods
2) Bringing the Vision to Life
—Listening to learn
—Communicating
—Giving and receiving feedback
—Valuing people and leveraging diversity
—Coaching and mentoring
3) Models for Success
—Team development model
—Situational Leadership
4) Tools of the Trade
—Project planning and problem solving
—Managing conflict
—Assessing team performance
—Managing change
—Celebrating team success
5) Leading to Make a Difference
—Leaving a legacy
—Learning the greatest leadership secret

Today this struck me too, that my expectation is high , but the bigger picture and the long term out comes are the important factors. Some times we just can't saee the forest for the trees!

Realization of your vision
You should not expect that you will realize your vision immediately upon completion of the five
goals; reaching your goals is an initial part of a long-term work in progress.

My Scrapbook- Woodbadge6

My Scrapbook- Woodbadge5

the only pages I am not uploading here are the individual pages I made for my patrol mates. These are personal and I would not want anyone to feel vunerable, by my posting. There are sentiments for the four men I had there to support me in my Patrol- the best men I know besides my hubby ! :)

My Scrapbook- Woodbadge4

what a way to learn leadership skills and life skills. I would highly recomend this to all Scout leaders at any level

My Scrapbook- Woodbadge3

More pages in my scrapbook for my woodbadge ticket

It is scouts... and more

I have been a busy girl, I volunteered for scout duty at the Denver Area Camporee and I will have my first " crew" meeting wed- the 10th. I have scout pics on my Camera I haven't even downloaded in nearly a month, I have been scrapping my Wood badge adventures and will post them in electronic form too. NOt to mention all my duties at church and with the kids.

Glucosamine and Chondroitin

how are those for some words for you?? expensive stuff, made from shellfish and I don't know what, meant to help with joints ( not the smoking kind) like knees.... Why you may ask am I talking about this?? Well this photo was taken moments before I fell on my knees, really landing on the right one full on. It got pretty swollen, though the nurse on duty gave me great care and they brought me ice and we elevated and rested for the next two days they drove me most places so I didn't have to hike, but in the end I had a big big purple bruise, so I gave in and went to my Kaiser Doc.... well he took and x-ray..... and I really hadn't messed up anything to badly.

he offered to give me some pain meds, but I declined and decided to take my advil and get on with moving and staying active ( scince I had already been on it for a week at that point).

So to make this long story even longer, a few days went by and I get an e-mail. well low and behold I have arthitis in my knee read by the x-ray doctor , I have had it for a while. SO... one of the recomendations was the above combination of dietary suppliments not a cheap fix but if it works great, i can least try it and see if I get a little relief. :)

a few more pictures

Home sweet tent - borrowed from the P's it was great worked wonderfully














Cool clouds on day 3 - saturday morning after a good rain at Tahosa


















My patrol mates and our guide !














I think I am going to make scrapping part of my ticket!! yeah buddy arn't these hummingbirds increadable.

I am an antelope

yup We5-61-2-07 antelope ! my weekend was fabulous and long, I am sore and tired and today was a long day at work. but I have grinned from ear to ear the entire day.

this is the best thing I have done in a very long time. fun with a purpose as B.P. would put it.

learning new and exciting things. making new and fun friends and patrol mates. Worrying about my ticket items a bit.

yup two days of no showers here

but still smiling.

coming up soon- an adventure

The end of the week will bring a new adventure for me called Wood badge- it is part of the BSA program for adult volunteers. I am looking forward to learning a few things about myself and working with others in teams and troops and patrols.

I will spend two weekends this month joining with other volunteer scouters learning lots of new things and committing to some additional program responsibilities. We are going to be at Camp Tahosa and I will take my camera - at least to document for my self this adventure.

We will be camping in this the " lower Meadow" but have been told we won't have facilities for washing! so three stinky days are in the making. I have a backpack, my essentials, fun stuff and a borrowed tent and sleeping bag, as well as a cot. I have done a trial run in putting my tent up by myself if I have too.

I have been walking everyday for the last 20 days, so I hope I will get around ok. I should have thought of a walking stick but I might be able to find something there if I need it. I have a good pair of boots and the boys are going to let me borrow a rain poncho- ( cause we are in the afternoon thunderstorm period)

more can shots

Here I am giving the can to an assistant troop leader
Here to a boy - they loved these cans and openers too.


These were fun to make and give away. They all have a base of paterned paper and then the k& company boyscout line paper on the bottom of each can, with k & company BSA line stickers and some paint and assorted other things like ribbon. Each can had a cork cover on the lid, I stamped with staze-on ink in brown camping theme stamps from stampn-up

altered paint cans for our troop

these cans are going to the boys and scoutmasters tonight , during a court of honor.