My beloved B took photographs of moss while on her vacation last week! What a show of love! I think they are pretty good, the tree one being rather spectacular! While she might not understand why I enjoy moss so (I have ten moss gardens on my deck), she knew I would most appreciate the viewing!

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I have accepted a position at a non-profit family service organization. I will be doing communications, marketing, recruitment, and resource development for their foster care program. While the salary is not near enough to whittle down my colossal debt (I dread how many years this will take), the benefits are rather good, the folks are quite welcoming, and I will have some permanency in my life after 13 months of uncertainty.

What I find interesting is that I just made a new friend where I am temping. She is engaging and funny and likes to read the same sorts of books as do I. She lives near me, too. Truly, she is the benefit of working at a place that has continued to take advantage of my abilities while not paying me anywhere near in a manner respectful of the work I am doing. My goodness, today I was asked to write a report for the national board of directors meeting! At least I know that not a day has passed where I did not honor God in my commitment to the work at hand and the level of excellence I strove to achieve in thankfulness for the small income.

I also know that I am leaving the place much better off than when I arrived. I have plowed through some exhaustive knowledge management tasks on their server, organizing all the foundation files in the process. The new executive director will have a much easier time of it whenever he/she arrives in building an organization that had heretofore been run by board members and volunteer time from the parent organization staff. I also created an orientation booklet (43 pages) for new foundation board members so that they can get up to speed rather quickly and the progress of its growth will not be hampered by changeovers in membership. During this process, I took the EPS version of its logo and created JPEG and GIFF files that can be used in starting to brand documents. For the parent organization, I also began the task of organizing some key contract information, standardizing the text and format so that the yearly agreements will be easier to craft in the future. I also created an operational guideline for the next administrative person so that he/she will have an easier learning curve than did I (much less re-inventing the wheel). The paper files are organized as well, and many operations have been streamlined, standardized, and documented. I also did a bit of technology teaching along the way. So...I acquitted myself well and honored the abilities God has given me in the temporary job He provided during this difficult time.

The best part of this decision? Only three more days of schlepping to the metro in this STINKING HOT weather. Only six more times of drowning in sweat and battling fatigue. I will be ever so glad to have this particular commute over!