Brrrrrrrrr....

It's been super chilly in Seattle these last few days - and not Midwest bone biting cold but cold just the same (and considering my apartment wasn't made for bone chilling Midwest winters, it's very cold.) With the windchill, it's hovering in the high twenties. The city, being right on Puget Sound, makes for fantastic wind tunnels as you're walking to work.

This cold evening made for a second night of my curled up on my futon, with my kitty friend Monkey, under covers, fast asleep after dinner. All plans to go the gym became visions of sugar plums in my head - pretty much all plans vanished as Extra! relayed very important stories about Britney Spears.

I completely forgot to write about one of the best things that happened this past weekend - at Derby Prom I was voted "best attitude" by my sister skaters. What a great honor! I was surprised and humbled! And some of my skater friends, a couple of drinks into the night, told me what a inspiration I was to them. What a great way to end a weekend. (I also got an award for "best socks for 2007" - they speak for themselves.)

Just plain tired...

I think the euphoria from the last bout, along with a week of practices, my last day at Planned Parenthood, Pyglet's first birthday and Jet City's Derby Prom has worn me out. I was planning on going to the gym tonight after my first day at my new job - to prep a little before this weekend's Rust Riot (NW roller derby invitational) - when the futon in the living room called my name and I just had to take a nap in the chilly living room with some of the kitty friends.

But there are plenty of glimpses from my past week...

A very flattering review of our first derby bout this year:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=107162553&blogID=350814234

Pyglet's Birthday (Lucie)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749380@N00/sets/72157603812176792

JCRG Prom:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749380@N00/sets/72157603815974067

Phew.

Goodbyes...

And so it's time to say goodbye... after 6 years (almost to the month) of being with the Planned Parenthood family, I'm packing my bag (clearing my desk) and moving to another part of the women's movement. I'm literally and metaphorically just moving to another part of the neighborhood and I'm taking plenty of friends with me.

Though, my real loss is going to be all of the development officers from all over the country whom I've gotten to know over the years. I was a part of committees, headed a conference and worked on mentoring new development officers. Not everyone will miss me - that's for sure. I've been a pain-in-the-ass for some people. But I've also been really great friends with others.

Tonight will be drinks (but not too many) and tomorrow will be just another weekend before I start a new job.

It's been a great 6 years! I can't wait for my next adventures!

Some highlights:
*Organizing 5,000+ for the March for Women's Lives
*The Power of Women photography auction
*Chic for Choice
*increasing donations by 25% in one of our toughest fundraising years.
*Lobbying
*Counter protesting, raising tons of $$ of protesters - yeah!
*my SUPERvisor Nanci & my pal Teri
*being part of such a fantastic movement and learning more about social justice in general
*Choice
*my friends across the nation
*understanding the role we can all play in a movement
*better understanding for empathy, compassion and social justice
*making a difference
*change


some comments from some of my pals across the country...

Best wishes and hugs – you will be missed! Connie (her real name)

Congratulations, Michelle! Looks like I’m losing my development buddies north and south today… weird. Hope you transition smoothly and successfully into your new digs. Lemme know if I can be of any help here in Pdx.
Liz

Congratulations, Michelle! Thanks for all you have contributed to PP! Best,Sherry

Michelle,Good luck with your new venture! They are lucky to have you.Christie

Michelle,Congratulations! It sounds like a terrific opportunity, but we will miss you -- DOC conferences just won't be the same...All the very best,Debbie

Michelle, You will be missed! Best of luck with your new position. Anne

Hi Michelle,
Wishing you every success in your new job. The Women’s Law Center is lucky to have you – I know you’ll be doing great things for them, just as you’ve done for Planned Parenthood.
All the best,
Mar


Congratulations Michelle!!! that is so exciting, Ms. Director. Good luck - I will miss seeing you at DOC (if I get to go this year...). -Amy


SOOOO delighted to hear you are moving on up!I will miss your creativity, dedication and enthusiasm. Take that with you and nothing can stop you!I wish you the best and hope you can keep in touch.Is your new group from 5 contiguous states and will you have to travel to all?

I got to the NW over the Thanksgiving holiday and was so very impressed! Lovely territory.I went through Seattle and spent time with my brother in Bend OR.Hugs and cheers right back to you!Suzie - And thanks for all your efforts for PP in Ohio and WW!

Michelle –
You will be missed! It’s been a pleasure to work with you. Best of luck on your new endeavors!
John

A clear, bright, chilly... a perfect day for a national holiday.

I ran across an ad for an organization that has caught my attention before - http://www.forbetterlife.org/. I looked it up online, completely skeptical that it was religiously affiliated or trying to do something besides promote positive things. (How sad that one of the most optimistic people I know feels that way.) But it turns out they weren't religiously affiliated, and though I'm not 100% sure how I feel about their message (it's quite good) and I ran across some billboards that they've produced that I've really liked - such as this one about Kermit. And I thought this was the perfect thing to write about today - on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Dreams. Live your dreams. And because of such a great man willing to go out on a limb for so many people, more people can live theirs.

Below are some photos from the bout:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/narra99/

EVIL! EVIL! EVIL!

"Torture, where in your life have you heard hundreds of people shouting 'Evil! Evil! Evil!' and stomping their feet for a bunch of gals on wheels? Isn't that awesome?'" And it was! CarnEvil won in 'final death' yesterday night at our first official bout of the season! It was amazing, close, fun, fun, fun. We were convinced that we had come together as a team and would win against the Hula Honeys but at halftime we were down by 21 points. The second jam of the second half, I scored 15 points as jammer and slowly, we started champing at the score... And the belief in our team became palatable - not only from ourselves but from the fans! Cia raced out of the penalty box and took out the opposing jammer with such malice in her eyes I thought she was going to spit on her, Luna held the front line like it was nobody's business, Suzi took people out with solid, clean hits (we were in the penalty box so much less), Mona Agony, new to our team, jammed like a champ...soon we were down by 7, then 6, then 1 point and time ran out! I was thrilled at our comeback - but then Honeys lost a point and we found ourselves tied!

The crowd was going nuts, people were lined up around the edges and I got back to the line to jam in "sudden death" to break the tied score (my teammates and I were dancing on the line waiting for it to start) - and we knew we had it. The whistle blew for the jam to start - me and the opposing jammer jostled for the line but CarnEvil held her as a got thru the pack. I got around to the pack again (where two Honeys who were in the penalty box) joined the jam - I managed to get around them and score 4 points - hulling ass - I looked up at the score board and finally slowed down with 3 seconds left. We had it! We won! And it was so fantastic! The crowd was going nuts! We hadn't won a single exposition bout last year; we had had our share of drama and we needed this win so badly. And it was fantastic.

The whole day was great: from setting up during the day, to skating your heart out, to the beer drinking with your teammates and others you just played. It's been a long year in the making - our first season! We finally had a venue (though we still can't serve alcohol) and our second time there we've nearly mastered our set up and tear down. Though we still don't have a floor (we're borrowing Rat City's), we're close to owning one of our very own. All of our teams have uniforms, logos, identities and we have a "booty camp" for new skaters that's full of potential. We do community work and sponsor non-profits. We'll most likely sell out our whole season and we have a whole host of opportunities to do some really fun and great things.

And I love it. Even with all of the headaches and frustrations, the high blood pressure, the long days and nights and nearly wanting to pull out your hair - I love what it's done for me and I love what's its done for so many other women - and communities! What a truly wonderful movement to be a part of...and at times completely overwhelming especially if you can get a whole crowd of people to cheer "Evil! Evil! Evil!"

Gentle Chaos, Unable to read music

This is how Heidi described my commute this morning - actually all of Seattle was spinning in gentle chaos on ice covered streets in a city that doesn't invest in salt. My first bus was late and my second bus never came. I waited 30 minutes and then took another bus - along with a hundred other people. The bus diverted it's route, I hopped off 10 icy, hilly blocks away and started walking to work... on the ice. There were school buses suck at intersections and other cars unable to turn. A biker rode by with absolute terror in her eyes. I crossed streets sideways. That's when Heidi called and we laughed at the ridiculousness of the city's reaction to the weather - both being Midwesterners and use to tons of ice, cold and snow. (I flung my phone trice trying to catch my balance.) It made for interesting conversation at the Starbucks next to work (I was already an hour and half late, what was five more minutes), as people had spent a half an hour going a mile or had given up getting to the top of some of the iciest hills.

The commute home was much better and I took a nap (fighting, fighting, fighting a cold) before settling down for an evening of sewing helmet panties, again, for my team and the Hula Honeys (whom we play on Saturday) and I ran into a plethora of problems stitching. My fabric was puckering, the bottom stitch was loose. And because I learned to sew by sewing together 7' penguin puppets for my samba troupe 5 years, I didn't really "learn". I was like a singer or musician who could play music but couldn't read notes. I knew HOW to sew but not why everything worked. I look on the Internet for the solution and found it in the 1970 Kenmore sewing book that came with the machine - I decided I needed a new needle (after realizing that I actually had the right size in the machine, thus surely this one was super dull after sewing all that nylon) and to adjust the bobbin (who knew you could do that?!) and it all came back together - just in time to work on the other team's helmet panties....

Rain, rain, rain...



I heard some rumor yesterday that it was going to be a beautiful week - cool and sunny like it was yesterday. I took advantage of the light and dry weather and did work on my car (changed a newly outed headlight and "tightened" the battery.) I managed to fit in a walk but would have easily spent the day like a cat, on the sofa, sleeping in the bright sun (like they all were.)


Today, there was no sunshine. It rained all day. All evening. And eventually it turned to snow (which was fun for all three minutes of it.) Winters are tough here. It's dark (sometimes all day), rainy (totally living up to it's reputation) and just generally a gloomy time. And the only glimmer of hope in all of this is that spring comes early - the trees start to bloom as early as February and tulips come up in March. And luckily... they're just right around the corner.

Right in front of me...

There is a famous Buddhist saying that goes, "If you can't find happiness where you're at, where do you expect to find it?" which is to say that happiness has to come from within and you can't seek external things to create that. Well there should be something like, "If you're looking too hard for a New Year's Resolution, it's most likely right in front of your nose." And there was. I found it.

My desire to do something better for the Earth - besides ride the bus more (I wish it would stop raining), carpool (do it already), become a vegetarian (not ready to again but now only eat "happy chickens") lead me in circles this last week. I also was trying to find something for my personal growth beside incorporate more art in my life (trying!), write more (I will, I promise) and generally diversify my life. I started to panic about my P-Patch - which I love and which I want to do a better job with this year (I only got one season out of three in last year), when it dawned on me that my P-Patch is the perfect resolution. I will be growing my own food (not all of it of course, but a lot) and doing much for personal growth - like learning how to organic garden better in the Pacific Northwest. I'll get more exercise walking to and from the P-Patch and I'm sure I'll have many tasty dinner parties with all of the food I grow and eat.

I'm so excited! I can't wait until spring! I have so much planning to do in the meantime...

Oh and my other resolution was to spend more time with my friend Glitter Chicken - at least one day a month sewing fun crafty things... and of course I have all of these derby goals... ok. One. I'm sticking to the P-Patch. Reasonable, achievable, good for the Earth. Yeah!

Winds...

Hurricane like winds are sweeping up from California tonight - dumping snow in the mountains and knocking out power lines and trees in the cities. 60-80 mph winds - for all of the things the Pacific Northwest is known for, like rain and serial killer, these insane windstorms are one of those things people don't tell you about. Sitting on the couch, having had dinner at my friends' house, the Christmas lights on the balcony swing but not nearly as violently as the trees.

Of change, is what the Obama campaign is riding on. My father, who was Goldwater Republican in his youth (according to his cousin but I never verified it with my Dad), though these days doesn't tell anyone who he votes for, called me to ask me my opinion about Obama's victory speech. I had been an early supporter (like in 2004-2005) but had backed off all politics recently. I called him back in the morning and said I had been at practice and had not heard his speech. He said "He is such an orator. He's like Reagan. He made my face muscles do things a politician hadn't invoked in ages." He wasn't the only one who was so excited about the hope and optimism Obama elicited. He's a windmill and the people are the wind - to many he's the wind of change.

Look what the cat blew in... after 6 years, half of my working career in development, I'm leaving Planned Parenthood for a Director of Development job with a the Northwest Women's Law Center. I said I wouldn't leave Planned Parenthood for just any job or any organization. (It's been too much of a part of my identity!) And it turns out I'm not leaving the movement but just moving down the street to another house in the neighborhood. I'll still be working to make sure that women have a better place at the table because we're fooling ourselves to think that it's equal. I can't wait!

Exhilaration...

...is what I felt when I left a multi-league scrimmage on Sunday where I got to skate with gals I knew, complete strangers and those I admired all in the name of the "derby sisterhood." It was so much fun and just reminded me of all the reasons I love this sport.

Last night I went out to Chinese New Year's Dinner with some friends. It was a pretty typical Chinese restaurant found in a strip mall in the suburbs complete with it's very American-Chinese dinner menu, much like the one I worked in all throughout high school and parts of college. I loved it! It also reminded me of how many New Years I worked in that restaurant, until 10 p.m., only to have to be back the next day - usually a bitterly cold day. We headed back to Ballard to be "close to home" for the celebrations - walking to Danni's party. Of course, it was a great time, as it always is. I drink organic wine (yum) but it still managed to give me a headache (which was probably the champagne). We were part of a while elephant gift exchange, I hid some one's prize (because it was so damn cute and I had drank nearly a bottle of wine) and we got home around 3 a.m. Some friends stayed over and all started the new year with a big breakfast and chats about our resolutions... I haven't figured them out just yet.

Resolutions are hard because they have to be reasonable, achievable and hopefully do something to make your life or the lives of people around you better. Last year, my resolution was to not procure another plastic bag. I managed to procure about 15 throughout the course of the year and have completely changed my habits. I always have canvas bags with me, in the car, for groceries or even mall shopping. I've gotten a few other people to try this too. It was a great resolution. I need another one... just like it.